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Dipoto has really only acknowledged the need for lefty relief pitching and righty offensive balance. Along with perhaps a "tell" that Dae-Ho Lee is a longshot and a 12-AB kid in Tacoma isn't the first choice.
MLB Trade Rumors sez, Thursday,
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The Mariners have expressed some early interest in free agent lefty Brett Cecil tweetsJon Morosi of the MLB Network, and the M’s are also likely to take a look at southpaw Boone Logan in free agency, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Morosi notes that the Mariners are “determined” to add a lefty reliever, although that much has been known for quite some time, as GM Jerry Dipoto has previously expressed his desire to add a left-handed reliever to the back of his bullpen.
Cecil, 30, registered an inflated 3.93 ERA in an injury-shortened season in 2016, but he was much better after returning from a strained left triceps than he was when pitching earlier in the year. And dating back to the 2013 campaign, Cecil has somewhat quietly been a stellar left-handed option for Toronto, pitching to a 2.90 ERA with 11.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate. In that time, he’s held lefties to a feeble .215/.270/.310 slash but also suppressed opposing right-handers, who batted a mere .218/.306/.350 against Cecil in that four-year span. Cecil’s velocity was down a bit early in the season, but it bounced back as he further distanced himself from from the aforementioned DL stint. Overall, he averaged 92.2 mph on his heater this season.
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Cecil has been the Jays' Charlie Furbush when healthy, consistently racking up K rates of 11-13 and walk rates well within reason. Delightfully, he does it with a 50-50 mix of wipeout curve ball and stinging little fastball. A guy like him -- dominant, lefty, and with health questions -- is plus-minus two months from being worth $500K or, in this market, $100M. Just kidding. Well, not by much.
Here's a vid. As you can see, Cecil does not throw a two-plane angular slider like Furbush's; he throws a 12-6 hammer that is effective against right hand batters. Well, righties do get a better look at his heater than lefties do, but we're just sayin'. For a guy who murders lefties most foully, he's solid against the one righty in the inning also.
As awkward-looking wagers go, Dr. D will take this one a million miles before he'd have taken the Steve Cishek angle.
BABVA,
Jeff