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I am crawling into Friday with the vigor of a invalid marmot, but nonetheless links are here for consumption. Just don’t be too loud, please, I hope that’s not too much to ask. Thanks.
In Mariners news...
- We of course covered this yesterday, but in case you missed it, the Mariners acquired Edwin Encarnación and the 77th pick in next year’s draft in exchange for Carlos Santana.
#Mariners receive what is currently the No. 77 overall pick in the 2019 #MLBDraft from the #Indians in the Edwin Encarnacion deal, now have 4 picks in the top 100. Here's a look at the updated 2019 @MLBDraft order: https://t.co/rSDNfWLLCQ pic.twitter.com/fW9Qt88HKc
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) December 13, 2018
- While it’s tough to imagine Encarnación making it to Opening Day with the M’s, he’s really had an exceptional career already.
.@Mariners new slugger Edwin Encarnación has 380 career home runs... Here's his career spray chart. pic.twitter.com/APMacYqx3d
— Daren Willman (@darenw) December 13, 2018
- Shannon Drayer takes an in-depth and must-read look at the player development strategies the Mariners have in place now, which will make or break the success of their rebuild.
- The Mariners made a selection in the Rule-5 Draft, taking 27-year-old RHP Brandon Brennan from the White Sox system.
- John Sickels of Minor League Ball offered his appraisal:
rule 5 impression-13 Brandon Brennan/Mariners another ground ball guy although not as extreme as Nick Green, inconsistent track record but has improved after switching to bullpen two years ago
— John Sickels (@MinorLeagueBall) December 13, 2018
- Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto is hopefully on the mend after being diagnosed with multiple blood clots in his lungs this week. It sounds like he should be trending positively, but having already survived thyroid cancer earlier in his playing career, it’s no doubt a frightening time.
Prayers and thoughts with #Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto who developed a series of blood clots in his lungs which led to him being submitted to a local hospital in Las Vegas…fortunately he will be released from the hospital today.
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) December 13, 2018
- Assistant General Manager Justin Hollander took many of the media duties in Dipoto’s stead today, offering a relatively candid appraisal of the future of their new acquisition.
Asst. GM Justin Hollander on Encarnacion: "He's a really good player. We'll see where it goes with Edwin whether he stays with us or moves on to another destination. If he plays for us, he'll be a good player for us."
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) December 13, 2018
- Jeff Sullivan appraised the deal of the day by an infirmed Jerry Dipoto.
- The trade itself was hectic from many angles. For The Athletic ($) there was a remarkable bit of intrigue behind the scenes on the Cleveland side.
- Not wanting to make the second part of their trade feel unappreciated, the Mariners were considerate enough to welcome their new pick in the draft.
Gah, that is a huge faux pas on our part. Thank you.
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) December 13, 2018
Welcome, to Seattle @CompBRoundDraftPick! pic.twitter.com/oVpl4jOhIl
- The Mariners’ new catcher Omar Narvaez hit the weights today, and perhaps they hit back?
- Seattle somewhat surprisingly lost three players in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft: OF Chuck Taylor to the Nationals, RHP Adonis De La Cruz to the Yankees, and RHP Chris Mazza to the Mets. For a full list of the results, click here for Baseball America’s tracker.
- Luke Arkins at checked on whether the Mariners REALLY get fleeced when they deal with the Yankees.
Around baseball...
- The run on relief pitchers appears underway, as former Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly agreed to a deal with the Dodgers.
Sources confirm the Los Angeles Dodgers are nearing an agreement with Joe Kelly, as @Ken_Rosenthal and @ByRobertMurray reported. Deal would be for three years and ~$25 million.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 13, 2018
- The former Rangers closer Alex Claudio and changeup aficionado moves to the National League in exchange for a competitive balance pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds.
Pick is No. 39 overall… https://t.co/TgfjyGTkPo
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 13, 2018
- The details on former Mariners great JA Happ and his deal with the Yankees were clarified.
J.A. Happ: 17M in 2019, 17M in 2020, 17M vesting option in 2021. 34M guaranteed. #yanks
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 13, 2018
- Robinson Canó’s new double play partner met him once before, long ago.
Amed Rosario once tracked down Robinson Cano as a teenager to take a photo with him: https://t.co/o7ZXi9ulFI
— Michael Clair (@michaelsclair) December 13, 2018
- 14 players were taken in the MLB portion of the Rule-5 Draft, and FanGraphs has both scouting appraisals and ZiPS projections for them.
Curious about the players picked in the Rule 5 Draft? @jimcallisMLB provides scouting reports on all 14 players selected in the @MLB phase: https://t.co/37xiuRkGAR pic.twitter.com/8z7xWM9zHJ
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) December 13, 2018
- Maybe everyone should step away from the Star Wars analogies for a bit.
"We’re a fully operational Death Star," #Yankees GM Brian Cashman tells reporters. That makes the #Cardinals more of the Millennium Falcon, parked in Cloud City, looking for parts, and, should a swindle present itself ready to make the jump in 12 parsecs:https://t.co/shXtfw5sDP
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) December 13, 2018
- Jerry Dipoto’s deal reminded several of a famous negotiation from the past.
Today’s three-way trade with the Mariners, Indians and Rays is the first from-a-hospital Winter Meetings deal since 2006, when the inimitable Jim Hendry locked in Ted Lilly’s four-year, $40M free agent contract while on a gurney being wheeled in to the OR to have an angioplasty. https://t.co/C1jA2VFq8x
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 13, 2018
- Something the Mariners will experience first-hand when they open the season in Japan? The country’s tradition of cheering sections.
One of our favorite things about baseball in Japan?
— Cut4 (@Cut4) December 13, 2018
The cheering sections. pic.twitter.com/2FNR7fWDgu
John’s pick...
I have been sick this entire week, but you can be sure this woke me right up (Music & Cursing, if you’re watching w/o headphones at work)
GOODMORNING TWITTER pic.twitter.com/gtJ7Z9d0LZ
— Mako (@Mako) December 10, 2018