.

Dr. D has an inkling for Mallex Smith, always has, which makes this Fangraphs (!) comment gratifying:

.

The structure of the rebuild indicates intelligent design, but chaos and entropy will play their role. Mitch Haniger (who looks like a star), Domingo Santana (who has the talent to be one), and the charismatic Mallex Smith (who may sneakily already be one) will be fun to watch while the kids grow up.

.

1.  The mainframe can't go too far on Mallex because if you look at his performances closely enough it's easy to see Dee Gordon -- a good year resulting in the .360 OBP and 40 steals, but the real possibility of an UP/DWN oscillation.

2.  It's interesting to see FG sell Santana fairly hard, by their standards.  I dunno a thing about him; don't ever remember bearing down on one of his AB's.

Here's a Times article that will have you thinking that Domingo Santana is ready to pick up where he left off in 2017.  After a beefy 30-85 season, The Brew traded his starting spot out from under him for little apparent reason.  Sez Dipoto:

“Santana was one of the most productive outfielders in baseball in 2017,” Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said after the trade. “He did not have the same opportunities last year, but his age and power bat from the right side make him a very good fit for our club moving forward.”

3.  Earlier this week we saw an article comparing Mitch Haniger to Bryce Harper - and concluding that Haniger was the more desirable.  Mitch woulda had 5.5 WAR last year if he hadn't been docked for glovework.  I doubt you project Haniger to negative glovework.

.

The M's got Jake Fraley back as a throwin in the Zunino/Mallex deal.  Here's an article on his big spring early on.  He's put up a 1.000 OPS and we hear about the infamous swing transformation:

.

“He was a speed/slap hitter,” Servais said. “He’s not trying to slap the ball anywhere other than over the fence right now. He has a much different approach at the plate with the swing change he has made and he has gotten stronger.”

Sound familiar? Swing change guys have been a target of Dipoto in his acquisitions. Haniger made a swing change after two seasons in the minors and then took off. But unlike Haniger, Fraley made the decision in quick order that what got him drafted might not get him far at the next level.

“I played the first month and a half (in the minors) and struggled tremendously,” Fraley said. “I had had a lot of success in college, but this was completely different. What I did in college did not work in pro ball.”

.

He's leading off again tonight, albeit he's 0-fer so far.

.

Braden Bishop is frontrunner for the OF4 job early in March.  He's a plus-plus glove, even in center, or so go the reports.  The trouble had been his bat and now there are noises that he's leaped a plateau with the bat.  Happily, the noises are mostly coming from the box scores; his OPS is over 1200 this spring.  Last month, Lookout Landing did a profile on him.  If you want technical-type details on whence the big bat.

.

Brian Kenny, and separately the MLB Network, believe that Mitch Haniger is a better ballplayer than Bryce Harper:

“Haniger actually over the last two years has been a better player,” said Kenny, who was at the Mariners’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., on Tuesday .... “He runs, he throws,” Kenny said of Haniger. “It’s not like, oh, these are hidden things. No man, he’s taking extra bases, he’s laying out and stealing outs left and right; he’s an excellent defensive player. So you can look at Mitch Haniger and say, hey, he’s a six-win player – that’s a star.”

.

BABVA,

Jeff