The Mariners have declined their $12MM option on outfielder Denard Span and will instead pay him a $4MM buyout, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (on Twitter). Span will re-enter free agency and look for a new team with which to spend his 12th big league season.
[Related: Updated Seattle Mariners depth chart]
Span will turn 35 in February but demonstrated in 2018 that he can still produce at an above-average level with the bat. In a total of 501 plate appearances between the Mariners and the Rays, he slashed a combined .261/.341/.419 with 11 homers, 22 doubles and seven triples — good for a 112 OPS+ and wRC+ (essentially indicating that his bat was 12 percent better than a league-average hitter after adjusting for league and home park). He’s not the speedster that he used to be, but Span still swiped nine bags in 13 tries and received positive marks in baserunning, via Fangraphs (+2.4 BsR).
From a defensive standpoint, Span showed his age with a rough season in 2017, which contributed to the Giants’ decision to trade him to the Rays and to Tampa Bay’s decision to move him to left field. Span still didn’t rate as a strong defender in left, though metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (-1), Statcast’s Outs Above Average (-4) and Ultimate Zone Rating (-4.8) all pegged him as only a bit below average in 924 innings there.
With Span out of the picture in Seattle, Ben Gamel is the likeliest internal option to step up as the team’s primary left fielder, though ever-active general manager Jerry Dipoto will undoubtedly be open to making further outfield additions to pair with breakout star right fielder Mitch Haniger. The Mariners could yet elect to move Dee Gordon back to center field, though he’s a vastly better defensive option at second base, and the potential departure of Nelson Cruz could allow the M’s to rotate Robinson Cano and others through the DH spot, with Cano filling in at multiple positions around the infield.
I could see CLE offering him $5M on a one-year deal. Span won’t have much of a market, so he may even settle for less.
As an Indians fan, I was about to suggest the same. I also suggest Brett Gardner in a different comment thread, so I can imagine any inexpensive outfielder with at least a track record will probably be considered by them.
Given the choice of the two..Gardner. Though he’s not gonna be as cheap.
Even though they don’t need him, the Red Sox should get him just for the sole fact he won’t destroy them when he plays against them like he always does
No way is he already 35… good god, he is…
Good contact (18% K-rate)…..some speed left……341 OBP, in line with his career….lots of pluses in the clubhouse, they say…..a decent piece for a contending team, 3-4M range…..you could do worse…..
He’ll generate some interest. Guessing more like a $1 million contract.
Not sure if he cares, but MLB kicks in some nice pension type benefits when players reach 10 years service time, which he’d hit in 2019.
Man, I was super upset at the trade at first but it worked out. I agree, a little too expensive for his play but for us he batted almost or above .300. Just don’t see Jerry finding a better option for a 3rd/4th outfielder
I’m sure the stupid Giants current management will sign him before they hire a GM.
The stupid people that won 3 world series in 5 years with everyone else’s leftovers? Try again sour puss.
Dah Stupid?Sounds like you have Dirty Diapers sports goof?
He’s a nice bat to have on the bench but not a starter anymore
Mariners need to get a centerfielder and a starter but would still be miles behind RedSox
He won’t be out of work. Still a pretty dependable outfielder. Can help a lot of clubs.
Could probably carve out a niche as a 4th outfielder getting 60ish starts a season, seems like a good dude too, all the best to him
How is 9 stolen bases a lot ? These speedsters don’t run anymore like they used to. You’ll be lucky to see a guy have 400 stolen bases for a career.
They don’t run because some stat geeks told teams that stolen bases are worthless and they believed them. Rofl.
They told them that stealing bases is risking unnecessary outs.
were these the same stat geeks that told the Phillies striking out was ok?