Miami Marlins Trade Dee Gordon To The Seattle Mariners

Old friend alert! Back in December of 2014, the Dodgers traded Dee Gordon to the Marlins in exchange for Kiké Hernandez, Austin Barnes, Andrew Heaney, and Chris Hatcher. A controversial trade at the time, I think it’s safe to say that the Dodgers made out just fine. Well, it looks like Gordon is on the move again.

Ken Rosenthal was the first to break the news on Twitter that Dee Gordon was on his way to Seattle!

Source: #Mariners acquire Dee Gordon from #Marlins.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2017

Gordon has had some good seasons, and 2017 was no different. The second baseman slashed .308/.341/.375 in 2017 and led all of Major League Baseball with 60 stolen bases. However, his contract is high for a player like him and that likely hurt his trade value. Gordon is set to make $10.5 million in 2018 followed by $13 million and $13.5 million in 2019 and 2020.

With Robinson Cano at second base for the Mariners, they plan on using the speedy Gordon in center field. Gordon’s top notch speed will certainly play well out there, but it’s likely to be a learning process as it is for any player changing positions. If Gordon can pick it up quickly he should be fine since his speed will help make up for poor routes. The Mariners are banking on Dee continuing to be able to hit close to .300 and steal 50-60 bases a season to make this trade worth it.

Dee Gordon will play CF for the #Mariners according to club source

— Jim Bowden??? (@JimBowdenGM) December 7, 2017

Also apart of the trade is $1 million in international slot money. In exchange for Dee Gordon and the money, the Mariners will send over Nick Neidert, Chris Torres, and Robert Dugger to the Marlins. Neidert is the number two prospect in the Mariners organization and had an ERA of 3.45 and a WHIP of 1.17 in 2017. Torres is the Mariners’ number seven prospect and put up a slash line of .238/.329/.446 in 2017. Dugger is not on the Mariners’ top 30 prospects list, but in 2017 he put up an ERA of 2.75 and a WHIP of 1.16.

This trade creates a big question. What does this mean for Stanton? It was reported that the Marlins would begin moving other stars to clear payroll if Stanton didn’t accept a trade. It’s unknown if this is related, or if the Marlins just wanted to move Gordon as well. While it’s likely to be the latter, this could be the Marlins sending a message to Stanton. A decision from Stanton is expected to come soon, and this could either help or hurt the Dodgers’ chances of landing him. Giancarlo Stanton is desperate to be on a contending team, and the Marlins just made themselves even less of a contender. We will have to wait and see how this move affects Stanton’s next move, but I can’t imagine it makes him excited. Is it enough to make San Francisco looks like an attractive destination?

Also very noteworthy is the $1 million in international slot money that the Mariners will be getting from the Marlins. This will most certainly be used to entice Shohei Ohtani and puts the Mariners at $3.557 million total, passing the Rangers’ $3.535 million. Money doesn’t seem to be a factor to Shohei Ohtani, but it does give the Mariners an advantage over teams like the Dodgers, who only have $300 thousand in international slot money to offer Ohtani.

How do you think this affects the Dodgers’ chances of landing Stanton and Ohtani? Let us know in the comments below!