Offseason 2016-17

[SeattleCoug]

No Cishek? Interesting.

From what I've heard he is probably starting on the DL. If not I would have in there tho

 

[NWinAZ]

From what I've heard he is probably starting on the DL. If not I would have in there tho

Ah, gotcha, I thought you were going bold on us...lol.

 

[NWinAZ]

SEATTLE — With another flurry of dealing Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners filled out their rotation — and their roster — by acquiring left-hander Drew Smyly from Tampa Bay for three players after first executing a set-up deal with Atlanta.

“We have been clear that one of our top priorities this offseason was to continue to bolster our starting rotation,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “Today’s moves allowed us to add an experienced pitcher to our starting group.

“Drew took the ball 30 times last season, threw over 175 innings and is a proven performer in the American League. He’s a good fit for our club.”

Smyly, 27, is a five-year veteran who slipped last season to 7-12 with a 4.88 ERA in 30 starts, but he is 31-27 with a 3.74 ERA throughout his career while averaging 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

“He fits our ballpark well,” Dipoto said. “He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher with low walks and high strikeouts who, in our ballpark with our improved defense, fits us like a glove.”

Smyly completes a rotation still headed by right-hander Felix Hernandez and including lefty James Paxton and right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma along with righty Yovani Gallardo, obtained last Friday from Baltimore for outfielder Seth Smith.

“We now have five experienced starters,” Dipoto said, “all of whom have done it in our league. We particularly like the fact that none of those guys is on a one-year deal. We do have control for at least two years for each of our five starters.”

To get Smyly, the Mariners had to pry outfielder Mallex Smith away from the Braves in an earlier deal that also netted hard-throwing righty reliever Shae Simmons for two minor-league lefties: Luiz Gohara and Thomas Burrows.

The Mariners then packaged Smith with two minor-league players, infielder Carlos Vargas and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, in the trade to obtain Smyly.

“The combination of events today with the two trades made this possible,” Dipoto said. “Frankly, we spent a ton of time with Atlanta through the course of the offseason in trying to acquire Mallex Smith.

“Once we made the (earlier offseason) additions of (Mitch) Haniger and Jarrod Dyson, that made Mallex a little more of a repetitive player for us. But we able to connect the dots on this trade as result of staying in touch with those two teams.”

The two moves forced the Mariners to make one corresponding space-clearing move on their 40-man roster, which they achieved by designating right-handed pitcher Cody Martin for assignment.

Martin, 27, was 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA last season in nine big-league games but spent most of the season at Triple-A Tacoma, where he was 10-7 with a 3.62 ERA in 25 games.

Dipoto said the Mariners are likely to be quiet for the remainder of the offseason after adding 18 newcomers to their 40-man roster since the season ended. That turnover includes 11 trades involving 30 players.

“You may not hear from us again,” he said. “I am 100 percent certain that we will now look at minor-league deals, bringing guys in to compete in camp for bench roles or depth roles.

“I think what you see is what you get. This is our team.”

Smyly is eligible for arbitration and, according to industry projections, in line to make about $7 million. He made $3.75 million in 2016, but he was the guy the Mariners had long pursued.

“I have probably spent more time throughout the course of our offseason,” Dipoto said, “in trying to acquire Drew Smyly than any other thing that we’ve done. … We focused on his from the get-go.”

Simmons, 26, has two options remaining but projects as a strong candidate to win a bullpen job after returning to form last season after missing 2015 while recovering from Tommy John surgery on his elbow.

“By season’s end,” Dipoto said, “he was back in the big leagues. He’s going to throw the ball 96-to-100 miles an hour. He’s got a wipeout slider. He has a strong history of striking them out. We’re really excited to plug him in.”

Simmons reached the majors in 2014 and compiled a 2.91 ERA in 26 games before suffering an elbow injury. He had a 1.96 ERA last season in 19 minor-league outings and yielded one run over 6 2/3 innings in seven big-league games.

The move to acquire Smyly further positions swingman Ariel Miranda to return to the bullpen to serve as the unit’s second lefty.

The cost wasn’t cheap.

Gohara, 20, was recently ranked by Baseball America as the Mariners’ top pitching prospect after going 7-2 with a 1.81 ERA last season in 13 starts at Short-A Everett (three) and Low-A Clinton (10).

“He was one of our more talented pitching prospects in terms of physical upside,” Dipoto said, “but we were willing to spend that for a guy who fits into the middle of our rotation and a bullpen piece in Shae Simmons who we feel can really make an impact for us.”

Yarbrough, 25, was the Southern League pitcher of the year last season after going 12-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 25 starts at Double-A Jackson. The Mariners deemed him expendable after bolstering their pitching depth in recent months.

Burrows, 22, was 0-1 with six saves and a 2.55 ERA in 20 appearances at Everett after being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Vargas, 17, began his pro career last season in the Dominican Summer League.

 

[navamind]

not sure what to make of Smyly honestly... the extremely low ground ball rate and home run tendencies are kind of scary.

 

[dude82]

Looks like Dipoto continues to take the Schneider/Carroll approach to roster shaping with all these moves. Nice mix of veterans and young guys too. If we can keep the injuries to a minimum and finally get guys like Zunino and Paxton to perform the way they're capable of performing for a full season, hopefully we'll be talking playoffs 9 months from now and fewer opposing fan stadium takeovers during the season.

 

[JMR]

Sorta surprised by the Smyly trade because I thought Miranda did well last year and was probably going to stick in the rotation. Now we have 6 starters for 5 spots, setting the table for some decent competition at ST and maybe an insurance policy against some sort of inevitable booboo for Paxton.

If this team isn't good this year, it sure wont be for lack of trying on the part of JD. Lots of new faces and names to learn by April....

 

[unlvmariners]

Interesting trades. I am actually starting to like the depth at SP. I think adding a guy like Smyly is huge for this rotation and makes the Gallardo addition a better move imo than it appeared initially. The way things sit right now I am happy with what Dipoto has done thus far. I really don't think there is much more to do in the way of the 25 man.

 

[EVille3]

I am ecstatic that Dipoto has transitioned this team from a power and awful defensive team to a strong defense, speed at the top and manufacturing runs team. This style of play is much more sustainable and consistent opposed to just waiting on the long ball. The team still has ample power, but with the additions this off-season, I feel more sustainable success is ahead.

 

[wazzu31]

Damn, this year Ill actually have to read through the programs for their bios and stuff. A crap ton of moves and none of them involved O'Neill, can't ask for much more.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Fangraphs has them as an 84 win team now. Sounds about right Tied for 4th in the AL behind Boston, Cleveland and Houston.

 

[dude82]

Ryan Divish posted the Mariners payroll commitments from this year through 2023 on Facebook (and probably twitter). I'd post it here, but he put it on google docs and I don't know if a spreadsheet would format correctly here. Anyway... all told, it looks like the payroll for 2017 is around $146 million at the moment, not counting arbitration numbers, league minimums and all that fun stuff.

 

[cezero]

angsty seahawks fans who pretend they know something about baseball incoming

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

angsty seahawks fans who pretend they know something about baseball incoming

lol, I don't try to pretend to know more about baseball on here. Few of you guys are way too on the up and up with the Ms.

That said though, time to switch gears to baseball I guess...

 

[cezero]

i was being silly, really. nobody who posts on here regularly is in that camp, imo. i was talking more in general than on here.

 

[wazzu31]

i was being silly, really. nobody who posts on here regularly is in that camp, imo. i was talking more in general than on here.

The Mariners could desperately use pissed off Seahawks fans money, could benefit in the 2018 free agency.

 

[cezero]

The Mariners could desperately use pissed off Seahawks fans money, could benefit in the 2018 free agency.

How much revenue will the M's make off a few thousand people pretending to care about baseball until the first 2-game losing streak...at Spring Training?

 

[cezero]

Some tidbits heading into spring:

 

[JMR]

How much revenue will the M's make off a few thousand people pretending to care about baseball until the first 2-game losing streak...at Spring Training?

I'm looking forward to the monthly declarations of the season's end in June, July and August.

 

[wazzu31]

How much revenue will the M's make off a few thousand people pretending to care about baseball until the first 2-game losing streak...at Spring Training?

Eh, they've tried luring in worse crowds to the stadium. I'd take bandwagon Seahawks fans over dogs, hippies, the grandma's on sewing night that take an hour to get up the aisle, the eBay or whatever Internet selling freaks who shove every one down to get a stupid ass bobble head.

 

[cezero]

Eh, they've tried luring in worse crowds to the stadium. I'd take bandwagon Seahawks fans over dogs, hippies, the grandma's on sewing night that take an hour to get up the aisle, the eBay or whatever Internet selling freaks who shove every one down to get a stupid ass bobble head.

for sure.

i was just being silly.

m's aren't really that unhealthy financially, though. i think forbes had them near the top 10 for value and revenue.