The Seattle Mariners feel fairly confident about what their starting lineup will look like in 2017, but are continuing to make minor additions across the organization.
Jerry Dipoto has done a terrific job remaking Seattle’s outfield at both the MLB level and in the minors over the past two offseasons, as the position was a major weakness before he took over. The Mariners continued to add depth on Monday by signing outfielder Kyle Waldrop to a minor league deal.
Waldrop has spent his entire seven-year career in the Cincinnati Reds organization, most of which came in either Double-A or Triple-A. The 25-year-old has totaled 24 plate appearances in the majors with a .217/.250/.261 line and -0.1 wins above replacement.
While his brief MLB career hasn’t produced much, Waldrop has shown some skills that could make him an interesting pickup for Seattle. Waldrop has posted above-average offensive numbers at every minor league stop and has plus raw power that could soon develop into intriguing game power. The outfielder’s best season came in 2014 when he put up a 143 wRC+ over 252 plate appearances at Double-A.
It would take some injuries or a disappointing performance for Waldrop to get any playing time in Seattle, but it’s another solid depth move from Dipoto that could come into play.
The Mariners are going to be giving significant playing time to some unproven outfielders like Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia and Mitch Haniger. Should any of them struggle, Waldrop could provide an MLB ready replacement while providing much better depth than the Mariners have had at the position in recent seasons.
Signing Waldrop likely won’t make a huge difference in 2017 or beyond, but it’s another example of Dipoto making a solid and inexpensive addition and improving the organization as a whole. Since Dipoto took over, the Mariners have added a capable starting center fielder in Leonys Martin for nothing plus a potential everyday player in Haniger, along with plenty of depth at the Triple-A level.
Nathaniel Reeves is a writer at Outside Pitch MLB. Follow him on Twitter @njr3701.
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