Vogelbach DFA'd

[Sexymarinersfan]

I was wondering g how much longer he had.

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1145865/ ... vogelbach/

The Mariners tenure of slugger Daniel Vogelbach may be at its end.

Mariners option struggling outfielder Mallex Smith to Tacoma

Seattle announced ahead of a five-game homestand Wednesday afternoon that it has designated the 27-year-old first baseman/designated hitter for assignment. That was one of a handful of roster moves the Mariners made, along with:

• Outfielder Braden Bishop and infielder Sam Haggerty recalled from the team’s alternate training site in Tacoma.

• Right-handed reliever Art Warren optioned to Tacoma.

• Right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw outrighted to Tacoma after clearing waivers following his own DFA last week.

The big news is of course Vogelbach, who was something of a phenomenon in the first half of the 2019 MLB season for the Mariners, his first full campaign in the big leagues. Over 85 games before the All-Star break, he hit .238 with 21 home runs, 51 RBIs, 61 walks, an impressive .375 on-base percentage and .881 OPS, earning him the nod as Seattle’s lone representative in the MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland.

Unfortunately it’s been all downhill since then.

Vogelbach hit just .162 with nine home runs, a .286 on-base percentage and .626 OPS in the remaining 59 games he appeared in after the All-Star break in 2019, striking out 70 times to just 31 walks. It hasn’t gotten any better in the shortened 2020 season, either. In 64 plate appearances over 18 games, he’s hitting just .094 with two home runs, 11 walks, 13 strikeouts, a .250 on-base percentage and .226 slugging percentage, adding up to a .476 OPS.

The poor numbers at the plate made it pretty hard for the Mariners to keep Vogelbach on their active roster as he’s not a strong defender and Seattle has a Gold Glove candidate in rookie Evan White now playing first base. As a result, Vogelbach’s only appearances this season have come as the team’s DH or as a pinch hitter.

There’s no guarantee this is the end of Vogelbach in Seattle, however. He could be outrighted to Tacoma like Shaw was if Seattle doesn’t find a trade partner for him or he clears waivers without another team claiming his contract.

The Mariners acquired Vogelbach in a midseason trade with the Cubs in 2016, general manager Jerry Dipoto’s first year with the team. Seattle sent left-handed pitcher Mike Montgomery to Chicago in the four-player deal. Vogelbach was drafted by the Cubs in 2011 as an 18-year-old. He made his MLB debut in eight games with the Mariners in 2016, then appeared in 16 big league games in 2017 and 37 in 2018 before becoming a regular member of the team’s starting lineup last year.

Haggerty and Bishop, both 26, are joining the Mariners’ roster for the first time this season. Haggerty played 11 games with the Mets last year, his first MLB season, and Bishop debuted with Seattle in 2019, playing in 27 games.

Warren was called up for the first time this season Tuesday but did not appear in a game before being sent back to Tacoma.

[D-train]

And here is the only reason Gordon is on the team:

Dee Gordon admits that the whole process has left him and other players involved “absolutely petrified.”

But Gordon also says, “I have a really good feeling that I was put on this earth for something bigger than me. You know what? This might be it. This might be the calling.”

Gordon is referring to his deep involvement in The Players Alliance, a newly formed group of more than 100 current and former Black baseball players who have come together to, in their words, “use our collective voice and platform to create increased opportunity for the black community in every aspect of our game and beyond.”

Gordon, who is in his third season with the Mariners, is one of seven members of the Active Player Advisory Board for The Players Alliance, with Cameron Maybin, Tim Anderson, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, Aaron Hicks and Andrew McCutchen.

The board of directors is comprised of president Curtis Granderson, vice president CC Sabathia and secretary Edwin Jackson. The Major League Players Committee includes Mariners J.P. Crawford, Justin Dunn, Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Lewis, Shed Long, Justus Sheffield and Taijuan Walker. Numerous other former stars, including Torii Hunter, Jimmy Rollins, Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard, are involved as well, adding to the gravitas of the fledgling organization.

Gordon, with Maybin, was at the forefront of the group’s formation during baseball’s long hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic. During that time, a cry for social justice was building in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.

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Many football players were speaking out. Gordon felt it was time for baseball players to join in. Several of them filmed a Black Lives Matter video that aired in ballparks on opening day in July.

The trepidation among players, Gordon said, comes from the fact that none had attempted what they are now doing. But the declining number of Black players in baseball and the challenges they face, including discrimination at every level, convinced him and others that they should formally bond together to bring the issues to light, and forge solutions.

“This is scary to us,” Gordon said, “but it needs to be said.”

Last year there were 68 Black players out of 882 in MLB, which is 7.7%. This year, with expanded rosters, the numbers ticked up slightly to 80, or 7.8% (more than 10% of which are on the Mariners, who have nine Black players on their 28-man roster).

This week, MLB is honoring the 100th anniversary of the Negro leagues, which existed because Black players were banned from the majors until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. The percentage of African-American players peaked at 19% in 1986, according to research by Mark Armour of the Society of American Baseball Research.

Gordon has ideas on how to increase Black participation at the grassroots level, which he sees as a vital goal of The Players Alliance.

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“The thing about it is, there’s 68 of us — that’s 68 Black families in America that have been changed,” he said. “We need the numbers to go up a little bit so these Black kids can have hope coming from these rough backgrounds.”

One of The Players Alliance initiatives is Gear for Good, a player-led equipment drive to increase access to baseball in communities where it is not prevalent.

“We’re trying to change people’s lives,” Gordon said. “But the only way we can do that is by helping them pay for it. This game is too expensive. Us as The Players Alliance, that’s why we got together, to try to cover some of these costs.”

He pointed out that gloves and bats can run as high as $500 each, and cleats more than $100.

“That’s just the equipment,” he said. “If you’re on a travel team you have to spend money on travel. These kids in these communities do not have that type of money to be spending, especially being Black in America.”

The Players Alliance says its members have donated $40 million over the past five years to help in their communities. Another key initiative is to mentor young Black players at all levels. In June it counseled Black players who had been selected in the draft.

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“We tell them what it’s like to be Black in this game,” Gordon said. “Tell them what to expect, like the people before us did. But the dope thing is, we’re having a little bit different of a conversation than the mentors before us had with us. We’re trying to make sure we’re not telling them how to survive playing Major League Baseball. We’re telling them how to thrive being Black and playing Major League Baseball.”

Gordon and other members of The Players Alliance have pointed out that a majority of the Black players in the game are stars, rather than middle-of-the-road players.

“You’ve got to be perfect to be a Black player,” Gordon said. “We’re labeled as ‘athletes.’ Not baseball players. Athletes. It’s not my fault you weren’t born athletic. So why do I have to be labeled an athlete and not just a good baseball player? Every time you guys write a story about a prospect, if he’s a Black kid, the first thing you label a Black kid, is ‘raw.’ Why do we have to be raw?”


The discrimination faced by Black players, even at the major-league level, “never lessens for us,” Gordon said. “I’m sorry. But you know what? I’m not sorry. It’s not our fault. We’re just more scared than anything. We’re not here to ruffle anybody’s feathers, or even to get ahead of anybody. We just want to be on the same playing field. Make the playing field even.”

Gordon said he hopes The Players Alliance is an important step in making that happen.

“I believe we’re going to get some change here soon,” he said. “A big take-away, I don’t think this is going to help those of us that are playing right now.

“This is bigger than us. This is for, hopefully, our kids; our kids’ kids. Something like that. It’s going to be a while. But we’re going to get it right. It’s not something that’s going to be over and done with in 2020. We’re in it for the long haul.”

[D-train]

Absolutely Petrified!!!!!!!!!! LMAO

[rockycola]

I was wondering g how much longer he had.

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1145865/ ... vogelbach/

The Mariners tenure of slugger Daniel Vogelbach may be at its end.

Mariners option struggling outfielder Mallex Smith to Tacoma

Seattle announced ahead of a five-game homestand Wednesday afternoon that it has designated the 27-year-old first baseman/designated hitter for assignment. That was one of a handful of roster moves the Mariners made, along with:

• Outfielder Braden Bishop and infielder Sam Haggerty recalled from the team’s alternate training site in Tacoma.

• Right-handed reliever Art Warren optioned to Tacoma.

• Right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw outrighted to Tacoma after clearing waivers following his own DFA last week.

Love the refreshed, reimagining of the lineup. These changes were overdue.
Cut psShaw for good and forever, please!

[D-train]

“You’ve got to be perfect to be a Black player,” Gordon said.

I guess hitting .119 with a .339 OPS with a -0.4 WAR while making $13M a year is the the new perfect of victimhood.

[AT Funchal-Madeira]

Gordon should retire to devote all his life energy to forming this Blobetrotter team.... he can become the Black Messiah of Hoodball.

In the meantime... the whole Vogelbach situation has finally come to a head and that is great newe.... I thought Thursday was the day the trucks picked up the garbage, but the M's are filling the G-cans and rolling them out in the street early. At least we won't have to suffer through Mallex
Smith and Dan Vogelbach again. God is good!!!

[Sexymarinersfan]

“You’ve got to be perfect to be a Black player,” Gordon said.

I guess hitting .119 with a .339 OPS with a -0.4 WAR while making $13M a year is the the new perfect of victimhood.

[D-train]

Gordon should retire to devote all his life energy to forming this Blobetrotter team.... he can become the Black Messiah of Hoodball.

In the meantime... the whole Vogelbach situation has finally come to a head and that is great newe.... I thought Thursday was the day the trucks picked up the garbage, but the M's are filling the G-cans and rolling them out in the street early. At least we won't have to suffer through Mallex
Smith and Dan Vogelbach again. God is good!!!

Good news for Vogey that he just signed a $2M movie deal to reenact Ned Beattie's role in the remake Deliverance.

[D-train]

I do commend Dee for supporting underprivileged children but would love to get his thoughts on how hundreds of guys from the DR who use cardboard for gloves and sticks for bats manage to make the majors.

[D-train]

“You’ve got to be perfect to be a Black player,” Gordon said.

I guess hitting .119 with a .339 OPS with a -0.4 WAR while making $13M a year is the the new perfect of victimhood.

I know that OPS is cringe worthy isn't it.