The Mariners lose another to the World Baseball Classic

The Mariners are about to lose a lot of Mariners, as 12 players from the organization are set to leave for the World Baseball Classic early next week.

Ten players from Major League camp will leave, including six (possibly seven) who should be on the opening day roster. That now includes new shortstop Jean Segura, who was added to the Dominican Republic’s roster as a replacement for Hanley Ramirez on Thursday morning.

The Mariners are losing their 2-3-4 hitters, three of their five starting pitchers – that is, if Drew Smyly, who is on the designated pitcher list for Team USA, is selected to play after the first round – and their closer. That is a significant piece of the 2017 roster, so camp and games will look decidedly different during the WBC.

“We’re going to get a pretty good look at the Modesto Nuts next week, I think is the reality of our situation,” quipped general manager Jerry Dipoto. “We’re all supportive of the WBC, the competition and what goes on. I know Jean was pretty happy to receive the call.”

Segura was given the heads up Thursday by Nelson Cruz, who told him to expect a call from the Dominican Republic team’s GM, Moises Alou. Segura, who is very close follow DR roster member Robinson Cano, was thrilled.

“It feels like everywhere he goes, I follow him,” Segura said of Cano. “It’s crazy how things go. To make the Baseball Classic, it is an honor for me.”

Segura will continue his preparations for the season away from the team, but not away from his double play partner. Since he played second base last year for Arizona, Dipoto sought and received the assurance from Alou that he would “stay in tune” with the plan for Segura to shortstop most likely opposite Cano at second base, while playing for the Dominican team.

Segura is not concerned that he will miss time with his new MLB team.

“I feel pretty good, I feel ready to play,” he said. “I came here with an attitude, I came here with a passion, and to be a part of this team. That’s who I am. I am ready to play every year, I had a great year last year, I come with the same hunger this year and play my game like it is my first in the big leagues.”

As for the rest of his team, or what’s left of it next week, Dipoto looked to the positive.

“It’s going to be an interesting 10-day stretch for us, but it gives us a great opportunity to look at guys like Shawn O’Malley and Taylor Motter and hopefully Mike Freeman if we can get him through (waivers after he was designated for assignment Wednesday) this weekend and really look at the guys who are competing for spots. Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia and give at-bats to those guys. For the young pitchers in camp, they are going to get a great opportunity to pitch in big league camp. It should work to our advantage in terms of developmental innings and hopefully our guys go out in the WBC and play well and stay healthy.”

The DH position will be open every day, too, with Nelson Cruz gone, so there will be more at-bats for young players. They will have no problem finding reps for the players competing for the backup shortstop and/or utility spots. The young starter depth of Andrew Moore, Rob Whalen and the newly acquired Chase De Jong should get good looks, as well.

The extra looks at players who could be called upon to help the big league team this season are certainly a plus. An interesting concern about losing so many players from manager Scott Servais was their impact off the field. He is losing most of his core leadership group. The clubhouse will be different. Teammates won’t have the benefit of a Robinson Cano helping them out in the batting cage. Their loss will be felt beyond the box scores, and it will be interesting to see the impact that has.

Mariners in the WBC

• Dominican Republic: Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Jean Segura.

• Venezuela: Felix Hernandez.

• Mexico: Yovani Gallardo, Sebastian Valle.

• Puerto Rico: Edwin Diaz, Emilio Pagan.

• Canada: Tyler O’Neill.

• Italy: Pat Venditte, Sam Gaviglio.

• USA: Drew Smyly.

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