The Mariners are signing outfielder Víctor Robles, per Ty Dane Gonzalez of the Locked on Mariners podcast on X. The Mariners optioned Jonatan Clase earlier at this time, opening an energetic roster spot for Robles however they may want a corresponding transfer to open a 40-man spot.
Robles, 27, was as soon as a prime prospect with the Nationals however has repeatedly struggled lately, each with underwhelming efficiency and harm absences. The Nats lastly determined to maneuver on final week and designated him for project. They seemingly explored trades however couldn’t discover a deal to their liking and ultimately launched Robles. The Nats stay on the hook for his $2.65MM wage, that means the Mariners will solely should pay him the prorated portion of the $740K league minimal for any time spent on the roster, with that quantity subtracted from what the Nats pay.
That makes it a reasonably low-risk transfer for the Mariners, who will certainly be hoping Robles can revert to his earlier profession type. Just a few years in the past, he was one of many prime prospects in the entire league, with Baseball America giving him the #5 spot going into 2018 and the #11 slot the yr after.
He gave the impression to be delivering on that prospect hype in 2019, when he was simply 22 years previous. He hit 17 residence runs for the Nats that season and stole 28 bases whereas additionally offering elite protection in middle area. FanGraphs thought-about him to be value 3.7 wins above alternative that yr and his sturdy efficiency helped the membership attain the postseason, ultimately successful the World Sequence.
Sadly, his efficiency slipped after that season and he hasn’t been capable of get it again on monitor. He hit simply .220/.293/.315 within the shortened 2020 season and produced pretty comparable numbers within the two full seasons that adopted, resulting in a batting line of .216/.291/.306 over the 2020-22 interval.
The fortunes of the membership additionally light in that point and the Nats entered a rebuilding section. That ought to have left Robles with loads of probabilities to show issues round however his well being didn’t cooperate. He solely bought into 36 video games final yr on account of again spasms within the lumbar backbone and missed a couple of month of the present marketing campaign on account of a left hamstring pressure. He managed to point out some encouraging indicators final yr, hitting .299/.385/.364 regardless of the again issues, however has produced a brutal line of .120/.281/.120 to this point this yr.
Regardless of all of the struggles, Robles remains to be younger and will engineer a comeback. As talked about, he was hitting okay final yr. That didn’t carry over into this season, however he gained’t preserve a .176 batting common on balls in play and it’s maybe a great signal that he has drawn walks at a robust charge of 15.2% this yr. That’s in a small pattern of 33 plate appearances however it’s greater than double his profession charge of 6.2%, so it may very well be a pleasant step ahead even when it regresses a bit.
The Mariners presently have an outfield/designated hitter combine consisting of Julio Rodríguez, Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone and Mitch Haniger. It’s potential that Robles will probably be utilized within the brief aspect of a platoon. The suitable-handed hitter has slashed .262/.353/.373 towards lefties and .226/.293/.349 towards righties, resulting in respective wRC+ counts of 101 and 72. Each Raley and Canzone are lefties with notable platoon splits. Raley has a 119 wRC+ towards righties and 84 in any other case, with Canzone’s numbers at 86 towards southpaws and 65 versus righties.
The M’s can use Robles to defend Raley and/or Canzone from some lefties whereas additionally maybe utilizing Robles for pinch working duties or as a late-game defensive alternative. For his half, Robles will get an opportunity to reinvent himself with an opportunity of surroundings earlier than he’s slated free of charge company this winter.
