Jerry Dipoto and the Seattle Mariners haven't done much this week at the Winter Meetings. On Wednesday he had a cold so he let his management team do the job.
The Mariners did make a few minor moves but certainly nothing like he did before meetings. I don't think many expected to make a big splash. I am sure he talked to a few teams about trades and free agents as well. The Mariners won't sign any high priced free agents however with Dipoto he could make a surprise move.
Dipoto is interested in Japanese free agent pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. This would be something to sign him with needing another starting pitcher plus the fact the Mariners will start the season against the Oakland A's in March 2019 in Japan. Signing Kikuchi would make things big back home for him too. Of course, there are other teams interested in him as well.
An interesting move at the beginning of the winter meetings was the Mariners picking up Kaleb Cowart off of waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. Jerry Dipoto said the Mariners would make him into a two-way player. In his pro career, he has played primarily played the infield. When he was drafted by the Angels in 2010 they talked about making him into a pitcher but he wanted to play every day. He isn't a good hitter batting below .200 in his career but plays good defense and his fastball does reach the mid 90's. So if he makes the Mariner could see him do both.
During this writing, Jerry Dipoto made a trade with the Cleveland Indians sending Carlos Santana who they had acquired in the trade with the Phillies for Jean Segura. The Mariners acquire designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and a competitive balance Round B pick in 2019 which is the 77th overall pick. The Mariners could move Encarnacion along as well. Dipoto made this trade while being in the hospital. He is expected to be released Thursday and head home to Seattle.
In the Rule 5 draft, the Mariners took righthanded pitcher Brandon Brennan from the Colorado Rockies organization. Last year he pitched for double-A Birmingham and triple-A Charlotte of the Chicago White Sox organization. Recently the Rockies had signed him to a minor league contract.
Stay tuned to what Dipoto and the Mariners will do further.
No comments:
Post a Comment