Mariners have athletic outfield in place, significant speed on bases after trade for Jarrod Dyson
Jan 6, 2017, 6:03 PM
With the addition of Jarrod Dyson, the Mariners have five players capable of manning center field. (AP)
(AP)
While the Mariners could still add another pitcher, they may be done adding offensive players for 2017.
General manager Jerry Dipoto admitted that on Friday after a whirlwind day of trades in which he acquired starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo and outfielder Jarrod Dyson, so it would appear the roster the Mariners have now is very close to what they will take into spring training.
Since Nov. 7, Dipoto has made nine trades and signed two players to Seattle’s 40-man roster. While it may not seem like it because none of the moves could approach being called splashy – except for the of the Taijuan Walker-Jean Segura trade – the Mariners could have a very different look next season. That look will be something more athletic, a something Dipoto has been trying to establish since he arrived in Seattle.
“Jarrod Dyson, Leonys Martin and Jean Segura creates a three-player dynamic on the bases for us that is probably different than the Mariners have had in a long, long time, perhaps different than most teams in our league,” Dipoto said on a conference call Friday.
According to Dipoto, Dyson will play “fairly regularly” and pair with Martin “in some combination of left field and center.” Dipoto will look to get rookie Mitch Haniger regular reps, most likely in right field, and then the plan is to have Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia battle it out for the remainder of the playing time in the outfield. All five can cover ground, all five can play center, and all five can be a threat on the bases, something the Mariners were never able to do consistently last year. The Mariners finished the year with 56 stolen bases, while the trio of Dyson, Martin and Segura combined for 87 stolen bags in 2016.
“It’s no secret we were not particularly good on the bases last year,” Dipoto pointed out. “It’s a pretty good base running group. We are excited to see what it looks like on the field.”
I will be interested to see what the addition of a player like Dyson does for those around him. Good hitting or pitching can be contagious. I’ve seen the same with base running, both good and bad. The Mariners wanted to run last year and believed they had prepared well in spring training to do so. It was one of the few disappointments Scott Servais mentioned at the end of the season, and something that he said would be re-addressed this spring. He now has better personnel to do so with.
What the Mariners won’t have in the outfield is a tremendous amount of power. The Mariners finished the 2016 season with 223 home runs, the second most in the American League. While that number was somewhat of a pleasant surprise, it didn’t reflect the outs that were made, as the Mariners became a little too dependent on the three-run home run. Dipoto believes they can afford to trade a little pop for versatility.
“We are taking a traditional power spot like left field and making it more of an on-base/speed spot as opposed to shortstop or second base, where we are already blessed with having two guys that have some power, and don’t feel that we have to have that at every position,” he said.
One last element the new additions bring is defense, and the hope is that defense can help boost the pitching.
“While we may not have added marquee names or dynamic impact on the pitching side, everybody does bring something to the table,” Dipoto said. “We do feel like the additions of Haniger, Dyson and Segura really enhance our overall defense to the point where it should help us prevent runs. Our defense in combination with the pitching – it’s a group that finished in the top five in ERA last year – we have not changed the pitching dynamically, but we have made the defense dynamically better. Hopefully that results in similar or greater results on the mound.”
As for what Dipoto gave up Friday – pitcher Nathan Karns and outfielder Seth Smith – he flipped a competitor for the fifth spot in the rotation (with a short and spotty track record as a No. 4 starter before being derailed by injury in 2016) for was one of the innings leaders of the previous seven years, and a platoon bat with limited outfield range for what he called an “elite level defender and fearless base stealer.”
We will see how it all plays on the field, but with what looks to be the majority of pieces in place, the Mariners on paper have the look of a team with fewer question marks than the previous season. A team that should be able to take a step forward.
