The Seattle Mariners have acquired 2B Dee Gordon and $1 million in international signing bonus pool money from the Miami Marlins in exchange for RHPs Nick Neidert and Robert Dugger, plus INF Chris Torres. Gordon will be moved to CF.
Gordon is one of the premier speed players in the MLB, probably the second fastest player next to Billy Hamilton. He has never played CF, but was once sent by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013 to practice the position, when Andre Eithier and Matt Kemp injured for the NLDS (Skip Schumaker played instead). He doesn\’t hit much homers, but it\’s a fair trade-off for the speed. He said he was surprised when Seattle asked him to play CF, but with Robinson Cano at 2B, he said he is fine with the switch.
Also, the Mariners are one of seven teams remaining in the Shohei Ohtani race. Acquiring the money for his signing bonus helps a lot.
Gordon, 29, had a .308 batting average, two homers, 33 RBIs and 60 (!) stolen bases in 695 Plate Appearances for the Marlins in 2017. In his seven year MLB career for the Marlins and Dodgers, Gordon has a .293 batting average, 11 homers, 161 RBIs and 278 stolen bases in 3013 Plate Appearances.
The Marlins are at the beginning stages of a huge rebuild. NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton can be traded any day now. They got some solid prospects from a weak Mariners system. Neidert was the Mariners 2nd prospect, and Torres was number seven. Dugger wasn\’t on the list.
Neidert, 20, had a 3.45 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 122 strikeouts in 127.2 innings in 2017.
Torres, 20, had a .238 batting average, six homers, 23 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 232 Plate Appearances this past year.
Dugger, 22, had a 2.75 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 116 strikeouts in 117.2 innings in 2017. I think he\’s an underrated prospect in their system, based on his stats.
I think this is an even trade. It\’s close, considering Gordon is a big-time player, but writing this article, I definitely see some promise in these prospects, especially the pitchers.
CarterHud 