Jan 8: Bob Nightengale of USA As we speak studies that Pollock’s deal additionally consists of $3MM in efficiency bonuses.
Jan 7: The Mariners have agreed to a one-year, $7MM take care of outfielder A.J. Pollock, ESPN’s Jeff Passan studies (Twitter hyperlink). The deal might be official when Pollock passes a bodily. Pollock is represented by Excel Sports activities Administration.
The Twins and Rangers have been additionally recognized to have curiosity in Pollock, whose entry into the offseason market was a bit surprising. Pollock hit a disappointing .245/.292/.389 over 527 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2022, but he nonetheless opted to say no his $13MM participant possibility for the 2023 season. That possibility contained a hefty $5MM buyout, so between that cash and the $7MM wage Pollock is reportedly receiving from Seattle, the 35-year-old’s opt-out choice left $1MM on the desk.
It might be a small value to pay, contemplating Pollock by no means appeared really comfy throughout his lone season in Chicago. Now, Pollock has caught on with an intriguing Mariners group who reached the ALDS final season and are hopeful of taking extra steps ahead into World Sequence rivalry. Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto isn’t any stranger to Pollock, as Dipoto was working within the Diamondbacks’ entrance workplace when Arizona drafted Pollock with the seventeenth total choose of the 2009 draft.
With middle fielder Julio Rodriguez established because the bedrock of the Seattle outfield, the M’s have spent numerous their offseason enterprise on reinforcing and finding out the nook outfield positions. Mitch Haniger departed in free company and Kyle Lewis and Jesse Winker have been traded, whereas the Mariners acquired Teoscar Hernandez from the Blue Jays to behave as the brand new on a regular basis proper fielder (and possible part-time DH). Signing Pollock places one other right-handed bat into left subject, with Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell including left-handed depth as platoon companions for Pollock or as bench choices.
Some stage of platoon shielding could be mandatory given how Pollock’s numbers towards right-handed pitching drastically fell off in 2022. At all times a strong bat towards righty pitching previously, Pollock hit solely .231/.284/.309 over 394 PA towards righties final yr. This was the basis of Pollock’s offensive struggles, as he continued to mash lefties to the tune of a .286/.316/.619 slash line and 11 homers over 133 PA.
By way of total Statcast metrics, Pollock’s 2022 efficiency didn’t differ all that significantly from earlier seasons, although his hard-contract charge took a notable drop from 2021. His velocity and baserunning additionally took a success, maybe because of hamstring accidents in every of the final two seasons. The largest challenge was a scarcity of energy, as after posting a .227 Remoted Energy quantity from 2017-21, Pollock dropped to solely .143 in 2022.
Taking part in at spacious T-Cellular Park won’t assist Pollock regain all of that energy stroke, although there are some causes the Mariners might be hopeful a few rebound. If Pollock is “solely” a lefty-masher once more, the M’s theoretically have sufficient left-handed outfield candidates to select up the slack. Transferring again from lower than a full-time position could be useful for Pollock, as his 138 video games performed final season represented the second-highest whole of his 11 MLB seasons — it might be that staying comparatively wholesome final yr really hampered Pollock or wore him all the way down to some extent. A standard offseason and Spring Coaching routine heading into 2023 could be simply what the 35-year-old wants to supply a bounce-back yr.
Simply yesterday on MLBTR, Steve Adams wrote concerning the Mariners’ seek for a right-handed hitting outfielder, and the broader sense that the M’s have been having a unusually quiet offseason for a group that appeared poised to make some splashy remaining touches to a contender. Including Pollock for $7MM received’t quell hypothesis that possession isn’t stretching the finances as a lot as anticipated, and but the signing can be considered as a comparatively cheap however good funding. Pollock was posting massive numbers as not too long ago as 2021, he has been a strong performer for many of his profession, and he brings some extra veteran expertise and championship pedigree (Pollock was a giant a part of the Dodgers’ 2020 title group) to the younger Mariners.
