Here’s the latest from the city of Jimi Hendrix and Frasier Crane…
- Marco Gonzales is hopeful that he can return from the disabled list to start during the Mariners’ series with the Yankees this weekend, MLB.com’s Greg Johns was among those to report. A cervical neck muscle strain forced Gonzales to the 10-day DL on August 27, though the left-hander had no issues while playing catch today. Gonzales will throw a light bullpen session Monday and another later in the week with an eye towards starting against New York. “The silver lining” of the absence, Gonzales told Johns and other reporters, is that he has had time to rest his arm and perhaps get a bit of a reset after struggling badly over his last four outings.
- The November 2016 deal that brought Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger to Seattle has turned into one of the best trades in recent Mariners history, with the two both quickly becoming cornerstone players for the M’s. The Athletic’s Corey Brock (subscription required) looks back at the trade with GM Jerry Dipoto, who broke down some of the talks between he and Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, and how Segura and Haniger were identified as targets.
- In a mailbag piece for the Seattle Times, Ryan Divish notes that the two biggest questions surrounding the Mariners’ offseason will be whether or not to re-sign Nelson Cruz, and what position Dee Gordon will play in 2019. The two questions go hand-in-hand, particularly in regards to Robinson Cano — if Cruz leaves, Cano will see more DH time and Gordon could play more at his natural second base position. If Cruz stays as the full-time DH, however, Cano will see regular time at second while Gordon could return to the outfield. Ryon Healy’s future with the team is also a factor, as Cano could also be deployed at first base. It will be an interesting positional juggle for the M’s, plus we can’t rule out Dipoto trying another unconventional solution (i.e. the decision to acquire Gordon and use him as a center fielder in the first place).
As much as I love dee Gordon, wouldn’t mind seeing him moved along with Ryon Healy this offseason. Need more obp focused players, especially at 1b.
But I mean if we move Healy I’d like to see stay.
Gotta get Cruz to agree to a 1 year deal with a vesting option for his age 40 season. He’s old but damn he’s easily our best hitter right now and for the past 3 seasons.
problem with Nellie is that is is as fragile as glass. he got hurt again today just swinging his bat. it’s not worth bringing him back for another 10-15 million if he’s gonna miss 40 games.
The least amount of games he’s played in a season is 152 since 2014. Also, the injury wasn’t the back, nor was it from today
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No one is going to want Gordon after the season he had, combined with the contract (but he should be much better next year. He has been dealing with injuries since May). Either way, when Dipoto and Servais put the emphasis on clubhouse chemistry, trading the two most energetic players (especially one in Healy who still has 4 years of team control left) is a bad move
Need to find a way to get rid of Felix. Force retirement or something. He’s god awful now.
He’s only got one year left, they’ll probably move him to the bullpen next season or just let him the highest paid 5th starter in baseball.
He really does need to move to the pen to prolong his career though. I don’t see many teams clamoring for a -1.0 WAR player.
I guess this is the Mariners’ 2018 obituary. They were the kind of team that did the right thing when nobody was watching. Every fan that attended a game was better off for it. They leave behind a pretty good lineup and a total garbage starting rotation.
Don’t get me wrong, Dipoto isn’t a terrible GM, but he should have stuck to the formula of “pitching and defense wins championships.” Safeco is a pitching oriented park. The Giants and Royals both have extremely pitcher friendly ballparks, and both won their WS because of pitching and timely hitting.
If given a roster with one of the lowest payroll’s in baseball I think you would see Jerry stick to that formula. As you know more than half of this years payroll is tied into 5 players- Felix, Seager, Cruz, Cano and Leake. Our highest paid player was our worst SP! It appears to me he didn’t have much money to work with.
I just think the Mariners lack the “star” Segura, Haniger, Gordon, Cruz, Paxton, are all great ball players. But the Mariners lack the thump. They can’t keep clinging on to their old face of the franchise, Felix. They need to rebuild and find another one.
I am really starting to see them as a place Harper might go to just because they offer him the most money, similar to how they got Cano.
That was old ownership. Dipoto has steered away from that. The largest contract he has given was a 17 million dollar deal (2 years) to Juan Nicasio
How’s that working out?
Don’t forget about Segura’s extension of 5 years / $70 million.
Going great for 29 other teams
The mariners need a Billy Hamilton and a young Felix Hernandez and they should resign Nellie but get a slugger in free agency then they will be a playoff team
They don’t need billy they need someone who can get on base
The Mariners need a utility infielder not named Andrew Romine, a CF, a SP, and a right handed+ left handed reliever. Also, would love to see them re-sign Cruz, and Span, if possible.
Sign Harper.
Move Gordon to 2b- Cano to 1st- Healy to DH.
Sign Gio Gonzalez cheap. Sign 1 of Eovaldi or Hellickson.
Sign Drew Pomeranz move him back to the pen.
Target 1 or 2 RH relief.
Sign Keuchel, Cahill and Harvey and Harper. Option or trade Healy because both WARs are negative, and then sign whatever better big DH bat is out there for cheap in March, there’s usually a bunch of those these days. Sign 3 SP because there’s always injuries and two of those guys can go to the pen too.
Dig the Seager-Segura-Gordon-Cano INF.
Seattle wildly overperformed this year but can be legit contenders next year if they spend a bunch of money this offseason.
Seattle’s pythag W-L is 63-73, and their W-L is 76-60.
The 2018 Mariners are one of the all-time greatest overperforming teams of all time.
The King will be back stronger as an ox…