Report: Dustin Ackley returning to Mariners on minor league deal
Jan 9, 2019, 3:31 PM | Updated: 3:42 pm
Dustin Ackley, promising young MLB player – he never panned out in Seattle. But Dustin Ackley, 30-year-old utility man who last played in the majors in 2016, will reportedly try to resurrect his career in a return to the Mariners organization.
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Ackley, the onetime Mariners top prospect and No. 2 overall pick of the 2009 MLB Draft, is returning to the Mariners on a minor league deal, according to multiple reports.
Dustin Ackley has deal to return to Mariners @jonbecker_ 1st mentioned
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 9, 2019
The left-handed hitting Ackley was with the Mariners from 2009 into 2015, beginning as a second baseman and eventually shifting to the outfield after the signing of Robinson Canó. While he had a strong rookie year in 2009, hitting .273 with 16 doubles, seven triples, six home runs and a .766 OPS over 90 games, he hit over .250 in just one of his remaining four years with the team. Traded to the Yankees in 2015, he received just 127 plate appearances over two seasons (51 games) with New York.
Considered one of the better college hitters in recent memory during his time at the University of North Carolina, where he was a teammate of Kyle Seager, nagging bone spur injuries could be credited for at least some of Ackley’s struggles in the pros.
Ackley spent all of 2017 and 2018 playing first base, second base and left field for the Salt Lake Bees, the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. He hit .286 with 13 doubles, a triple, four home runs and a .776 OPS in 72 games with the Bees last year.
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