Dee Gordon

Mariners Notes: Sadzeck, Gordon, Healy, Crawford

By Connor Byrne | June 4, 2019 at 9:45pm CDT

The Mariners sent reliever Connor Sadzeck to the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a flexor mass in his right elbow, per Greg Johns of MLB.com. Sadzeck will be out “at least a couple weeks,” Johns writes. His roster spot went to right-hander Andrew Moore, whom they recalled from Double-A Arkansas. Moore started the Mariners’ game against the Astros on Tuesday.

The injury to Sadzeck will deprive free-falling Seattle and its shaky bullpen of one of most utilized options for the time being. The 27-year-old Sadzeck joined the Mariners in an April 1 trade with the division-rival Rangers, who acquired righty Grant Anderson in return. Sadzeck has produced good bottom-line results in 23 2/3 innings since then, thanks in part to a 96 mph four-seamer and a 94 mph sinker. He has pitched to a 2.66 ERA with 10.27 K/9 and a 46 percent groundball rate, though a bloated BB/9 (5.7) and a 4.66 FIP do curb enthusiasm about Sadzeck’s performance.

In better injury-related news for the Mariners, infielders Dee Gordon, Ryon Healy and J.P. Crawford are all nearing rehab assignments, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times suggests. Gordon (right wrist contusion) and Healy (lower back inflammation) have each been on the IL since May 21, while Crawford went down less than a week ago on account of a left ankle sprain.

With transaction-happy general manager Jerry Dipoto at the helm, Gordon and Healy could be trade chips when they return to health. Both players have managed uninspiring production since they arrived in Seattle heading into the 2018 season, though, and likely wouldn’t bring back much in a deal.

Gordon and Healy may not be long-term building blocks for the Mariners, but the hope is Crawford will emerge as one. Acquired from the Phillies in a blockbuster trade last December, the formerly elite shortstop prospect got off to a nice start with his new organization before landing on the IL. Crawford, 24, hit well with Triple-A Tacoma and then began his M’s tenure by batting .279/.343.426 (112 wRC+) in 67 plate appearances between his promotion on May 10 and his IL placement on the 29th.

Mariners Reportedly Looking To Sell

By Ty Bradley | June 2, 2019 at 9:26pm CDT

TODAY: The Mariners “have shown a willingness to eat significant money in” trades, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets, and “almost every veteran on their roster” is available. We’ve seen the first instance of this earlier today, as Seattle covered $18MM of the approximately $21.5MM remaining on Jay Bruce’s contract in trading Bruce to the Phillies.

SATURDAY: The Mariners, who’ve gone a staggering 12-33 after a 13-2 start in which the club made its fans forget the cavernous dimensions of T-Mobile Park, are “deep in sell mode,” tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who lists Edwin Encarnacion, Ryon Healy, Dee Gordon, Mike Leake and Tim Beckham among the players the club is “talking” about.

None in the group seem likely to net a significant return – the 36-year-old Encarnacion may be the most attractive piece, despite the some $18MM remaining on his contract – though it’s possible GM Jerry Dipoto would simply like to clear space for younger players. One feather in Encarnacion’s (and the Mariners’) cap is his renewed vigor in the infield: the one-time third-baseman is on pace for the most first-base innings in his fifteen-year career, and has thus far been surprisingly adequate at the position, per both DRS and UZR. The aging slugger, who’s now just seven homers shy of 400 for his career, seemed on a clear DH-only trajectory after two seasons in Cleveland where he totaled just 388 innings at the position, but has nearly eclipsed that mark in just two short months in Seattle. The three-time all-star’s on pace for nearly 3.0 fWAR in ’19, with a hard-hit rate hovering around his peak average, though teams aren’t typically clamoring for 1B/DHs in the rental market, even one with a track record as glowing as Edwin’s.

Thirty-one year-old Gordon, twice an all-star earlier in his career, is still owed approximately $22MM on his deal through 2020, and may indeed have negative surplus value at this point. After a poor 2018 showing, in which the second baseman-turned-center-fielder posted 0.1 fWAR on the back of a 77 wRC+ and hard-to-fathom 1.5% BB rate, the again infielder hasn’t been much better this year, posting just a .281/.310/.369 line (85 wRC+) with a stolen-base rate that doesn’t even begin to approach the standard he’d set from 2014-17. It’s true that Gordon’s ground-ball rate has dropped below 50% for the first time in his career, and that he’s flashing a bit more power than usual, but it’s hard to foresee this profile netting much more than a bit of salary relief.

Mix-and-match artist Leake, now 31 and with over 1,700 big-league innings under his belt, is still owed upwards of $30MM on his deal that extends through 2020 and is currently in midst of the worst season of his career. Leake’s homer rate has skyrocketed to an a galactical 2.23 per nine, thanks mostly to a career-low grounder rate and an average fastball velocity that’s down over four MPH from his 2015 peak of 93.1. FanGraphs places Leake’s value at below replacement-level this season, and peripheral markers aren’t encouraged. His value would seem to mirror Gordon’s closely.

Former number-one overall pick Beckham appeared to have finally turned the corner this season after an early-season hot streak that catapulted him to the top of the league’s leaders in nearly every relevant statistical category. Still sporting an impressive 119 wRC+, Beckham’s secondary markers appear much the same as in years past: his 6.3% walk rate aligns exactly with his career total, and the 30% K rate is actually higher than the standard he’d set in the four years previous. Beckham’s .342 wOBA, on the strength of a middling 32% hard-hit rate, isn’t sustainable, per Statcast, who estimates his true (expected) wOBA title at just .312. The 29-year-old’s defense, too, has been far less than stellar this season, with DRS pegging him at a particularly cruel -7 runs saved already. He’s in his second-to-last year of arbitration, and may yet be a utility target for some contending clubs, but not one that’s likely to yield a blue-chipper in return.

Lesser names, like Healy, Wade LeBlanc, Hunter Strickland, and Domingo Santana, whose 119 wRC+ has been almost entirely offset by poor corner defense, aren’t likely to be coveted on the market. Third baseman Kyle Seager has been hurt for much of the early season, and recent-years returns are probably enough for interested teams to leave the some $50MM remaining on his deal behind.

If Dipoto is feeling particularly frisky, the team could try dangling each of Daniel Vogelbach, Mitch Haniger, Marco Gonzales, and Omar Narvaez to interested teams, though it seems the club is set on contending in the near future, and each of those players are controlled through at least the 2022 season.

Mariners Place Dee Gordon, Ryon Healy On 10-Day IL

By Jeff Todd | May 21, 2019 at 1:54pm CDT

The Mariners announced a lengthy list of roster moves today. Infielders Dee Gordon (right wrist contusion) and Ryon Healy (lower back inflammation) were placed on the 10-day injured list, while righty Parker Markel was optioned out.

Those departures cleared the way for a trio of additions. As already reported, lefty Tommy Milone was added to the 40-man and active rosters. He’ll be joined in the bigs by infielders Shed Long and Dylan Moore.

It doesn’t seem there’s much reason to fear lengthy absences from Gordon or Healy, though details aren’t yet known. Gordon has struggled since being hit by a pitch recently. Healy left last night’s contest with a back flare-up.

Dee Gordon Leaves Game After Being Hit In Wrist

By Mark Polishuk | May 9, 2019 at 9:42pm CDT

Mariners second baseman Dee Gordon was hit in the right wrist by a J.A. Happ fastball during the third inning of tonight’s 3-1 loss to the Yankees, causing Gordon to be removed from the game. Seattle manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and MLB.com’s Greg Johns) after the game that Gordon would receive more tests on his wrist tomorrow, as initial x-rays weren’t conclusive. Speaking to Divish, Johns, and other media after the game, Gordon said his wrist was “very sore,” and had some harsh words about Happ’s pitch location.

After a disappointing first season in Seattle that included an ill-advised position switch to center field, Gordon seemed to be back on track in 2019 after returning to his original second base position. Gordon entered Thursday’s action hitting .304/.327/.406 through 149 plate appearances, plus 10 steals in 11 attempts. Gordon has also already hit three home runs, a startling figure for a player who has never hit more than four long balls over an entire season.

Servais intimated that some type of roster move would need to be made before tomorrow’s game in Boston, as backup infielder Dylan Moore is also battling a wrist injury and will undergo his own set of tests. Moore replaced Gordon on Thursday, though had to be himself removed for pinch-hitter Jay Bruce since Moore was feeling pain while swinging the bat. The chain reaction of position switches led to Edwin Encarnacion making his first career appearance as a second baseman, and then getting an injury scare himself after Encarnacion made a diving attempt at a ground ball.

With Gordon and Moore each hurting, it stands to reason that one or both of J.P. Crawford or Shed Long could get the call from Triple-A Tacoma to fill the holes in Seattle’s infield. Crawford already may be the choice, as Lauren Smith of the Tacoma News Tribune reported that Crawford was scratched from tonight’s Rainiers’ lineup.

Crawford would be making his Mariners debut after being the young centerpiece of the five-player trade between the M’s and Phillies last December that saw Jean Segura go to Philadelphia and Carlos Santana (temporarily) come to Seattle. Crawford has thus far acquitted himself well in his new organization, with a .319/.420/.457 slash line through 138 Triple-A plate appearances. Long, ranked by MLB.com as the 12th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system, has also been hitting well at Triple-A this season and would be making his Major League debut if a promotion is indeed in the cards.

Mariners Notes: Bruce, Santana, Haniger, Gordon

By Steve Adams | December 5, 2018 at 8:48pm CDT

While Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has effectively shown that nothing can be ruled out this winter, newly acquired Jay Bruce told reporters on a conference call following this week’s Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster that he’s been told he’ll be a Mariner in 2019 (Twitter link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Certainly, Dipoto could find an unexpected trade partner, but it seems that Bruce, 32 in April, will line up in the outfield alongside center fielder Mallex Smith and right fielder Mitch Haniger (assuming neither of them are traded themselves). For all of Seattle’s “re-imagining,” that trio could very well represent a fairly strong outfield mix if Bruce’s bat can return to its 2017 levels, when he hit .254/.324/.508 with 36 home runs.

Here’s more out of Seattle…

Carlos Santana’s future with the Mariners is not as set in stone, it seems. Jayson Stark of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Mariners have given off the sense that they’re “fine with holding onto Santana,” but they’ve also chatted with multiple other teams about the first baseman since his acquisition. Stark notes that the Phillies had a few teams interested before sending Santana to Seattle, so the Mariners should find interest as well, though they’ll surely need to absorb some of the $35MM he’s still owed on the final two years of his three-year, $60MM contract. Santana was loosely connected to the Twins before being traded to Seattle, and MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ran through a number of plausible landing spots for the veteran first baseman last month.
In a full column, Divish takes an exhaustive look at what could be next for the Mariners in their rebuild. Haniger’s name figures to be featured prominently on the rumor mill for the remainder of the offseason, particularly because he’s close to the same age as Segura — whom Dipoto suggested would be exiting his prime when the Mariners are fully hitting their stride again (thus the trade). However, Divish explains that the organization feels Haniger will age better “due to his dedicated, almost obsessive, commitment to preparation in the offseason and during the season.” He also examines the case for moving Dee Gordon, reporting that many scouts feel Gordon’s poor 2018 campaign was tied to a broken toe he suffered in May and spent much of the season playing through. The column provides an excellent look at the cases for and against trades of a number of other Mariners players and quite nicely depicts the myriad different avenues Dipoto and his staff could explore before the 2019 season begins.

AL West Notes: Mariners, Deetz, Rangers

By Steve Adams | September 5, 2018 at 1:35pm CDT

Tensions boiled over in the Mariners’ clubhouse yesterday, as a physical altercation broke out and briefly spilled beyond the closed doors where the media waited on the other side, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was among the many to report. According to Divish, Dee Gordon and Jean Segura may have been at the center of the quarrel after Gordon misplayed a ball in center field, though no players were willing to divulge any real details. Robinson Cano, one of the players who could be seen breaking up the skirmish, simply said following the incident that “Everybody’s good.”

Manager Scott Servais wasn’t in the clubhouse at the time but told reporters that such incidents are more common than most would think. “I played for 11 years in the big leagues and it’s almost every year with every team I’ve been a part of,” the manager explained. Seattle has fallen to 5.5 games back from a Wild Card spot as it attempts to end the game’s longest playoff drought. With a combined six games remaining against the Yankees and A’s, who currently hold those Wild Card spots, plus 10 games against the last-place Orioles, Padres and Rangers, there’s still time for the Mariners to turn things around.

Mariners Notes: Gonzales, Segura, Haniger, Cruz

By Mark Polishuk | September 2, 2018 at 6:23pm CDT

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).

Quick Hits: Soria, Renfroe, Gordon, Stanton

By Kyle Downing | August 9, 2018 at 8:44pm CDT

Joakim Soria suffered a mild right groin strain during the Brewers’ ninth-inning meltdown against the Padres today. Soria walked off the mound with an apparent injury after allowing a go-ahead grand slam to Hunter Renfroe. According to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, the malady was later described as a mild right groin strain. There’s no official word on the severity of the injury yet, so it’s not known at this time whether Soria will need to miss any games. The right-hander came over from the White Sox just prior to the trade deadline in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers: left-hander Kodi Medeiros and right-hander Wilber Perez.

Here are a few other small items from around the league this evening…

Speaking of Renfroe, the Padres outfielder has been on a tear of late. Including tonight’s grand slam off Soria, Renfroe’s slugged four homers in his past four games. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Tribune suggests that Renfroe’s performance could solidify an everyday spot in the lineup even after Wil Myers returns from the disabled list. That’s good news for the 26-year-old in the wake of today’s news that some of the young Padres outfielders are being intensely evaluated, but it’s also worth noting that Franmil Reyes also homered tonight; his third in his past four games. It will be interesting to see how the Padres address their corner outfield logjam this offseason, or if they choose to at all (Reyes and Renfroe both have minor league options remaining and can be stashed at Triple-A).
The Mariners moved Dee Gordon all the way down to ninth in the batting order in tonight’s game. That’s largely due to the speedster’s incredibly pedestrian offensive performance on the season. He’s hitting .280, but with just a .300 on-base and .343 slugging percentage. The biggest culprit to his lackluster showing is a paltry 1.5% walk rate that’s by far the lowest in the majors and approximately half the size of the next player on that list (Salvador Perez of the Royals). Though the plan right now seems to be for Robinson Cano to usurp some playing time from Ryon Healy when he returns from his suspension, it’s fair to wonder whether Gordon could rest in favor of Cano on occasion down the stretch, if he can’t figure out how to show more patience.
With his 121.7 MPH homer tonight off Rangers starter Ariel Jurado, Giancarlo Stanton broke a Statcast record. The Yankees’ headline offseason acquisition drilled the ball at a launch angle of 17 degrees, propelling it an estimated 449 feet. It’s officially the hardest-hit homer that Statcast has ever tracked. It’s part of a larger trend for Stanton, who has heated up after a somewhat average start to the season. The right-hander’s .308/.363/.561 batting line since the start of June is much more in line with what the Bombers had imagined when they took on the lion’s share of his contract from the Marlins this offseason.

Mariners Place Dee Gordon On 10-Day DL With Fractured Toe

By Jeff Todd | May 22, 2018 at 7:17pm CDT

7:17PM: Manager Scott Servais doesn’t believe Gordon will be out of action for too long, he told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media. “With his feet being such a big part of his game, we thought it was the best thing to do to let it calm down. It’s not going to completely heal in nine or 10 days, but certainly calm down enough to hopefully we can get him back sooner than later,” Servais said.

12:51PM: The Mariners announced today that outfielder/infielder Dee Gordon has been placed on the 10-day DL with a fractured big toe. He’ll be replaced on the active roster for the time being by first baseman Dan Vogelbach.

Just how long Gordon will be out is not yet known. The club says that he suffered the injury on May 9th and then reinjured it on Sunday.

This is the latest bit of unwelcome news for a Seattle organization that had just been forced into some juggling to account for an injury to and subsequent suspension of Robinson Cano. The loss of Cano had pushed the team to move Gordon back to second base.

Without Cano and Gordon, it seems the Mariners will need to roll with a combination of Gordon Beckham and Andrew Romine at second. That’s not exactly a compelling duo, though they will need to hold down the fort for a while. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently looked at the possible options outside the organization at the second-base position, but any significant trades likely won’t come together in the near future.

Latest On Mariners’ Plans At Second Base

By Kyle Downing | May 19, 2018 at 10:03am CDT

In his latest piece for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal suggests that the suspension of second baseman Robinson Cano has implications that could ripple beyond the 2018 season. Dee Gordon is expected to move from center field to second base in the interim, but could remain there even when Cano comes back, according to Rosenthal. At 35, Cano would soon be tabbed for at least part-time DH duties under normal circumstances. However, one thing that’s reportedly been staving off that possibility thus far is Cano’s goal to break Jeff Kent’s all-time record of 377 homers by a second baseman (he’s 73 bombs shy), while yet another factor is the presence of Nelson Cruz in the team’s full-time designated hitter role.

Both of those factors may not be of such significant impact next season, Rosenthal writes. Cruz has the potential to depart as a free agent after 2018, and the Mariners may not be so inclined to give Cano room in dictating his position following his violation of MLB’s Joint Drug Program. Cano, as readers probably know by now, received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a diuretic used to mask another performance-enhancing drug. That suspension will also prevent him from taking part in the postseason, which is a significant blow to a contending Mariners club.

Ideally, then, the Mariners’ objective should be to find a full-time center fielder or left fielder they can retain for multiple seasons, says Rosenthal. Such a player would effectively lock Gordon into second base for the foreseeable future, while pushing the aging Cano into a first base/designated hitter role in the latter years of his contract. Rosenthal lists Adam Duvall as a possible target for Seattle, but adds the disclaimer that the club has one of the worst farm systems in baseball and might have a difficult time acquiring the young left-fielder from Cincinnati.

On the other hand, as Bob Dutton of klay1180.com points out, it might be in the Mariners’ interests as a contender to keep Gordon in center field for the time being, unless the team can find a way to keep him at second even after Cano returns this season; a scenario that seems highly implausible with the presence of Cruz and Ryon Healy on the roster. Still, it’s hard to tell what the Mariners will do after half a season’s worth of games. From my perspective, it’s worth noting that the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline will have already come and gone by the time Cano is eligible to take the field again.

Following a series of disclaimers (including that guessing GM Jerry Dipoto’s potential targets is a “fool’s game”), Dutton lists some players who might be available at this year’s deadline, according to his sources. One obvious name is Adam Jones, who’s in the final year of his contract with an Orioles club that’s off to a disastrous 14-30 start. Other center fielders mentioned in Dutton’s blog entry include Billy Hamilton, Jon Jay and Denard Span, though on the surface none of those additions would seem worthy of forcing Cano into a role with reduced playing time.

More interesting is the pair of second baseman mentioned by Dutton. Scooter Gennett looks primed to repeat the surprise power numbers he put up with Cincinnati last season, and is controllable through 2019. Whit Merrifield, who can also play in the outfield, would be a longer-term piece and undoubtedly more difficult to acquire. In fact, I’d add that either target seems far fetched considering the Mariners’ lack of impact talent in the minor leagues.

Whatever the situation, it will certainly be interesting to see how Cano and the Mariners are impacted in 2018 and beyond. The club’s interest in contending this year and questions surrounding the roles of Gordon and Cano moving forward create an interesting juxtaposition, and it will be fascinating to watch Dipoto and co. attempt to solve the puzzle.

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