infielder Dainer Moreira
The Seattle Mariners, who’ve long been player players in the international market, have signed a pair of international players in hopes of bringing in some overlooked talent.
Both players received minor-league contracts, but were productive in their respective leagues.
First was utility man Dainer Moreira.
The 32-year-old defected from Cuba in February 2015 after competing in the Caribbean World Series.
At 5-8 and 175/180 pounds, Moreira has shown the ability to play second base, shortstop, third base and the outfield, he’s viewed as jack of all trades by the club.
Mariners VP of player personnel Tom Allison had this to say:
“What you have is a 32-year-old who can really, really run. He’s got multipositional flexibility,” he said. “He can play short. He can play third. We’ve never seen him in the outfield. Maybe he can run out to left field. Maybe he can be another depth option.”
He’s definitely a contact hitter, Moreira slashed .315/.358/.375, but has only 8 home runs in roughly 3,000 at bats (and none since 2012). He has good speed and has stolen 62 bases, but he’s also been thrown out 60 times. There’s hope that better coaching can vastly improve the utility man’s stealing percentage.
Look for Dainer Moreira to spend the season in the minors, looking to earn a call-up.
The team’s other addition is a little more interesting.
The team has signed Korean slugger Dae-Ho Lee to a one-year Minor League contract.
The 33-year-old Lee hit .282 with 31 home runs and 98 RBIs in 141 games last year Japan’s Nippon Professional League.
With incentives, the one-year deal could be worth up to $4 million.
Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto talked about Lee:
“Dae-Ho gives us another potential right-handed power bat in the first-base competition.”
A power hitter in every sense of the word, the 6-4 and 250+ pound Lee has been a terror at the plate in the KBO, where he’s considered to be among the league’s top power hitters. On the downside, the right-hander is a sub-par athlete who’s limited to first base and DH. We’d expect that he’ll make the team out of spring training and pair with Adam Lind at first base, while also getting a fair share of at bats as a designated hitter. Weight has been a problem for Lee in the past as he’s reportedly weighed over 300 pounds, but by all accounts he’s in fairly good shape right now.
The Mariners were an interesting choice for Lee, who did have a good amount of interest.
