The Seattle Mariners continued their retooling today, signing outfielder Nori Aoki to a one-year contract with an option reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
aoki got a deal for one year, plus an option #mariners
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 2, 2015
Aoki is coming off a solid season with the San Francisco Giants, where in 93 games the 33-year-old hit five home runs and stole 14 bases while batting .287 with a .353 OBP. He was sidelined with a concussion from September onwards, which helped contribute to the Giants declining his relatively affordable $5.5 million option. When healthy, Aoki does a little bit of everything, and is an excellent contact hitter who’s known to walk more than he strikes out. He’s played all three outfield spots in his career, but is primarily a right fielder.
The Mariners outfield looks drastically different than it did in 2015, as the team agreed to dump Mark Trumbo onto the Orioles on Tuesday and traded Brad Miller to the Tampa Bay Rays. The club re-signed Franklin Gutierrez to a one-year contract, and brought in Leonys Martin in a four-player trade with the Texas Rangers. Those players, like Aoki, are light-hitting for the most part, which should be balanced by Nelson Cruz, who will probably get most of the reps at designated hitter. Martin and Gutierrez are known to cover a lot of ground in the outfield. Aoki meanwhile has posted a negative defensive value in each year of his career per Fangraphs. The downside is the trio are all coming off of fairly serious injuries, so staying healthy (like it always is) is extremely important for the group. Sans Cruz, general manager Jerry Dipoto is favoring a more athletic group, even if it’s one that doesn’t have that much power.
The approach isn’t a bad one. The Mariners have had an interchanging group of outfielders over the last two seasons, and having a surplus of good, athletic players isn’t a bad idea. They aren’t running youngsters out like James Jones, Stefan Romero, or Dustin Ackley, who probably weren’t ready, as they have in the past but are relying on veterans. It’s better to have too much depth, than not enough.
