Seattle Mariners: Sign or Decline — Denard Span

Denard Span isn’t technically a free agent… yet. He carries a pretty hefty club option that may just be too expensive for the Mariners to afford, leaving us to play a slightly alternative version of “Sign or Decline.”

When the Mariners and Rays struck a deal back in late May, the clear headliner of the deal was Álex Colomé. After the deal, however, Span quickly became the biggest piece involved in the trade, establishing himself as one of the best hitters on the Mariners roster. Since arriving in Seattle, Span slashed .272/.329/.435, good enough for a 112 wRC+ — fourth-best on the team.

With that kind of success, you may wonder why retaining him is of question at all? Well, Span will be entering the 2019 season at 35-years-old, and his club option is worth $12 million. That’s a pretty large chunk of money for a player of that age, at a position in which they have a younger, offensively productive player in Ben Gamel.

His buyout is also fairly expensive, at $4 million. So in essence, it comes down to whether or not they believe the $8 million could be used better elsewhere. In my mind, probably not, but there is another option in which they can eliminate all $12 million off their books. That would be to pick up his option then trade him.

After Span’s successful year, he’ll definitely carry some value on the trade market to teams that aren’t as potentially strapped for cash. Span is from Tampa, Florida, so his preferred destination may be on the East Coast, where there are quite a few teams that could realistically be a fit.

I think Span’s fate ultimately boils down to what happens with Nelson Cruz. If Cruz departs this Winter, Span would be in line to take over the majority of designated hitter duties while also giving the Mariners a bit more flexibility with his ability to play average defense in left field.

My personal preference is to keep him, especially if the Mariners end up increasing their payroll as I predicted earlier today. Span is the kind of consistent hitter this team desperately needs to fill out their lineup and become a more productive offensive as a whole. As weird as it may sound given his age, it doesn’t really feel like there is much risk involved in keeping him for one more season. To be honest, it feels more like more of a risk to not keep him, though that feels like the likeliest outcome.

Sign or Decline? Sign.

Prediction: Option picked up, then traded to AL East team.