Mariners Rumors

Mariners Acquire Mark Trumbo In Six-Player Deal

By Steve Adams | June 3, 2015 at 6:34pm CDT

With an offense that is again struggling to score runs in Seattle and a logjam of corner outfield types in Arizona, the Diamondbacks and Mariners have agreed to a rare, significant early-June trade that will send Mark Trumbo from Arizona to Seattle, the teams announced. Left-hander Vidal Nuno is also heading to the Mariners, who will send catcher Welington Castillo, right-hander Dominic Leone and prospects Gabby Guerrero and Jack Reinheimer to the D-Backs.

From the Mariners’ perspective, Trumbo will add significant power to a lineup that has struggled to score runs, as they rank 28th in the Majors with 191 runs. However, Seattle has thrived as a collective unit against left-handed pitching, which is where Trumbo does most of his damage. The 29-year-old is a lifetime .263/.311/.528 hitter against southpaws but owns a more pedestrian .242/.293/.444 line against same-handed pitching. Despite questionable OBP skills and his so-so numbers against right-handed pitching, Trumbo does figure to make the Mariners’ offense more formidable, though it may come at the cost of some defensive value. The acquisition of Trumbo also forces the team to either displace Logan Morrison at first base or utilize one of Trumbo or Nelson Cruz in the corner outfield, where both are regarded as defensive liabilities. Trumbo, who is earning $6.9MM in 2015 and is under team control through 2016 via the arbitration process.

Looking at the trade from Arizona’s perspective, it’s not difficult to see why the team felt the need to move Trumbo. The signing of Yasmany Tomas this offseason gave them a pair of slow-footed corner outfielders whose most appealing asset was right-handed pop. The D-Backs have been playing Tomas at third base while highly regarded prospect Jake Lamb is on the disabled list, but Lamb is nearing a return, and Tomas’ defensive work in the infield has not been particularly strong. With this move, Tomas can shift to right field in Trumbo’s place, joining A.J. Pollock and a combination of Ender Inciarte and David Peralta in the outfield. The move also saves the D-Backs some significant money; Trumbo is owed $4.68MM for the remainder of the 2015 season, compared to Castillo’s $1.43MM, making for a total savings of about $3.25MM.

Nuno has been told that he will be joining the Mariners’ rotation, the lefty himself told reporters, including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has struggled throughout his brief MLB career as a starter, but he’s pitched quite well in a long relief capacity for Arizona this season, posting a 1.88 ERA with a 19-to-5 K/BB ratio in 14 1/3 innings. Of course, that small sample consists of just three appearances, and Nuno’s larger body of work is relatively suspect. He’s tallied 196 innings at the Major League level between the Yankees and Diamondbacks, posting a 4.13 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 38.1 percent ground-ball rate.

As a fly-ball pitcher, his first stint in an expansive, pitcher-friendly environment figures to benefit Nuno, but his peripheral profile doesn’t exactly indicate that he’s been the recipient of much poor luck. Metrics such as FIP (4.36), xFIP (4.15) and SIERA (3.97) all feel that Nuno’s ERA are more or less reflective of his talent level. The Mariners will hope that he can produce improved results in a more favorable setting, however, and if not, he seems like he could at least be a useful bullpen piece. Nuno has stifled opposing lefties to this point in his career, yielding just .191/.271/.317 batting line in 190 plate appearances. The Mariners will be able to control him through the 2019 season.

Castillo is the most established player headed back to Arizona in the trade, and he will pair with Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the dish to form the D-Backs’ new catching tandem. That’s a far more established duo than Tuffy Gosewisch and Jordan Pacheco, who have handled the bulk of Arizona’s catching duties this season. Arizona GM Dave Stewart stated on multiple occasions this offseason that he had no intent of adding a catcher, and he held to his word through Opening Day, but he’s since seen Gosewisch go down for the year due to a torn ACL, while a back injury has ended veteran Gerald Laird’s season. Rule 5 pickup Oscar Hernandez is on the shelf as well, creating an even larger dearth of catching options for the Diamondbacks.

Arizona values prospect Peter O’Brien’s bat quite a bit, but scouts have long questioned whether or not he can handle catching from a defensive standpoint. Late in Spring Training, those questions became even more pronounced when O’Brien developed an issue throwing the ball back to the mound. He’s seen more time in the corner outfield this season at Triple-A than he has behind the plate.

Therefore, Castillo and Saltalamacchia give the Diamondbacks a more experienced tandem without forcing them to try O’Brien at catcher before he is ready (if he ever is). Castillo is a career .250/.316/.392 hitter that posted a combined 105 OPS+ from 2012-13 before taking a step back in 2014. All told, his bat has been about five percent below the league average over the course of his career, which is solid offensive output from a catcher. Castillo has also caught an above-average 30 percent of attempted base stealers in his career, though like Saltalamacchia, he does not grade out well in terms of pitch-framing metrics. Castillo is under team control through the 2017 season.

In Leone, the Diamondbacks will acquire a 23-year-old reliever who was dominant in his 2014 rookie campaign but has struggled to repeat that success. Leone emerged from out of nowhere in 2014 to post a 2.17 ERA with 9.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 54.7 percent ground-ball rate in 66 1/3 innings for the Mariners. Both FIP and xFIP pegged him at 3.07, while SIERA was more bullish at 2.81. Entering the 2015 season, Leone looked like a potential long-term bullpen cog. However, he’s seen his control erode dramatically, issuing nine walks in 11 1/3 innings against just seven strikeouts. The 94.6 mph he averaged on his heater in 2014 has dropped to 93.3 mph, leading to further cause for concern. His ERA to this point is a sky-high 6.35, while ERA estimators peg him for a mark in the 5.40 to 5.80 range. Put simply, Leone is a reclamation project for the Diamondbacks, but if he can return to anything close to his 2014 output, he’d be one of the most effective pieces in Arizona’s relief corps, if not the most effective piece.

Guerrero, 21, is the best prospect in the deal, despite a rough year at Double-A so far (.215/.262/.305). The nephew of famed slugger Vladimir Guerrero, Gabby has ranked among the Mariners’ Top 15 prospects in each of the past three offseasons, topping out at seventh this past winter. In their most recent scouting report, BA noted that Guerrero has plus-plus raw power, a plus-plus arm in right field (sound familiar?) and plus range as well, but he’s overly aggressive at the plate and swings too hard too often. Guerrero has baseball in his genes and is a high-risk, high-reward type of prospect; BA and other outlets such as MLB.com (where he ranks fifth among Mariners prospects) and Fangraphs (eighth) all feel that he could ultimately be an everyday right fielder, but the likelihood isn’t great without adjustments to his approach.

The 22-year-old Reinheimer reached Double-A for the first time this season and has slashed .277/.323/.351 thus far. Ranked as Seattle’s No. 17 prospect by BA, he also ranks 19th per Fangraphs and 14th per MLB.com. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis at MLB.com call Reinheimer a singles hitter at the moment, noting that he has above-average speed and the range/arm to handle shortstop defensively. Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs agrees for the most part and comps him to Mariners shortstop Chris Taylor, noting that there’s very little power and a utility player might be the ultimate outcome.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that Trumbo and Nuno had been traded to Seattle in exchange for Castillo, Leone and two prospects (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Notes: Gallo, Plouffe, Rondon, Mariners

By Jeff Todd | June 2, 2015 at 9:40am CDT

The Rangers made an aggressive move in bringing up top prospect Joey Gallo, even if it promises to be short-lived, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News discusses what it means. It could be that the club truly believes that Gallo is ready, in spite of the fact that his huge power has been accompanied by a sizable strikeout rate. More likely, as GM Jon Daniels suggested, is that the big league club can not only use Gallo for the interim, but provides a good current environment for him to get his first taste of the bigs. “The deciding factor was that we are really confident in the environment, the culture and the clubhouse,” Daniels explained. “It’s a good spot for a young player. We have a lot of confidence in our staff and in the value sitting next to Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder and learning.”

Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe is off to a nice start, sporting a 135 wRC+ at the plate and continuing to look like at least an average defender at third after struggling earlier in his career. While Miguel Sano is waiting in the wings, he could still end up moving off of the hot corner. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN wonders (Twitter link) whether there is an extension format that would make sense for both Minnesota and Plouffe. He should be in line for a hefty raise over his $4.8MM salary, and can be controlled for the 2017 season as well, meaning that the club would likely need to plunk some really money down to get a deal done.
Righty Bruce Rondon is finally nearing activation for the Tigers, which presents some welcome roster complications, as James Schmehl of MLive.com reports. Detroit will certainly hope that Rondon and his big-time stuff can help anchor the club’s pen at some point this year, but Schmehl says it’s possible he won’t head straight to the big leagues even when he’s ready physically. The three candidates for demotion — Angel Nesbitt, Alex Wilson, and Al Alburquerque — all have options, so there’s plenty of flexibility.
While it’s not clear how much urgency there is at this point on the calendar, the Mariners are “trying” to add an arm, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune tweets in response to a reader. Seattle’s staff has produced middle-of-the-road results on the whole, but some notable struggles (Taijuan Walker and Fernando Rodney both have allowed over six earned runs per nine) and injuries (Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton) have opened some space for an addition.

AL West Notes: Kazmir, Angels, Mariners, Correa

By Steve Adams | May 27, 2015 at 7:30pm CDT

Athletics left-hander Scott Kazmir left today’s start against the Tigers with soreness in his throwing shoulder, and manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the game that Kazmir is undergoing an MRI (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jane Lee). It’s not known at this time whether or not Kazmir will require a stint on the disabled list, but as an impending free agent and a potential trade target, that status of Kazmir is one that could have significant impact on storylines around the game in the coming months. To this point in the season, Kazmir has been brilliant, notching a 2.93 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate in 58 1/3 inning. Kazmir is earning $11MM in the second and final season of a two-year, $22MM contract.

Here’s more from the AL West…

Following the Angels’ trade for Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Marc Krauss could find himself headed back to Triple-A, but the team could also place Collin Cowgill on the disabled list, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. Gonzalez’s notebook post looks at several roster situations for the Angels, including the team’s uncertain second base situation and the injury status of right-hander Mike Morin, who doesn’t sound to be returning anytime soon. Morin will miss “weeks, not days,” per manager Mike Scioscia.
The Mariners have been operating with a six-man bullpen for a couple of days as a means of delaying the need to make a decision on the team’s veterans, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Delaying a move by even a few days gave the Mariners time to further examine trade possibilities, Dutton notes, but they’ll soon need to add a reliever to the mix. Candidates include Lucas Luetge, Mayckol Guaipe and Kevin Gregg, though Gregg would require a 40-man roster move and force the team’s hand even sooner. Players currently at risk, Dutton writes, are Rickie Weeks, Willie Bloomquist, Justin Ruggiano and Dustin Ackley. It seems highly unlikely that the Mariners would do something as drastic as designating Ackley for assignment, but if they’re truly exploring trade possibilities, he’d likely have the most appeal of the four players listed by Dutton. One way to buy a bit more time would be to option Chris Taylor back to Triple-A to make room for a reliever that’s already on the 40-man roster.
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle that there will be no second-guessing on when the team should have brought up top prospect Carlos Correa, regardless of how the season ends. Luhnow says that despite Correa’s gaudy numbers at Triple-A, he’s still benefiting from the time there, as he’s being exposed to more offspeed pitches than ever before and being forced to make adjustments within at-bats. Luhnow said that even in an extreme scenario such as missing the playoffs by one game, there would be too many factors — managerial moves, daily roster decisions, player performances — to say whether or not promoting Correa early would’ve altered the course of the season.

AL West Notes: Castillo, Jackson, Parker, Gonzalez, Pujols

By Steve Adams | May 20, 2015 at 10:24pm CDT

Though his role with the Cubs had diminished, Welington Castillo was still “shocked” to learn he’d been traded to the Mariners, he tells Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times: “I wasn’t expecting it. Now I’m here. It was a long day yesterday. Now I’m here and ready to go. I’m really excited to be here.” Castillo discusses the sometimes overlooked difficulty of being traded for a catcher, as he’s already been informed that he’ll be behind the dish for Thursday’s matinee, leaving him scarce time to get to know starter J.A. Happ, whom he’ll catch for the first time in his career. “I’m going to go and sit and watch video with him and go over the lineup, ask him, ‘what do you want to do, what do you like to do? What’s your first pitch? What’s your last pitch? What’s the pitch you throw behind in the count for a strike?’” Castillo is excited for the opportunity to play more, as even though he won’t be Seattle’s everyday option at catcher — that honor will still go to Mike Zunino — he should now pick up a couple of starts per week. With the Cubs, Castillo had just 47 plate appearances on the season.

Mariners Sign Kevin Gregg

By Jeff Todd | May 20, 2015 at 4:13pm CDT

The Marines have signed righty Kevin Gregg to a minor league deal, the team announced (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, on Twitter). He will head to Triple-A, taking the place of the recently-traded Yoervis Medina in the Tacoma pen.

Gregg, 36, was designated recently by the Reds after opening the year with a prominent role in the Cincinnati pen. He struck out 14 batters in his 10 2/3 innings, walking five in the process, but nevertheless scuffled to a 10.13 ERA.

Over parts of 13 years in the big leagues, Gregg has posted 720 1/3 innings and averaged a 4.24 ERA. His best stretch came in the 2007-2010 time frame, when he closed for the Marlins, Cubs, and Blue Jays. (Since, he has also functioned in a 9th-inning capacity for the Orioles and again in Chicago.)

Minor Moves: Baker, Pimentel, Francis

By Jeff Todd | May 20, 2015 at 3:53pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves:

It appears that the Mariners have released veteran backstop John Baker, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (via Twitter). Obviously, Seattle just added an additional catcher to its organization with the acquisition of Welington Castillo. Baker, 34, has hit just .161/.185/.194 in 65 plate appearances this year with Tacoma. He has seen big league action in seven seasons.
The Rangers have assigned right-handed reliever Stolmy Pimentel to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. Texas will no doubt be pleased to retain the rights to the 25-year-old, who owns a 3.97 ERA over 11 1/3 innings on the year. Pimentel has seen his strikeout numbers plummet from double figures last year to just 5.6 per nine thus far in 2015.
Blue Jays lefty Jeff Francis has cleared outright waivers and is expected to report to Triple-A, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The 34-year-old has given up nine earned runs over 12 innings thus far, though he has struck out 15 opposing batters while walking five.

West Notes: Washington, Murphy, Castillo

By Jeff Todd | May 20, 2015 at 12:09pm CDT

The Athletics have hired former Rangers manager Ron Washington as a special instructor, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and MLB.com’s Jane Lee (via Twitter) report. Washington, the club’s former infield coach, will not unseat current infield coach Mike Gallego. But he will work with the club’s big league players — particularly shortstop Marcus Semien, who paces the league with 15 errors thus far. Washington, of course, resigned from Texas late last year in rather dramatic fashion. He recently worked on the staff of the University of New Orleans.

Here’s more from out west:

In other coaching news, the Padres have reportedly declined to allow Triple-A manager Pat Murphy to depart the organization to take a major league coaching job with the Brewers, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports analyzes the decision. Though San Diego sources tell Rosenthal that the club simply wants to retain a valued employee while avoiding early-season turmoil at their top affiliate, others around the game tell him that the move is highly unusual because heading to Milwaukee would have constituted a promotion. That has led to some speculation that the Padres see Murphy as a potential coach at the MLB level — if not even a replacement option for current big league skipper Bud Black. “(Murphy) must have been made promises — big ones,” a rival executive tells Rosenthal.
Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik and manager Lloyd McClendon each addressed the team’s acquisition of catcher Welington Castillo yesterday, as MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports. “It’s very challenging in this day and age to have catching depth,” said Zduriencik. “To add a catcher that has a reasonable amount of Major League experience is important to the entire organization.” McClendon, meanwhile, echoed the notion of adding depth and also emphasized that the team had no plans to insert him as the starter: “His playing time will be predicated by Zunino’s performance on the field,” McClendon said. “We’re not fooling anybody here. Mike Zunino is our everyday catcher.”

Mariners Acquire Welington Castillo From Cubs For Yoervis Medina

By Jeff Todd | May 19, 2015 at 8:19am CDT

The Mariners have agreed to acquire catcher Welington Castillo from the Cubs in exchange for right-handed reliever Yoervis Medina, the clubs announced. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported the deal on Twitter.

Castillo, who only recently turned 28, has long seemed one of the more likely players in the game to be dealt — as I explained in breaking him down as a trade candidate back in March. Over the offseason, the Cubs dealt for Miguel Montero and signed David Ross to back him up, leaving Castillo without an obvious role.

Indeed, Castillo has only appeared behind the plate in nine games thus far, though he’s managed to see 47 plate appearances due to pinch-hitting duties. Regardless of his role, Castillo has struggled this year, slashing just .163/.234/.349. Of course, a .172 BABIP surely is not helping. And while Castillo carries a hefty 14.3% infield fly rate, he is also credited with more hard-hit balls than he has historically produced.

As always, there’s a deeper track record to consider. All said, Castillo has been an approximately league-average hitter over his career, which is certainly useful for a backstop. And he has at times shown something more, putting up a composite .271/.345/.404 line across the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

The real questions with Castillo seem to be on the other side of the ledger, though that is not entirely borne out by the numbers. He has never rated very highly in the pitch-framing department, but receives strong marks for his arm and pitch-blocking.

He is far from a perfect player, of course, which is presumably why the Cubs sought out replacements. But there is a lot to like about Castillo, who is playing on a $2.1MM salary this year and can be controlled for two more seasons through arbitration.

From the Mariners perspective, this deal provides the club with a long-term partner for incumbent Mike Zunino, who figures to lose some playing time after a rather active start to the year. Seattle has received scant production from its backstops: Zunino himself owns a meager .179/.241/.348 slash, though he has hit five long balls, while Jesus Sucre has just one hit in 16 turns at bat.

On the Cubs side of the ledger, Medina seemingly represents a buy-low arm of the sort that the team has targeted in recent years with some frequency. Though the 26-year-old has struggled with just 6.8 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9 this year — the walks are nothing new, though he had struck out better than nine hitters per nine innings in prior years — he still owns a 3.00 ERA in his 12 innings of work. And Medina has compiled 125 innings of 2.81 ERA pitching over the prior two seasons.

Medina has exhibited some rather significant velocity loss this year, dropping from last year’s 94-95 mph range down to 92.4 mph with both his four-seamer and two-seamer thus far in 2015. In addition to a quality sinker, which he went away from this year, Medina also features a rather promising curveball. That offspeed offering rated as one of the best in the game back in 2013 and continues to generate positive (albeit less excellent) results, at least by measure of Pitch F/X pitch value.

Chicago can and will stash Medina in Triple-A while attempting to work on his control issues and waiting for a need to arise. With two years of MLB service entering the season, Medina had figured to quality for arbitration next year, but that could well be in doubt at this point (though he’ll also have a chance at Super Two status if he doesn’t reach three years of service). All said, then, Chicago will control Medina for at least three and potentially four seasons after this one.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cherington Denies Bradley/Furbush Rumor

By Mark Polishuk | May 15, 2015 at 12:31pm CDT

MAY 15: Red Sox GM Ben Cherington says there’s no truth to that trade proposal, Edes tweets. He adds that a member of one of the involved clubs was the source on his info.

MAY 14: The Mariners turned down a trade offer from the Red Sox in the spring that would’ve seen outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. go to Seattle in exchange for left-handed reliever Charlie Furbush, ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes reports (Twitter link).

Moving Bradley would’ve helped clear up the outfield surplus that the Sox are still dealing with, though there’s been less of a logjam for playing time than expected given some injuries and a few underperforming players. Furbush has posted solid numbers since 2012 and you have to think he would’ve upgraded a Boston bullpen that entered today with the second-lowest fWAR of any relief corps in the game. That said, Furbush’s 1.86 ERA this season is belied by some shaky peripherals numbers (.185 BABIP, 4.37 xFIP, 3.89 SIERA) so perhaps he might’ve struggled at Fenway Park. Furbush is on a one-year, $1.3MM deal and still has two remaining years of arbitration eligibility.

Offering Bradley for a good-but-not-elite setup reliever would’ve seemed unthinkable a year ago, when the outfielder was considered one of the consensus top prospects in the game. Over 530 MLB plate appearances in 2013-14, however, Bradley hit a measly .196/.268/.280, posting the second-lowest wRC+ (51) of any player in that stretch with at least 500 PA. The Sox have already seemed to have moved on to Mookie Betts as their center fielder of the future and signed Rusney Castillo to a $72.5MM contract.

It’s hard to see Bradley’s hitting numbers improving with a move to the notoriously pitcher-friendly Safeco Field, and clearly the Mariners had enough concern about his bat that they weren’t willing to pull the trigger on an ex-top prospect who is controllable through 2019. Bradley has shown himself to be a phenomenal defender, and could’ve potentially been a long-term answer in center with Austin Jackson scheduled for free agency after the season.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Center Fielders

By Jeff Todd | May 14, 2015 at 11:56am CDT

With more than a fifth of the season in the books, we’ve had an early look (a peek, really) into where things may be headed on next winter’s free agent market. One of the most interesting positions to watch, in my estimation, is center field, where there are several players who had a lot to prove coming into the season.

There figure to be several clubs looking at adding new, mid-term or long-term options. The Indians, Mariners, Rangers, Athletics, Rangers, Cubs, and Padres all look like fairly good bets to at least dabble in the market at center. Depending upon how things shake out, it is not impossible to imagine that clubs like the Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros, Cardinals, and Giants could be as well.

Looking at MLBTR’s 2016 free agent list, which documents the players currently on track to qualify for the open market, a small group stands out as possible starting-caliber options. The trio is particularly interesting because they were so tightly bunched coming into the season — all looking to be solidly average to above-average performers, depending on one’s particular viewpoint. (Note: I’m not considering Colby Rasmus here because he has spent most of his time in the corner outfield this year. But he could also figure into the mix.)

Let’s see where things stand:

Value up: Denard Span, Nationals.

After missing the spring and early part of the season following core muscle surgery, Span needed more than ever to show that he could repeat last year’s excellent campaign. Things are certainly pointing up in the early going, as he owns a .316/.375/.532 slash over 88 turns at bat.

While it’s obviously unlikely that he’ll maintain that kind of power output — his current .215 ISO is more than double than his career 108 mark — Span is driving the ball consistently, as he did in 2014, while posting an impeccable strikeout-to-walk ratio. His .310 BABIP actually trails his career levels slightly, so it seems that quality contact is driving the early productivity.

Overall regression is almost certainly in store, but the early returns serve to confirm that Span is a quality top-of-the-order bat and, perhaps more importantly, that he is healthy. Span will need to keep things up in both regards after entering the year with injury questions and as the elder member (31 years of age) of the group considered in this post. Of course, he could stand to see a boost in his somewhat lagging early defensive ratings (which seem to belie the perceptions of some around the game) and his stolen base tallies, but the arrow is pointing up overall and he’s done the most to increase his stock.

Value neutral: Dexter Fowler, Cubs.

While his walks are down somewhat early, Fowlers continues to deliver solid results at the plate with a fairly typical .262/.345/.397 batting line. He has shown more at times, but that lands firmly within expectations. More promisingly, the 29-year-old has swiped eight bags already and is on pace for career highs in that arena, though he has been caught three times as well.

The major talent assessment question with Fowler is his defense in center. He has spent much of his time in tough-to-patrol outfields — Coors Field and Minute Maid Park — and rated terribly at the position last year (tallying negative 20 Defensive Runs Saved and negative 21.8 UZR on the year). That has turned around somewhat in a still-small sample this year in Chicago, with Fowler posting positive UZR marks (10.7 UZR/15) while receiving a less-glowing -3 DRS rating.

All said, the early speed and defense returns rate as good signs for Fowler, and the results at the plate have done nothing to detract from his appeal. You could argue, then, that his value is slightly on the rise. If nothing else, Fowler seems a reasonable target at center, after entering the year with the possibility that he’d be viewed more as a corner option. Some clubs may still end up seeing him that way, of course, especially as it is really too soon to draw much from defensive numbers. All said, Fowler’s value is largely holding steady at the present time.

Value down: Austin Jackson, Mariners.

Jackson looked like a nice get for the Mariners at last year’s trade deadline, but has been a significant disappointment thus far in Seattle. He just turned 28 a few months back, but 2015 has continued a troubling downturn in his overall productivity.

Over 339 plate appearances with the M’s, Jackson has put up a meager .233/.275/.280 line with two home runs. He has added a healthy 16 stolen bases over that stretch, but that’s hardly enough to offset concerns. To be sure, Jackson’s .284 BABIP is due for some positive regression — his career mark sits at .351 and he’s never ended a professional season below last year’s .325 — and his strikeout/walk numbers are in line with career norms. But he is making more weak contact than ever before while hitting more groundballs (50%) this year than is his custom.

Jackson still rates as a solid average center fielder and seems to have the legs to maintain that going forward. His current DL stint with a sprained ankle is probably not cause for any long-term concern, and may even afford him a chance to work on his difficulties if he takes a short rehab stint. But the sub-.100 ISO he has carried over this season and last has significantly reduced his appeal. There’s plenty of time for a turnaround, but Jackson is trending down at present.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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