Seattle Mariners: Three veterans in their last M’s season
Mallex Smith, Seattle Mariners. (Photo by Dinur, via Flickr)
2. Mallex Smith
It has to be very uncomfortable for Mallex Smith, knowing that the Seattle Mariners next messiah, Jarred Kelenic, is on the way, and he plays the same position. After his stinker 2019 season, Smith is literally a dead man walking. He’s one of the fastest players in MLB but doesn’t get on base enough to make his speed work for him.
Smith will make the prorated amount of his $2.35M salary in 2020. He is eligible for arbitration in the fall, which means a raise. The best-case scenario for Smith is he opens the season looking like the player he was in 2018 in Tampa when he leads the American League in Triples. At that point, he has trade value. At worst case, Smith plays the same this year as he did in his disappointing 2019 season, and the Mariners decline to make him an offer over the winter, making him a free agent.
1. Dee Gordon
Dee Gordon is very popular among Seattle Mariners fans. If only his production matched his popularity. Over his nine-year MLB career, Gordon has a career OPS of .683. Only twice has it been over .705. He’s played two seasons, 2018 and 2019, in Seattle, posting respective OPS figures of .637 and .663. Some of the worst in Major League Baseball each year among hitters with over 400 at-bats.
This year Gordon will be the M’s “play almost anywhere” utility man. Although he may not start very many games at any one position, Gordon will still see plenty of action in several different spots. The 31-year-old speedster is in the fourth season of a five-year, $50M contract. It contains a $1M team buyout in 2021, he won’t be back.
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