It’s not that exciting, but it’s the kind of trade you see from time to time in January, after free agency has mostly sorted out, and teams start becoming realistic with each other about their needs. The “good old fashioned baseball trade”:
The #Mariners have acquired RHP Yovani Gallardo and cash from Baltimore in exchange for OF Seth Smith.
Read: https://t.co/NduZ3zayKY pic.twitter.com/BVJTY9ECBg
— MarinersPR (@MarinersPR) January 6, 2017
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Gallardo, 30, made just 23 starts in his debut season with the Orioles, and posted terrible numbers in the process. He’s due $11 million in 2017 (with a $13 million team option for 2018, with a $2 million buyout), though it looks like the Orioles will be paying some of that.
Smith, 34, will make $7 million in 2017 before reaching free agency. He won’t offer you too much in the way of defense, but the bat has been consistently solid for a good long while now against righties. As a platoon bat, he can do some things. For the Orioles, it means even more opportunity to sit out free agency, and it could mean one fewer potential landing spot for the many bat-only types still available.
Ta-da. A baseball trade.