Yankees looking to move Brett Gardner

[seahawksfan234]

I'd love for the Mariners to try to trade for him.

I feel as if he's one of the most underrated players in MLB right now, he fits the mold of what Dipoto is trying to build with the club. Gardner plays good defense, runs well, and gets on base. Add Gardner to one of the corner outfield spots and the Mariners go from having one of the worst defensive outfields I've ever seen, to a damn good one with Gardner, Martin and Gutierrez/Smith.

 

[PolarVortex]

I'd love for the Mariners to try to trade for him.

I feel as if he's one of the most underrated players in MLB right now, he fits the mold of what Dipoto is trying to build with the club. Gardner plays good defense, runs well, and gets on base. Add Gardner to one of the corner outfield spots and the Mariners go from having one of the worst defensive outfields I've ever seen, to a damn good one with Gardner, Martin and Gutierrez/Smith.

Gardner is all right. Price tag is decent despite beginning his career decline years. I'm just not sure if he fits after acquiring Martin. Seth Smith has to play left. His arm isn't strong enough to play right. He has 7 assists in 275 games in RF. Gardner has only played one career game in RF. If Martin plays right, that is kind of a waste of Martin's speed and athleticism. If we could get the Yankees to take Smith back in a trade then it would probably work.

But RF would still need to be filled. JBJ has a cannon arm and could probably be acquired. Gardner, Martin, and JBJ would be an awesome defensive outfield but a punching Judy on offense.

 

[NWinAZ]

I'd love for the Mariners to try to trade for him.

I feel as if he's one of the most underrated players in MLB right now, he fits the mold of what Dipoto is trying to build with the club. Gardner plays good defense, runs well, and gets on base. Add Gardner to one of the corner outfield spots and the Mariners go from having one of the worst defensive outfields I've ever seen, to a damn good one with Gardner, Martin and Gutierrez/Smith.

Sorry, but I already brought this up a couple weeks back and I seemed to be alone in my like of his. Others think he is old and declining or just overrated.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Gardner is all right. Price tag is decent despite beginning his career decline years. I'm just not sure if he fits after acquiring Martin. Seth Smith has to play left. His arm isn't strong enough to play right. He has 7 assists in 275 games in RF. Gardner has only played one career game in RF. If Martin plays right, that is kind of a waste of Martin's speed and athleticism. If we could get the Yankees to take Smith back in a trade then it would probably work.

But RF would still need to be filled. JBJ has a cannon arm and could probably be acquired. Gardner, Martin, and JBJ would be an awesome defensive outfield but a punching Judy on offense.

I personally don't see that Brett Gardner is on a path of regression, I could see where you're coming from with such an assessment as he was at his best in 2010-2011, but I think that it is reasonable to assume he will maintain his current level of production for the duration of his contract. I think that you start worrying about his regression closer to the end of his contract.

In terms of price tag, I think it's around what you'd expect for a player of his caliber. Averages around $12m per year across the duration, which I think is fair considering if he was a free agent he'd get a contract around $15-$17m per year on the open market.

I'd personally try to hold on to Seth Smith. I haven't seen a Mariners hitter with as disciplined an approach as Smith in years. I think that Seth Smith is a lot better than his conventional stats indicate. I think I recall someone mentioning the Mariners considering Seth Smith at 1B, if he can play it at a functional level I'd like to see him there.

I'm not sure how I feel about Jackie Bradley Jr. It took me a god damn long time to figure who you meant by JBJ until I googled it. Bradley's first 164 games (2013-2014) were offensively abysmal at best, as he hit .196/.268/.280 in that span. He turned it around last year, but it was a smaller sample size. I'm unsure which of those two players the Mariners would be getting. If we would be getting the 2015 JBJ, I'd be in favor, but it's a risky move to make.

Trying to determine if Bradley's improvement was more luck based, but it's difficult to establish a solid BABIP baseline for a player who hasn't been in the MLB that long.
2013 BABIP: .246, BA: .189
2014 BABIP: .284, BA: .198
2015 BABIP: .310, BA: .249

Median MLB BABIP is .300. Based on this, it would appear that Bradley has just genuinely improved, not as a result of luck. Even if he was getting luckier, an increase of BABIP of 26 points wouldn't really seem to explain an increase in BA of 53 points. Looks like he's walking at a higher rate, and getting more extra base hits. Could be an interesting option depending on what it would take to land him.

 

[NWinAZ]

I personally don't see that Brett Gardner is on a path of regression, I could see where you're coming from with such an assessment as he was at his best in 2010-2011, but I think that it is reasonable to assume he will maintain his current level of production for the duration of his contract. I think that you start worrying about his regression closer to the end of his contract.

In terms of price tag, I think it's around what you'd expect for a player of his caliber. Averages around $12m per year across the duration, which I think is fair considering if he was a free agent he'd get a contract around $15-$17m per year on the open market.

I'd personally try to hold on to Seth Smith. I haven't seen a Mariners hitter with as disciplined an approach as Smith in years. I think that Seth Smith is a lot better than his conventional stats indicate. I think I recall someone mentioning the Mariners considering Seth Smith at 1B, if he can play it at a functional level I'd like to see him there.

I'm not sure how I feel about Jackie Bradley Jr. It took me a god damn long time to figure who you meant by JBJ until I googled it. Bradley's first 164 games (2013-2014) were offensively abysmal at best, as he hit .196/.268/.280 in that span. He turned it around last year, but it was a smaller sample size. I'm unsure which of those two players the Mariners would be getting. If we would be getting the 2015 JBJ, I'd be in favor, but it's a risky move to make.

Trying to determine if Bradley's improvement was more luck based, but it's difficult to establish a solid BABIP baseline for a player who hasn't been in the MLB that long.
2013 BABIP: .246, BA: .189
2014 BABIP: .284, BA: .198
2015 BABIP: .310, BA: .249

Median MLB BABIP is .300. Based on this, it would appear that Bradley has just genuinely improved, not as a result of luck. Even if he was getting luckier, an increase of BABIP of 26 points wouldn't really seem to explain an increase in BA of 53 points. Looks like he's walking at a higher rate, and getting more extra base hits. Could be an interesting option depending on what it would take to land him.

I really think JBJ is a real breakout candidate in the next two years. I would still love to have him, BUT if you did I think it would be tough to keep Smith if you did simply because you would be overloaded with LH hitters.

Smith is a guy I like somewhat because he is as you said a professional hitter, but he doesn't fit the 'athletic OF' mold. That is why I thought he would be dealt (along with his $6M salary), but it wouldn't upset me if he was still around either.

And I still like Gardner as well...lol.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Sorry, but I already brought this up a couple weeks back and I seemed to be alone in my like of his. Others think he is old and declining or just overrated.

Well, you're not alone. I've always been a huge fan of Gardner.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I really think JBJ is a real breakout candidate in the next two years. I would still love to have him, BUT if you did I think it would be tough to keep Smith if you did simply because you would be overloaded with LH hitters.

Smith is a guy I like somewhat because he is as you said a professional hitter, but he doesn't fit the 'athletic OF' mold. That is why I thought he would be dealt (along with his $6M salary), but it wouldn't upset me if he was still around either.

And I still like Gardner as well...lol.

If he can play 1B, I like the possibility of trying to get Smith over there. Seth Smith is a really high value player relative to his contract and I love his approach.

As I was looking at JBJ's stats, as indicated in the post above, I'm slightly leaning toward him maintaining his current level of production as it looks as if he legitimately improved instead of it being just a fluke/luck type year.

An outfield of JBJ, Martin and Gardner would arguably be the best defensive outfield in baseball. The offensive production wouldn't be ideal, but the Mariners would be able to compensate for that with the projected offensive output from Cruz, Seager, Trumbo and Cano.

Mariners still need to figure something out at catcher though, I'd be stunned if the offensive production the Mariners received from their catchers was not among the worst in major league history. I was really hoping/expecting Wieters to reject the qualifying offer. I think it was a really smart move on his part because he'll be getting paid $15m this year and have the opportunity to set himself up for a $100m contract if he plays the entire year at his career norm level.

Not sure what happened with Chris Ianetta, but the Mariners need to get something done there.

 

[PolarVortex]

MLBTR says the Rockies and shopping Carlos Gonzalez and Corey Dickerson. I think the Corey Dickerson thing is bullshit. He isn't even arbitration eligible until 2017 so I don't know why they would trade him.

But the Carlos Gonzalez thing is definitely available, as he should be. The Rockies aren't going anywhere the next two years and Carlos is owed $37 million over the next two years. However, if we could get them to eat maybe $5 million and then back Mark Trumbo, whom they definitely could use and who is going to cost about $9 million next year in his last year of salary arbitration - now you have CarGo down to $11.5 million a year, which is a bit more manageable. Gonzalez is also right fielder, so he would complete our outfield. And while he was clearly a better hitter at Coors last year, as most Rocky hitters are, he still managed to hit 16 homeruns and put up a .758 OPS on the road. I'd do that trade but I'm not sure the Rockies would or Dipoto would.

Another issue is that I don't think anyone will want to trade for Trumbo until they see whether Dipoto is going to tender him a contract or not. I think there is a decent chance that he gets non-tendered if Dipoto can't trade him prior to the deadline to offer him salary arbitration.

 

[NWinAZ]

MLBTR says the Rockies and shopping Carlos Gonzalez and Corey Dickerson. I think the Corey Dickerson thing is bullshit. He isn't even arbitration eligible until 2017 so I don't know why they would trade him.

But the Carlos Gonzalez thing is definitely available, as he should be. The Rockies aren't going anywhere the next two years and Carlos is owed $37 million over the next two years. However, if we could get them to eat maybe $5 million and then back Mark Trumbo, whom they definitely could use and who is going to cost about $9 million next year in his last year of salary arbitration - now you have CarGo down to $11.5 million a year, which is a bit more manageable. Gonzalez is also right fielder, so he would complete our outfield. And while he was clearly a better hitter at Coors last year, as most Rocky hitters are, he still managed to hit 16 homeruns and put up a .758 OPS on the road. I'd do that trade but I'm not sure the Rockies would or Dipoto would.

Another issue is that I don't think anyone will want to trade for Trumbo until they see whether Dipoto is going to tender him a contract or not. I think there is a decent chance that he gets non-tendered if Dipoto can't trade him prior to the deadline to offer him salary arbitration.

If you have Cargo as your RF, then who plays there the other 130 games he misses?

 

[NWinAZ]

Now Dickerson would be something of a get. Paxton for Dickerson? Would like that as long as we signed another SP like Kazmir or Leake.

 

[NWinAZ]

Now Dickerson would be something of a get. Paxton for Dickerson? Would like that as long as we signed another SP like Kazmir or Leake.

Uh forget that. His splits are just wow! Over 100+ points lower in everything on the road for his career. Damn Colorado!