When does the Dee Gordon experiment end, and what happens next?
has been a boon to the Seattle Mariners. His cheeky grin, his electric speed, his hot bat, and his fiery enthusiasm have nurtured a new, winning attitude in the Mariners clubhouse. Gordon, batting .309 with 34 hits and 10 stolen bases, is a great offensive player. He has the potential to be the best leadoff hitter we've had since in 2010. Unfortunately, his stint as a center fielder hasn’t been as impressive. Dee has tallied -0.6 dWAR in just 26 games.
Until recently, Gordon’s defense was As a second baseman, Dee won a Gold Glove in 2015, putting up 1.8 dWAR in 145 games. His stellar infield defense, combined with his .333 average, 58 stolen bases, and 205 hits, put him among the most valuable players of 2015, with 5.1 bWAR.
The decision to acquire Gordon and convert him to a center fielder was highly scrutinized by baseball media. Most prominent sources put it down as another wacky gambit by the infamous Jerry Dipoto. Initially, I was fully on board with transitioning Dee to the outfield, but his defensive performance so far has generally been disappointing and messy. Why not move him back to his original position, which he excelled at?
Hold up. We already have a second baseman! What now?
, our current second baseman and the winner of two Gold Gloves, was, in his prime, a statistically better second baseman than Dee Gordon. At age 35, Canó is still a serviceable defensive player, but his nagging leg injuries and age have considerably weakened his defensive ability. tells us that Gordon is one of the fastest players in the MLB, whereas Canó is easily the slowest second baseman in the MLB.
Also, when it comes down to it, is Robbie going to risk his body on a difficult, possibly dangerous play? Not likely. Canó is a decorated future Hall of Famer: he's not going to sacrifice anything to help the middling Mariners win.
Dee, on the other hand, is the type of player who would throw himself at a ball in almost any situation, even for the 71-91 The energy he has brought to this team is incredible.
OK, so let’s move Dee back to second base. But where do we put Canó? And what’s going to happen to our outfield? Both problems are supremely easy to solve. First, let's move Canó to first base.
is not enough of an offensive threat to justify his horrible defense at first. And is no defensive stud either, with -0.9 dWAR in 149 games with Oakland last year. If we moved Canó over to first base, it would solve our defensive issues in center field, at second base, and at first base. Robbie's strong arm and quick hands would make him arguably the best defensive Mariners first baseman ever.
We could trade Healy for another pitcher, since our rotation is a little rough around the edges, or we could ship him off for prospects. Vogelbach could work on his defense and contact in Triple-A, or sit on the bench with the Mariners until retires, at which point Daniel would likely become our full-time DH.
As for the outfield: there has been much controversy within the Mariners community over our outfield situation. We currently have 5 outfielders that we can utilize: , , , , and Gordon. After we move Gordon back to second, things become much more manageable. Center field would probably go to Heredia, with Haniger staying in right, Gamel in left, and Ichiro, our 4th outfielder, contributing from the bench and possibly starting in left if Gamel continues to struggle. This would also help eliminate the unnecessary vilification of Ichiro, an unbelievably talented player, future Hall of Famer, and Mariner legend.
When will these changes occur? Well, unless Dee quickly improves his defense in the outfield, I would assume relatively soon (although with the Mariners, you never know). Transitioning between positions might take some time, so my guess is that after the All-Star break, Dee Gordon will be playing in the dirt again.