The Mariners have agreed to a Major League deal with infielder Danny Espinosa, Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown reports (Twitter links).
[Updated Mariners depth chart at Roster Resource]
Espinosa was released earlier this week by the Angels, ending a brief and very disappointing stint for the 30-year-old in Los Angeles. Espinosa hit just .162/.237/.276 over 254 plate appearances for the Halos, posting the lowest wRC+ (40) of any hitter in baseball with at least 250 PA.
Espinosa also posted below-average hitting numbers last season, albeit with some pop, hitting 24 homers for the Nationals. If he can regain even his modest from last year, he can help a Mariners team that was known to in the market for infield depth, including some recent interest in the Mets’ Asdrubal Cabrera. Espinosa has flashed some good glovework at both second base and shortstop over his career and he has some brief (109 1/3 innings) experience at third base as well, so he could supplant struggling rookie Taylor Motter as Seattle’s chief utility infielder.
I don’t see how he would be any better than Taylor Motter.
He won’t be but he’s older and Taylor deserves to develop
Well after Motter’s base running today maybe it is time to replace him.
Hahaha yea it was atrocious
Haha dipoto…have fun mariner fans.
He’s not a bad GM, they pretty much signed him for nothing. You obviously don’t know how MLB GMing works
Lol gmflores, funny to hear that from you. MLB GMing isn’t just signing released veterans mid season so idk what your saying
It’s making even the small moves, and this is one of them
Lol man thanks for enlightening me on how to be a gm by making these kinda moves
They got a guy for nothing, it can’t be a bad move
i wasn’t even saying this was a terrible move… i just don’t think espinosa is a good player
Gmflores, with his open approach, is way more right than your ‘absoluteness’ of his being wrong. ‘zero’ cost, 1 year away from a decent producer, veteran…
It’s too bad. You used to be at least somewhat coherent.
guess i loss coherence for finding it funny that dipoto would pick up someone fresh off the angels and i don’t like espinosa because he was terrible during his stint in anaheim. But man, i lost my coherence. shame
halos101 – your team gave up two pitchers for him, and I’m pretty sure that’s a higher cost than league minimum…
And the grill is heating up. (I’m not sure if it’s still the Hot Stove since that’s free agency I think. I’ll stick with grill)
Oh yea game changer right here.
I prefer griddle
It’s time to fire Dipoto, he’s making the Mariners worse. Jarrod Dyson should not be starting (he can’t hit), Yovani Gallardo is a disaster, Drew Smylly is a disaster (a flat average pitcher when healthy), he traded Mark Trumbo for a ham sandwich, and then he trades our best hitting prospect (Tyler O’neil) for another injury prone back end starter? Send Dipoto back to Anaheim!!!
please keep him away from anaheim
I completely disagree. White and Lewis are better hitting prospects overall, O’Neil is also scouted as having the same power as Lewis anyways. We don’t need another average defender in the outfield that is an all or nothing hitting. And can you tell me the names of the prospects he gave up for Smyly without looking it up, and did you somehow know he would get hurt?
Lewis is what? Three to four years from wearing a major league uniform (assuming injuries don’t derail his career)? Dyson can’t hit, and O’neil could have been moved to a corner outfield spot. Now you’ve got Dyson coming of an expiring contract, no decent prospects left to trade, and all hope invested in a hyped prospect (look at Byron Buxton, how did that turn out?). That is not to mention Dipoto traded Mallex Smith for Drew Smylly. Last time I checked Smith is hitting .292, playing pretty solid outfield defense, and helping the Rays grab a playoff spot!
As long as he doesn’t have any injuries, Lewis will most likely be a 2018 September call up, I have no clue where your getting 4 years from, why would they wait till there number 1 prospect is 25 or 26 to call him up if he is performing well? And nobody could have possibly known Smyly would need TJ, if he was healthy he would of been the pitcher that we are trying to acquire right now.
Ham Sandwich lmao, that was good..
agreed, ive been saying this sence his first year in seattle, Dipoto sucks
Every projection has always had us winning. That shows that Dipoto is really good at putting a team together. The lack of success is to be put on injuries and players. Not the front office.
So the Segura/Haniger acquisition? Or the Gamel trade? Danny Valencia, Nick Vincent, Steve Cishek? All of those players made the Mariners worse? I’ll agree that some of his trades have been questionable but the team’s struggles are more on the player’s performance and injuries than on him. Gallardo was always going to be a #5 starter and his numbers are reflective of that, its just that injuries have forced Gallardo into a bigger role (and the expectations that came with it). Smyly getting hurt was a completely random occurrence, no one would have predicted that he wouldn’t even make a start during the season and would need TJ surgery. And Mark Trumbo was absolutely terrible in Seattle. With Cruz moving to DH and the team looking to field a better defense, I don’t blame him for trading Trumbo, who is known as a poor defender with home run or bust approach. You also have to consider where Trumbo got moved to when his numbers jumped. He went from the AL West, a division with more pitcher-friendly parks, to the AL East, a division filled with hitter-friendly parks. I would gladly go through these past two years with Dipoto at the helm again than be stuck with Jack Z for that same span.
Espinosa is minor league filler. Tacoma is running on a skeleton crew.
With you StarMan27 on the O’Neill deal.
No they got him on a major league deal.
Honestly, how does this hurt the Mariners. They owe him, what $250k? That’s nothing.
Especially considering he’s a plus defender who is a year removed from hitting 24 homers and attempting to make up for the millions he’s lost with the poor first half as he’s entering free agency this winter.
Worst case, hes a solid glove off of the bench and gets cut if he doesn’t hit enough. Don’t get the hate for the move.
Jury is still out on Dipoto. We still haven’t finished his 2nd full year. Waiting to reserve judgement until then. I do know this, the M’s have been more competitive the last 2 seasons than I can ever remember for some time. And as a fan, that means more to me than signing whomever, trading whatever prospect, or ARGUING with opposing fans on a non-mariners site.
Wait until the young guys he traded for play in the bigs. Gamel has done well, Heredia (signed), has done well, Haniger has done well, Segura has done well. The guys he trades for that are veterans are filler pieces to allow prospects to develop. This is a 50% Dipoto team. Don’t put the blame on someone who has only worked half the roster
Time to rebuild. Trade Felix and Cruz. Build the farm up.
Did you see what JD Martinez just got? And he can still play the field, Cruz can barley walk with his injuries but continues to play through them. Felix won’t get anything, neither will Cano. The only tradable players are Gamel, Heredia, Haniger, Paxton and Seager who are the guys you want to build around anyways, not counting the guys whose contracts expire this season. I would love to rebuild, but this isn’t MLB the show where you can trade Cano and his entire contract for Yoan Moncada.
LolDipoto
Go get a major league SP, Dipoto! Gallardo cannot handle starting spot, he does better as a bullpen pitcher.
I don’t think Gallardo is any good, but what do you expect out of a fifth starter?
Gallardo was winning when he left the game. 5 innings 3 runs and they pulled him because he isn’t stretched out yet from being in the pen. He was an inning away from a quality start.
Gallardo isnt to blame today. Not saying he is great but he isn’t the reason they lost today
He did! Marco Gonzalez!! Quality SP is at a premium right now. We don’t have a lot of pieces to trade for SP. I feel that the O’Neill trade makes a lot more sense now in hind sight due to the fact that he was going to be blocked the major league level. This is Haniger’s, Camel’s, and Heredia’s first full season for each player. Plus the M’s may choose to bring back Dyson. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of playing time for Tyler. O’Neill would not have done any good for this ball club as a 4th or 5th Offer. And he doesn’t cover nearly the amount of ground that you want playing at Safeco on defense.
Gamel’s**
He was not on the 40 man roster. If they didnt add him to the 40 man J believe he was eligible for the rule 5 draft
Jerry is a very good general manager. Sometimes a logical move doesn’t work out, but it remains a logical move. Sometimes a stupid move does work out, but it remains a stupid move. I would be very happy if Jerry were running the Orioles
And if he did. Briton would be traded for an always injured pitcher. Trumbo for a well below average reliever. Trade Davis for a B level prospect and pay 3/4 of his salary.
He did! Marco Gonzalez!! Quality SP is at a premium right now. We don’t have a lot of pieces to trade for SP. I feel that the O’Neill trade makes a lot more sense now in hind sight due to the fact that he was going to be blocked the major league level. This is Haniger’s, Gamel’s, and Heredia’s first full season for each player. Plus the M’s may choose to bring back Dyson. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of playing time for Tyler. O’Neill would not have done any good for this ball club as a 4th or 5th Offer. And he doesn’t cover nearly the amount of ground that you want playing at Safeco on defense.
Mark Trumbo sucks
you can have him
It seems like time for one of these underperforming players to come to Seattle and be good instead of always leaving Seattle and going on to be good
Ben Gamel?
There will be even more competition for the utility role when Shawn O’Malley finishes rehab. I guess we will see what shakes out.
Love Shawn. Thought he should’ve made this club out of Spring Training, but Motter was so hot at the time, until the Scouting reports came out not to pound Taylor inside with fastballs, unless you wanted them leaving the yard.
O’Malley was the true definition of “Scrappy”. He did everything, well. But what I liked most was that he was clutch at the plate. Hard to find those guys.
Low risk move here. I like it. He’s got an ok prior track record, and if he turns it around on offense he’s a solid bench piece.
This guy is a fool, could be making big money, now just fighting for a roster spot.
Does anyone else get tired of watching seager continuously hit outside pitches into the shift instead of going with the ball the other way? If he could suck up his pride and go the other way they would stop with the shifting all the time plus his average would go up about 20 points. Just been lots of big moments this season that they have left that side of the field wide open and he just continues to pull right into the shift. I would get it if they went into the shift and pitched him inside but they don’t they pitch him away and that is the easiest ball to hit to the opposite field. Edgar Martinez made a living hitting that way and inside outing the ball.