CarterHud

     The Seattle Mariners have signed SS Jean Segura to a five year, $70 million extension that includes a $17 million club option for 2023.

     Segura, 27, is on the DL currently (high ankle sprain), but leads the AL in batting average with a .341 average, with four homers, 20 RBIs and seven steals (unfortunately, he leads the league in caught steals also with 6) in 198 Plate Appearances.

     He has a career batting average of .284 with 47 homers, 228 RBIs and 136 steals in 2822 Plate Appearances for the Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Angels. The Brewers acquired him in 2012 as a part of a big trade including RHP Zack Greinke, who went to LA. The Mariners acquired him in a trade this offseason for RHP Taijuan Walker and others.

      \”Over the past two seasons, Jean has been one of the premier offensive players in baseball. His combination of average, power and speed is extremely difficult to find, especially as a top-of-the-lineup hitter at a key defensive position like shortstop,\” Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told the Sporting News. \”We are all quite excited about having him here with the Mariners and believe he is a key ingredient in our ongoing effort to build a championship level roster.\”

      The San Francisco Giants have acquired RHP Sam Dyson and cash considerations from the Texas Rangers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

       After DFA\’ing Dyson, GM Jon Daniels looked for some value out of him. So, getting just a potential no-named prospect or cash seems like a win. I also predicted some places Dyson could\’ve ended up with, but the Giants weren\’t one.

       Dyson, 29, has allowed 20 earned runs in 16.2 innings (10.80 ERA) this year with just seven strikeouts. He has a career ERA of 3.54 with 172 strikeouts and 40 saves in 216 innings for the Rangers, Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays.

       In other Rangers news, they signed RHP Ernesto Frieri to a minor league deal. Frieri, 31, has a career ERA of 3.55 with 382 strikeouts and 73 saves in 296.1 innings for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays.

  

   Injuries are very common. And today, three notable players were placed on the DL by their teams.

      First, Miami Marlins 1B Justin Bour was placed on the 10-day DL for left ankle contusion. They\’ve also recalled C Tomas Telis from New Orleans (AAA).
      Bour, 29, has a .295 batting average, 16 homers and 40 RBIs in 190 ABs this year. He has a career .271 batting average with 55 homers and 175 RBIs in 953 ABs, all for Miami.
      Telis, 25, is 0 for 2 this year in the majors. He has a career .223 batting average, one homer and 14 RBIs in 121 career ABs for the Marlins and the Texas Rangers.

       Cleveland Indians RHP Danny Salazar will miss at least 10 days because of shoulder soreness. OF Lonnie Chisenhall was activated off the 7-day concussion DL.
       Salazar, 27, has a 5.40 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 55 innings this year. He has a career 3.89 ERA with 618 strikeouts in 539.1 innings, all for Cleveland.
       Chisenhall, 28, has a .261 batting average, six homers, 22 RBIs and a stolen base in 92 ABs this year. He has a career .263 batting average, 57 homers, 256 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 1931 ABs, all for Cleveland.

        Arizona Diamondbacks OF Yasmany Tomas is the last player to hit the 10-day DL. Also, RHP Braden Shipley was optioned to Reno (AAA), and RHP Zack Godley and OF Jeremy Hazelbaker were recalled from Reno.
        Tomas, 26, has a .241 batting average, eight homers and 32 RBIs in 166 ABs this year. He has a career .268 batting average with 48 homers and 163 RBIs in 1102 ABs.

     Minor league trades in the MLB occur very often. And usually the only thing a team acquires is a player to be named later or cash considerations. And that\’s happened twice today.

     First, the Milwaukee Brewers acquired minors league INF Yeison Coca from the Boston Red Sox to complete a trade from December. The Red Sox acquired RHP Tyler Thornburg and the Brewers got 3B Travis Shaw and now Coca. Coca, 18, hit over .300 with 12 steals in the Dominican Summer League last year.

     The other trade involved a former MLB player INF Ruben Tejada was traded from the New York Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for cash. He was assigned to Norfolk (AAA). Tejada, 27, hasn\’t played in the majors this year. He has a career .252 batting average with 10 homers, 153 RBIs and 16 steals in 1997 ABs for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants.

      He did it. Albert Pujols\’ hit his ninth homer of the season, and his 600th of his career. He became the ninth player all-time to do that after launching a grand slam off Minnesota Twins RHP Ervin Santana [WATCH]. \”To do it in front of the fans, my family is pretty special,\” Pujols told MLB.com. He joins eight hall of famers/future hall of famers in the club. They are:

     Barry Bonds (762)
     Hank Aaron (755)
     Babe Ruth   (714)
     Alex Rodriguez (696)
     Willie Mays (660)
      Ken Griffey Jr. (630)
      Jim Thome (612)
      Sammy Sosa (609)

         Albert has a good chance of passing Sosa and Thome this season. And if he plays another year, he could catch up to Ken Griffey Jr.