Mariners Moose Tracks, 1/31/21: Didi Gregorius, Steven Souza Jr., Trevor Williams, baseball poetry

Farewell, January, we hardly knew ye. Just kidding, January felt like the very longest month. At least we had the Mariners’ two-week social media extravaganza to tide us over, and with the beginning of February just on the horizon, I am happy to remind you that—fingers crossed—this was the last month without baseball for quite some time. February 27th, hurry (safely) here!

With Spring Training getting closer, we’ve brought on some extra help for the upcoming season—new writer Addie made her debut on Friday, so make sure to check that out if you haven’t. You can follow Addie on Twitter at @gomsaddie. Also in site news: Amanda was nominated for a SABR award for her series on pandemic baseball in Seattle in 1918! You can send Amanda your congratulations in the comments or on Twitter, and read her nominated piece here if you haven’t.

In Mariners news:

• C. Trent Rosecrans at The Athletic reports that the Reds are interested in former Mariner Dee Strange-Gordon. They’re also reportedly looking at Willy Adames and Amed Rosario to fill the job of shortstop in Cincinnati, as well as trading for Rule 5 pick Kyle Holder from Philadelphia.
• Keep an eye on Braden Bishop’s Twitter next week:

Around the League:

• Seattle native Steven Souza Jr. is reportedly headed to the Astros. Pretty rude of you, Steve.
• What sparked the Reds’ shortstop frenzy? Perhaps it was the Phillies reportedly signing Didi Gregorious to a two-year, $28M deal. To clear some room on the 40-man, the Phillies traded the A’s LHP Cole Irvin.
• The Cubs are reportedly adding Trevor Williams to their rotation. Williams is one of the great people in the game, which makes me wish a better team than the Cubs for him, but his shaky 2020 is reflected in his price tag, reportedly $2.5M for one year. For that money I kind of wish the Mariners had taken a flier on @MeLlamoTrevor.
• The White Sox are bringing back Carlos Rodón on a one-year deal for $3M. He’ll compete for a rotation spot with prospect Michael Kopech likely heading back to the minors to open the 2021 season.
• The Angels addressed their rotation needs by...signing Junior Guerra to a minor-league deal? Huh. Okay.
• After Colorado paid the Cardinals to take their best player, many Rockies fans are mad, and rightfully so. Mark Kinszla, a Denver Post columnist, argues fans should boycott the team entirely, with this withering kicker: “If you give the Rockies your money in 2021, you might be dumber than this trade.”
• Masahiro Tanaka is headed back to play in Japan, but he says he wanted to go back to the Yankees.
• Time’s assault on baseball history continues apace. The last surviving Cleveland Monarchs player, Ernest Johnson, has died. He was 92.
• James Wagner at the New York Times writes that, while Kim Ng’s hiring was historic, she still stands alone as the only person of color or woman hired to a top baseball operations position since last winter, and that’s simply not good enough.
• Baseball and poetry, two of my favorite things, together in this amazing graphic:

Kate’s pick:

A snowy owl appeared in NYC’s Central Park on Saturday for the first time in over a century and I love the ATTITUDE of this bird. Just look at it. Iconic. Regal. I aspire to be as unbothered as a snowy owl showing up for the first time in over a century to an adoring public and being this level of blasé about the proceedings. And the owl was hanging out on a baseball diamond, so we know the taste level is impeccable.