The Mariners made their first trade deadline deal Thursday, but it was hardly the blockbuster fans sought. Seattle sent two minor leaguers — outfielder Abraham Almonte and RHP Stephen Kohlscheen — to San Diego for .242 hitter Chris Denorfia, who has played all three outfield positions for the Padres this season.
The 34-year-old Denorfia scored 25 runs with 10 doubles, three triples, one home run and 16 RBIs in 89 games. In his career against left-handed pitchers, he is hitting .301 (231×768) with 45 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 83 RBIs and an .809 OPS.
Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as a 19th-round selection in the 2002 draft, Denorfia has played parts of nine major league seasons with the Reds (2005-06), Athletics (2008-09) and Padres (2010-14). In 673 games, he has hit .275 (514-for-1868) with 90 doubles, 15 triples, 36 home runs, 173 RBIs and 260 runs scored.
Denorfia’s acquisition means the Mariners are not likely to obtain one of their major targets, Alex Rios of the Texas Rangers.
Almonte, 25, began the season as Seattle’s starting center fielder after making the big league club out of spring training. In 27 games, he hit .198 (21-for-106) with five doubles, one triple, one home run and 8 RBIs. Since being optioned to AAA Tacoma, he is hitting .267 (74-for-277) with 10 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 31 RBIs in 72 games. He’s stolen 7 bases in 11 attempts, and has a .333 on-base percentage and is slugging .390. Almonte was acquired by Seattle from New York (AL) in exchange for Shawn Kelley Feb. 13, 2013.
Kohlscheen, 25, split time this season between AA Jackson and AAA Tacoma. In 23 games, all in relief, Kohlscheen went 1-1 with six saves and a 2.25 earned run average with Jackson and 2-0, 3.28 in 15 relief appearances with Tacoma. Kohlscheen was the Mariners 45th round selection in the 2010 June draft out of Auburn University.
9 Comments
Who?
What a joke.
If this Denorfia trade were it, disappointing. Now with the Austin Jackson last-second deal, this is a nice insurance complement for not much, a la Morales.
The farm stays intact and Mac has OF help and an improved offense. Fingers crossed. I like James Jones whose offense has fallen off of late. Saunders really hasn’t proven himself. More interesting moves to come.
Ah, another blockbuster trade pulled off by M’s management.
Almost everyone in the betting pool (who’s the next new guy?) figured the M’s would get an obscure journeyman instead of a well known player.
Hope this dude realizes the Twilight Zone he’s about to enter.
Interesting that this swap of minor league roster-filler gets posted but there’s nothing on the trade that mattered. I’ll miss Franklin and the jack-of-all-trades depth (a la Willie Bloomquist) that he would’ve added in Seattle, but I don’t think Mac has use for Nick so at least we get a proven MLB outfielder for him.
Austin Jackson will never be more than a .275 hitter with 10-15 homers, but that’s fine for this team as long as he can add some speed to the top of the order, get on base and play decent defense in CF. At first blush, this is a good trade.
As for Almonte and Kohlscheen for Denorfia? I think Tacoma comes out on the short end. In AAA, a pitcher is a pitcher.
I’d rather a news outlet be second and right on a story than first and WAY off.
Who was WAY off? You’re probably right, though. Once a story is posted on a website, it can’t be updated or anything.
Surprised that Almonte was traded. Lloyd really liked him in the beginning of the season. Denoria will probably platoon with Endy as that he can hit lefites well but not so with righties. Endy really isn’t a full time player anymore but when he can play he’s solid. At least Denoria as a solid OBP, .343 the past 3 seasons. At Safeco that’s a plus.