Watchpoints: Mariners send Motter to Tacoma, expected to add Espinosa

The Mariners appeared to clear the way to add veteran infielder Danny Espinosa to their roster Monday by confirming utilityman Taylor Motter had been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Technically, Motter was optioned after Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees, but the club didn’t confirm the move under Monday morning.

The Mariners have yet to confirm a deal with Espinosa, although reports surfaced Sunday that he had reached agreement with the club on a major-league contract just three days after being released by the Los Angeles Angels.

Espinosa, 30, batted just .162 in 77 games for the Angels after spending the previous seven seasons at Washington. The first report of his deal with the Mariners came on twitter from Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.

The Mariners open a three-game series Monday against Boston at Safeco Field.

Motter’s versatility enabled the Mariners to carry an extra pitcher for nearly the entire season but, after a strong start, his slash is down to .204/.272/.355 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) in 70 games.

His slash is .180/.253/.247 in 52 games since April 27.

The Mariners, presumably, signed Espinosa, a switch-hitter, to a pro-rated minimum of his $5.425 million salary or roughly $200,000 for the remainder of the season. The Angels would remain on the hook for the balance.

It’s a short-term move, too, since he is eligible this winter for free agency. The Angels acquired Espinosa from the Nationals in a Dec. 10, 2016 trade for minor-league pitchers Kyle McGowin and Austin Adams.

Espinosa has never been much of a hitter in terms of on-base percentage — a Mariners’ organizational touchstone — but he did hit 24 homers last season for the Nationals (while batting just .209) in 157 games.

Overall, he compiled a .226/.302/.388 slash with 92 homers in 779 games at Washington from 2010-16, but he became unplayable this year with the Angels at .162/.237/.276.

Generally, though, Espinosa has been a plus defender. He was plus-8 in runs saved last season at the Nationals’ primary shortstop, and he was plus-2 in 71 games this year as the Angels’ second baseman.

Other watchpoints:

***Lefty James Paxton (9-3 with a 3.05 ERA) will seek to win a fifth straight start in the series opener against Boston at 7:10 p.m. Monday at Safeco Field. The Red Sox are starting lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (4-2, 3.66).

***The Mariners suffered two shutout losses before winning the final game when the clubs played a three-game series from May 26-28 in Boston. The Mariners generally cite their 6-0 loss on May 27 as their season’s low point. Brian Johnson pitched a five-hit complete game after being recalled that day from the minors.

***Paxton is 1-0 in two career starts against the Red Sox while permitting just one run in 16 innings. He was on the disabled list earlier this year when the Mariners lost two of three games in Boston.

***Rodriguez is 1-0 in two starts against the Mariners while allowing only one run in 12 1/3 innings. The victory came May 26 at Boston when he pitched six innings in a 3-0 victory.

***No Boston player had more than seven career plate appearances against Paxton, but their numbers are grim: Mookie Betts in 1-for-7, Dustin Pedroia is 0-for-6, Xander Bogaerts and Hanley Ramirez are each 1-for-6.

***Similarly, the Mariners haven’t done much against Rodriguez, although Robinson Cano is 2-for-6 and Jean Segura is 2-for-3. Danny Valencia is 1-for-9, and Nelson Cruz is 0-for-5.

***Segura is hitless in his last 15 at-bats, which dropped his average to .328. He is still second in the American League batting race but now trails Houston second baseman Jose Altuve (.358) by 30 points. Ben Gamel is fifth at .320.

***Nelson Cruz leads the league with 75 RBIs. New York right fielder Aaron Judge is second with 73.

***Pedroia is eighth in the league in batting at .311 and fourth in on-base percentage at .388.

***Betts is third in the league in runs scored with 70 and sixth in hits with 111.

TIME CAPSULE

It was six years ago Monday — July 24, 2011 — that the Mariners set a club record by suffering a 15th straight loss when they fell 12-8 to the Red Sox in Boston.

The franchise’s longest previous skid was 14 games in 1992. The 2011 skid reached 17 games before the Mariners won 9-2 on July 27 at New York.

Bob Dutton: @TNT_Mariners

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 9:56 AM with the headline "Watchpoints: Mariners send Motter to Tacoma, expected to add Espinosa."