NEWSLETTER
Important update at the bottom.
I think we all knew that Seattle Mariners General Manager Jerry DiPoto wasn’t going to be quiet for long:
Source: #Mariners acquire Dee Gordon from #Marlins.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2017
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Seattle Mariners will acquire Dee Gordon from the Miami Marlins, though the return is not yet clear (see update below). So, yes, the Marlins have finally started to shed some payroll, just not in the form of Giancarlo Stanton yet.
Of course, if you’re familiar with the Mariners, you know that they already have a pretty decent second baseman – eight-time All-Star Robinson Cano – which could mean Gordon could find himself playing a new position for his new team in 2018.
In fact, Rosenthal confirms a report from Jim Bowden that Gordon will play center field for the Mariners next season. It will be quite the shift for Gordon, who was a Gold Glove second baseman for the Marlins in 2015.
Mariners center fielders slashed .238/.303/.334 with a .280 wOBA that ranked 29th last season, while Gordon posted a .308/.341/.375 slash line with a .312 in 695 plate appearances. He also swiped 60 bases.
The start of the Marlins’ quest to trim payroll begins with the team sending the $38 million guaranteed remaining on Gordon’s contract. That total could move to $52 million if the team picks a club option of $14 million in 2021.
In terms of Shohei Ohtani market-implications (I know you want to go there), I’m just not sure how we could derive too much from this, so I’m not going to. Instead, just take this as an interesting trade of a pretty big name player in a market that’s otherwise been mostly stalled by Stanton and Ohtani. Yeah, scratch this and see update II.
UPDATE: And just like that, some details of the return emerge:
RHP Nick Neidert, #Mariners’ 2nd-round pick in 2015, heading to #Marlins, per source. First: @Jim_BowdenSXM.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2017
Marlins get Dugger Torres and neidert for Dee
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 7, 2017
UPDATE II: Uh oh. This actually changes things quite a bit.
Source: as part of the Gordon deal, the Marlins also send $1M in international pool money to the Mariners.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 7, 2017
The Mariners, having just traded for an extra $1M last night too, now have $3.557 million in international bonus money, which they can offer to Ohtani, giving them the largest bonus pool of the seven remaining finalists. This deal may, in fact, have had Ohtani in mind and this isn’t particularly good news for the Cubs.
Mariners: $3.557 million
Rangers: $3.53 million
Angels: $2.315 million
Giants – capped at $300K
Padres – capped at $300K
Cubs – capped at $300K
Dodgers – capped at $300K
They’re on the West Coast, they have a DH, they’re adding talent, and, right now, they can offer Ohtani the most money.
Michael Cerami has contributed to this post.
