The Mariners will give Dee Gordon some time at his natural position of second base in the wake of Robinson Cano’s shocking 80-game suspension, GM Jerry Dipoto told Seattle reporters today (Twitter links via Corey Brock of The Athletic). The organization has already approached Gordon about the possibility, and Brock notes that Gordon is “all in” and will play wherever the team asks of him. The transition won’t happen right away, however, as Gordon hasn’t been taking ground-balls since being acquired by the Mariners. They’ll instead give him some time to readjust to the position and take part in fielding drills outside of a game setting.
It’s not yet certain that Gordon will simply take over as the club’s everyday second baseman, though that possibility certainly exists. Rather, Gordon’s flexibility and willingness to move back to the infield on a full-time basis, if needed, will allow Dipoto and his staff the luxury of exploring the addition of both infielders and outfielders as they look to bolster the roster in Cano’s absence. Asked by TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune if the Mariners could reallocate some of the funds they’ll save on Cano’s suspension to a roster upgrade, Dipoto responded in the affirmative (Twitter link). By my calculation, Cano’s suspension will cost him about $10.26MM of his $24MM salary for the 2018 campaign.
The ever-active Dipoto is never one to shy away from a trade, so it’s not especially surprising that Dipoto plans to search outside the organization for potential acquisitions in both the infield and the outfield (Twitter link via Greg Johns of MLB.com). The Mariners are currently sitting 1.5 games out of the division lead in the AL West and an identical 1.5 games back from a Wild Card berth thanks to a strong 23-17 start to the season. Clearly, they’re at something of a disadvantage on the trade market given their thin farm system and the lack of teams selling off high-quality MLB assets this time of season, though the fact that they can apply some unexpected financial resources toward a potential trade could work to their advantage.
Regarding Cano, it’s also worth noting that Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the infielder will indeed undergo surgery to repair his fractured hand tomorrow (Twitter links). Of course, given his suspension, the fact that he’s undergoing surgery won’t prolong his absence from the roster. He’ll serve his suspension while on the disabled list, though he won’t be paid for any of the time he misses, of course, and remains ineligible for postseason play should the Mariners qualify.
[Related: Seattle Mariners depth chart]
For the time being, when Gordon does eventually move back onto the infield dirt, the Mariners can push Guillermo Heredia into an outfield role alongside both Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel. Utilitymen Taylor Motter (currently in Triple-A) and Andrew Romine (on the 25-man roster) can both see time in both the middle infield and the outfield corners, giving manager Scott Servais some options to mix and match while the front office scours the trade market.
Brandon Phillips makes too much sense here
Exactly. I don’t like moving Dee around. If he is your CF of the future leave him out there. Give Phillips a 1 yr 2.5 mill deal and go. You don’t need to replace Canos glove you need to replace his production at the plate.
I’m willing to bet Phillips won’t get that much money. Braves and Angels only paid him a mil for his services last season minus the large chunk the reds ate.
yep replacing a 35 year old left handed bat with a near 37 year old right handed bat makes a ton of sense.
better to go after Scooter Bennett. left handed, has a decent avg some pop. only 1 year left of arbitration before free agency. this makes too much sense
Gennett
dejong and rizzo for gennett
Scooter for Sam Carlson, Julio Rodriguez, and Wyatt Mills.
You’ve lost your freaking mind! Two top four organizational prospects for a guy that will be a utility player come mid Saugus??
August
To be fair a top four Seattle organizational player is more like a top 15 in a decent system. WHoever they acquire will be the starter in the postseason as well so it’s a little more than just August. Gennet shouldn’t cost that much though.
Phillips may or may not move the needle, though he’s a better option now that Cano will be out and he wouldn’t be tuning up in the minors for 2-3 of the 4-6 weeks that SEA may have needed him had Cano not been suspended.
Why trade any assets when Brandon Phillips is free? You’re going to turn that franchise into what the O’s are right now if you keep trading away talent
Seattle doesn’t have many assets down in the farm. What you see is basically what they got and what they got has holes
Seattle’s farm system is worse than baltimore’s. That doesn’t matter though. If you have one or two prospects in your whole system that’s not going to shave much time off a rebuild. They might as well fire all the chips they have.
dejong and Rizzo for gennett
Brandon has dropped off significantly.
Not sure he is worth it..
Phillips is 100 years old and hasn’t played. Starlin Castro is the way to go.I
That makes three of Seattle’s high profile players who have been suspended now along with Cruz and Gordon. The Cano one doesn’t make sense though. He already got his big payday, now it’s costing him
How do you know he hasn’t always used something and finally used something that got caught?
Juan Lagares from the Mets makes sense . Move Gordon back to 2nd.
Cano is a DH at this point in his career.
Haha he’s still a pretty incredible second baseman.
Shame that they don’t have much to trade to add someone unless it’s a salary dump. The only major difference from a couple of days ago, when they were not looking outside the organization, to today is the salary they save. That says a lot in itself.
Why take a chance on a probably washed up player who is fading defensively(Phillips),when Gordon is an above average fielder at second and a decent hitter? Just move him there. Heredia is a good glove in the OF,too.He and Gamel can platoon in CF for Gordon. It is stupid for the M’s to be trying to upgrade those positions when they already have decent in house options. If DiPoto has the urge to make a trade,it should be for the starting rotation, which is of a below average quality this year.
Gordon is ok
They never got a center fielder from their wish list
I’m enjoying the fact that the padres have 4 on their 25 man roster
Ah, the Padres… Travis Jankowski could be an interesting player to target. He‘s a different kind of offensive player than Cano, obviously, but with the emergence of Haniger and Healy, maybe they don’t need Cano-type production. Gordon and Jankowski at the top of the order could be interesting.
If you platoon gamel and Heredia in CF, who is your LF? Bringing ichiro back? They 100% need to replace cano. Gamel isn’t a decent starting outfield option at all. Don’t know why anyone thinks he is. He’s a fourth outfielder at best.
What happened to that top ranked farm system they had a few years ago?
Jack Z made that happen for us.
Jack Z, and just players graduating/injuries. The big 3 was James Paxton, Taijuan Walker, and Danny Hultzen. Paxton stayed, but Taijuan graduated eventually, and had injuries a lot, and Danny never got to pitch in a major league game. Mike Zunino was rushed, Dustin Ackley was awful. Yeah.
They should go for Brian dozier. He’s loved by fans and teammates, but clearly the twins management wants him out. They still won’t say why, but are content to let him walk.
Well Robinson Cano will never have a change of making the HOF now…
Greg Bird will be coming off the DL soon. They should move on Neil Walker who would only cost ~4.5M this year. He’s a legit 2B that can hit in the middle of the lineup.
The Yankees would probably just take a couple of lottery ticket pitchers at the A level that don’t need to be put on the 40 man roster.
Walker isn’t going anywhere, Austin will get sent down and they can’t bank on the young guys at 3B & 2B
I like Walker better than a lot of the other options people are mentioning, if the Yankees are willing to give him up. Castro is owed too much beyond this year and Gennett is going to cost at least one of the Mariners’ precious few prospects.
And while not nearly the player that Castro, Gennett, or even Walker is, the Blue Jays may be willing to trade Solarte if they slip more than a few games behind the M’s for that Wild Card.,
Walker can’t even be moved until June 15th even if both teams wanted too.
No, not without his approval.
I haven’t kept track of the Mariners so how has Dee Gordon done in CF anyways? Is it worth it to put him at 2B or has he been good where he is?
I have seen him live 5 times this year and he gets decent jumps but his speed is tremendous out there. However, he has a difficult time tracking deep balls in the gap or behind him and he only has a mediocre arm for a center fielder. He needs to go back to second and have Cano DH next year.
The Mariners can plug Heredia in center but they need to go get another outfielder. Maybe they’ll call the Cardinals and try to get Tyler O’Neill back (half kidding)?
call the as as they have like 6
O’Neill has bust written all over him
I hear Rafael Palmeiro is playing well at the park somewhere. Bring in Big Mac to help with hitting. All-time drug team. Seattle used to be known for Rockstars and heroin, now it’s ball players and gear.
Irony.
We don’t need help hitting, our lineup is and has been fine. We just need pitching more than ever now but with our farm system, it’s all but impossible. Should have swung on Matt Harvey (regardless of his most recent outing) but I digress.
How do you k ow they didn’t? the offer from cinci actually helped both teams.
My calculation is $11.6M that Seattle saves on Cano’s contract in 2018 now.
Texas is completely out of contention in 2018, and Cole Hamels does them no good. No way will Texas exercise his 2019 option at that price. So Texas will move Hamels sooner rather than later. Hamels to Seattle is a very possible option we could very well see this next month…maybe sooner.
Cole Hamels has approx $15m left on his 2018 contract, and “if” Seattle agrees to take on the $6m 2019 buyout, Texas could be willing to eat $3m of Hamels contract in 2018 to cover the difference from Cano’s contract. Just saying
Although I like the thought they aren’t just going to give Hammels up for cash relief. Who are you thinking the M’s give up? Would like to see DeSheilds or one of their handful of mediocre infielders come over in this deal as well.
I doubt it. The only way that works is if Texas plans on letting Hamels go(no indication of that) or they plan on a rebuild (which they deny). Whether they should do either is a different story.
Cole Hamels for one year and 21 million after the buyout isn’t worth much there guys. That would be a salary dump for a lotto ticket at best.
Mariners can have Jose Reyes or Juan Lagares, the former for free.
I would think maybe they will look at possible players like Broxton, Walker, Castro or maybe even LaStella. I also like those possibilities then use the money you save for pitching help
Mariners call the Marlins for another second baseman, this time Starlin Castro
and have 28 million invested in the position next year?
Now Cruz just left the game after getting hit in the top of the foot. This week could get even worse for Seattle.
so replace a cheat with a cheat. lol
So if you cheat and get caught, your team gets salary relief to use towards other players during the season??? That seems unfair, and sort of negates some of the punishment for the player getting caught IMO… this rule needs a little refinement.