The Dodgers are signing outfielder Jake Marisnick to a major league deal, reports Kenny Van Doren of Bally Sports Midwest. The Tigers announced earlier today that Marisnick had cleared waivers and elected free agency after being designated for assignment a few days ago, which has quickly led to a new deal. The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make room for Marisnick.
Marisnick, 32, has spent many years in the big leagues, generally providing speed and excellent outfield defense but hitting at a subpar rate. He spent many years with the Astros in this capacity but has become a journeyman in recent seasons, bouncing to the Mets, Cubs, Padres, Pirates, White Sox and Tigers since the start of the 2020 campaign, with the Dodgers now added to that list.
This winter, he signed a minor league deal with the White Sox and was added to that club’s roster in early May. He spent just over a week with them before being designated for assignment and accepting an outright. The Sox traded him to the Tigers, who also carried him on the big league roster for a while, that stint lasting a bit more than a month before he got the DFA treatment yet again.
Between those two clubs, he hit .225/.263/.408 in 77 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 82. Those numbers are fairly close to his career output, which has resulted in a batting line of .228/.281/.385 and a wRC+ of 81. He stole two more bases, bringing his career tally to 81, and received positive grades for his defense. For his career, he’s tallied 81 Defensive Runs Saved, 53 Outs Above Average and a score of 24.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating.
The Dodgers have been juggling pieces in their middle infield this year, with Gavin Lux likely to miss the whole year after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee during Spring Training. Miguel Vargas has struggled to such a degree that the club optioned him to the minors going into the All-Star break. With utility player Chris Taylor on the injured list, the club has moved Mookie Betts in from right field to play a lot of second base next to shortstop Miguel Rojas.
With Betts moving to the dirt, the outfield has generally consisted of James Outman, David Peralta and Jason Heyward most days. Trayce Thompson would have been in that mix were he not on the injured list as well. Marisnick will likely slot into the club’s bench behind that group, alongside Jonny Deluca, likely to be deployed as a pinch runner or defensive replacement.
Even the richest owners sometimes shop at Walmart.
Walmart? Marisnick is Dollar Tree merchandise at this point. I hope the corresponding move is to DFA Trayce Thompson because he literally has the exact same skillset – all glove, no stick.
If Trayce’s plus is the glove he should be DFA’d immediately. He’s an average OF (not CF) with a weak arm.
Thompson can at least catch fire for stretches and contribute big time on offense, something that can’t be said of Marisnick.
Marisnick is a way better defender than Thompson. It’s not close. Thompson has occasional hot streaks at the plate but cannot be relied upon and has reverse splits. Dodgers need an OF who can hit left handed pitching, and Marisnick actually has a higher OPS than Thompson against lefties. Neither are good options.
This is the result when you have your “can’t miss” position prospects miss. Vargas was given plenty of runway. Same with Outman. Busch was a fill-in and didn’t get close to the same opportunity as the other two. Things should change – hopefully significantly – after the deadline.
Still too early to give up on Vargas and Outman. Some prospects take longer to develop. Lux was a disappointment early on but started to come on later. Really a shame that he got hurt as this was supposed to be his breakout season.
I’m not sure if Vargas or Outman were “can’t miss” prospects. Both obviously have their weaknesses that they need to address. Busch may get his opportunity but again no guarantees he’ll fare any better, at least not yet. Who knows.
These guys are rookies. Labelling them as misses already is both impatient and silly. Besides, who was calling them “can’t miss”?
Dodgers must be really hard up.
Jake always seems to find a job.
Turning into the next Refsnyder
Laugh all you want but Ref has become a valuable player for Boston and is well worth his contract. He hits well against lefties, doesn’t look bad at any OF position and while not utilized as an IF, he came up as such and could probably handle at least second in a pinch.
It’s amazing how many guys in the minors will never get a shot, but Jake Marisnick has been able to carve out a 10 year career for essentially the same production as a AAA player for much more money.
Jake plays with joy and always brings solid effort. People like him tend to get a lot of chances to be a part of the team. He is a good example for how to live life.
Wish we kept him in Detroit. His positive attitude was nice to have around the youngsters.
Go Jake! Hope you rake in Dodger land!
Will the Dodgers fans boo him?
I doubt it. Jake is always healthy, willing, ready and able, how or why would you “boo” someone like that?
“How” or “WHY?” LMFAO!! Easily!!! And for sooo many reasons LMFAO! Stop gaslighting people..
Generally unhappy people boo people for almost nothing, right Dodgerblue22?
Sure I would agree if it was “almost nothing” as you say…But it isn’t “almost nothing” now is it? Is that how you saw the 2017 World Series outcome? “Almost Nothing?”
And on top of all that you still classify the guy as a “Walmart” player…That alone is enough to boo right?
Apparently all is forgiven now. I am stunned. Just told a relative about it who is a Dodgers lifer and his reply was: “oh well as long as he hits.” Last week he was raging about how they should take away their trophy etc..I told him he was being a weak sell-out and hung up the phone on him.
Obviously your relative has never seen Marisnick hit, nor has anyone else.
He hasn’t. He is just desperate for the Dodgers to sign anyone with a pulse.
Only fan base that’s reatbooing the Stros these days is Seattle – whom the Stros and their fan base are apathetic towards. Boos Stros received in LA this year were tame
Lol No they were not. I was there. The boo’s were positively THUNDEROUS!!
Probably by LA standards. We get louder boos in NY. Not that it really affects the team
Maybe, who knows. His highest statistical season was 2017, excluding 2020 on a tiny sample size. Hmm, I guess we all know why.
We aren’t allowed to talk like that anymore. It’s not progressive.
I just look at his splits. Jesus, they were extreme. Unlike the actual Astros stars who were good before and after, he seemed to benefit greatly from it.
Solid detective work!
Apparently it doesn’t matter as he didn’t play in the 2017 WS, so shouldn’t matter.
Sorry I thought they cheated for a much longer period than the “2017 WS.” Am I wrong about that or something? Or are you just terribly out of the loop?
Who really knows, for LA it should matter only for players who were active in 2017 WS
Oh it should? Haha Maybe if they weren’t cheating they wouldn’t have made it to the World Series in the first place..
I bet 99% of them don’t even know who he is
He played well during his brief time with the Tigers. Timely hitting, strong D, and a calming presence on the team. That said, he’s a fifth outfielder even on the Tigers let alone on a good team. He might have a good future in coaching. I wish him well!
Jesus Billy you trying to tell me how to run this team?!
He even hit the first Grand Slam of his career in Denver and participated in the combined No-hitter last week. All in all he had a few good weeks wearing the Olde English D…wish him luck in Dodger Blue
Calming presence on the Tigers team.
Not hard to calm a morgue.
Ewwwww. Not pleased.
Rather have Puig back. Or even Roger Cedeño.
Not good enough for Detroit but good enough for the Dodgers?
Seems completely ludicrous on its face exact for the same scenario having worked out rather well at least for a little while with Trayce Thompson.
Well, spelling and grammar suddenly is challenging while this new format inexplicably bounces around. Trusty sidekick iPad Air Pro is not a fan, at least not yet.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes..
From experience?
Ne govorim španjolski
Uh huh
There are worse players that the Dodgers could have signed. He does have a specific skill set that some teams value: above average defense, above average speed, will occasionally run into one, and is evidently a good clubhouse guy.
Is “a skill set” different from “skills”?
No idea. I’ve always thought it was the set of skills that people had. I’m not always correct, though. However, I am happy.
Same difference as between a price and a price point.
You know a player is on his last legs in the MLB when the GoOd ClUbHoUsE GuY crap gets tossed around.
I think this signing should be a warning that the trade market will be quiet for the most part. Teams that have players to sell probably have lots of potential teams who are interested. That means its a sellers market. I don’t know how much that the Dodgers want to give up for players they are interested in with the future free agents out the, and expected costs. It not like the Dodgers for them to give out 11 year $300 million contracts to 4 or 5 players.
Kind of surprised its a major league deal. Unsure what kind of playing time he could have with Taylor coming off Il and DeLuca up. I wonder if Taylor is still hurt? With Peralta/Heyward/Outman/Betts/DeLuca that’s already a full outfield even with Betts playing infield.
Strange signing unless Taylor is hurt or they’ve given up on DeLuca already. Otherwise, not sure where’s he’s gonna play.
Shelby Miller will probably go to 60-day to make room. Deluca will be demoted i imagine.
Maybe they want DeLuca getting lots of ABs in AAA. He’s not getting much now.
The Tigers have four young, healthy outfielders (Greene, Carpenter, Vierling, Baddoo) and two good prospects (Malloy and P. Meadows). I guess they don’t really need Marisnick anymore.
But he looked good with the Tigers, and definitely deserves a roster spot somewhere. Glad he found one.
That’s correct. Marisnick’s offense might even become a little bit better since Comerica Park is rather pitcher-friendly.
Gruß,
BSHH
Yawn. Waiting for the Ohtani signing.
It’s so funny that the Astros cheating scandal was so egregious.
Jake hit 16 HR than and had 1.7 OWAR in 2017.
10 and 0.9 are his career highs outside of that year, despite it being his 4th most PA in a season.
Yet, just like Marwin Gonzalez, signing with the Red Sox and Yankees, Jake gets a deal with the Dodgers.
Clearly MLB teams have a huge problem with the Astros cheating and with the players who cheated.
I was at Dodger Stadium when they played them recently. Boo’s the entire game..Never Forgive! Never Forget!
This is what happens when your “can’t miss” prospects miss. Vargas was given plenty of runway and couldn’t perform as advertised. Outman similarly. Busch didn’t get an extended opportunity to win a steady job, but didn’t look ready in a small sample. Hopefully things will change significantly and for the better after the deadline.
Poor Jakey- sure he’s a swell dude and all but maybe he can’t take a hint. Like that party guest that everyone keeps moving away from- somebody do him a solid and let him know his feet stinky
A prolific user of the Astros’ cheating scheme, unlike Altuve. Not that it will matter. No boos for the 2018 cheater Betts, after all. Apparently all is forgiven as soon as you put on a different uniform.
This idea that because Altuve didn’t want the banging in his plate appearances he didn’t benefit from the highly illegal method of sign stealing is ridiculous. Batters before and after him used it, getting on base to be driven in or by driving him in.
Pretending he didn’t benefit is showing you don’t understand how lineups with effective hitters work.
With the Dodgers lack of Infield depth i kind of thought they would sign Jonathan Schoop. I suppose they still can…
Very uninspiring
It’s a bold strategy Cotten.
Depth for another move
So, not one mention of Jonathan Schoop who is the baseball version of a freebie?
Supposedly he still provides very good 2B defense, and better yet everyone knows that hitters who escape from Detroit are suddenly imbued with magical bat powers.
Dodgers OF is awful with mookie in the infield.
Outman, Hayward = mediocre to below mediocre
Tracye outside his early showing – he has flopped and injury is keeping him on team right now. he has a tattoo with DFA
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more Taylor in OF – if they had more healthy Infielders (like himself).
This guy has more lives than a cat.
Good luck, Jake ! I’ll look for you in the playoffs…..