Former Mariners: Dee Strange-Gordon is given a great chance

Former Mariners infielder Dee Strange-Gordon recently signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds, with an invitation to major league spring training. The speedy infielder joins a Reds team that is in need of a new shortstop.

This is a great opportunity for the 32-year-old veteran who has been on the free-agent market until last week. Although he didn’t have the best career in Seattle, I am certainly rooting for him to make the big league team in Cincinnati.

The Reds’ shortstop situation

Interestingly enough, our friends over at the Blog Red Machine actually think the addition of Strange-Gordon is absurd. And to be quite fair, I don’t agree with them but I get their sentiment.

The Reds have been in the market for a shortstop and it hasn’t been a secret. Reds fans were expecting to bring in someone like Willy Adames, or Amed Rosario to solidify the shortstop position, but they got Dee instead (for now).

Of course, Dee signed a minor league deal, so it shouldn’t be that shocking for fans. It is a low risk, high reward situation.

As a Mariners fan, I think Strange-Gordon still has a lot to offer. It seems like he has been around forever, but he is just 32 and will turn 33 in April.

At the moment, the Reds have Jose Garcia and Kyle Farmer at short on their depth chart. Garcia is one of their top prospects and is in line to start, but it seems that the front office wants to give him some more time to develop.

If they thought Garcia was ready, they wouldn’t be looking to add someone like Adames or Rosario.

Then, they also have Kyle Farmer. He is an interesting case for me because he has spent most of his MLB career at third and second base. Farmer has even caught some games in the big leagues.

Farmer played 85.2 innings at shortstop in 2020, so he is capable. He put up two defensive runs saved last season and a perfect fielding percentage. But, I think most Reds fans would agree that they would rather have someone else other than Farmer handling the six-hole.

As you can tell, the Reds shortstop position is rather up for grabs. Dee Strange-Gordon just adds to the competition which is a good thing in most cases.

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Dee Strange-Gordon with the Mariners

One thing to note, Dee hasn’t played very much shortstop as of late. So for the Reds, he will be competing for the shortstop and the utility position.

For the Mariners, Dee has only played 11 games at shortstop. He has only made one error during those games in Seattle.

Strange-Gordon played three seasons in Seattle and put up a mediocre line. He posted a .266 average, .293 OBP, 77 OPS+, and stole 55 bases.

Unfortunately, the Mariners never got his All-Star performances from 2014 and 2015 when he was with the Dodgers and Marlins.

If it weren’t for the 2020 drop off in performance, Dee’s Mariners career would have been looked at in a positive light. But, last year’s performance was horrendous and is exactly why Seattle decided to not bring him back.

But now think he has a great opportunity to bounce back and make an impact for Cincinnati. Dee has been too good in his career to end on such a bad note. Especially, since he has done so much for the community.

He has two All-Star games, one Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger under his belt. I am not saying that he will make another All-Star team, but I hope he earns the starting shortstop position. We wish you the best Dee!