Its time to jerk back the leash on Seattle Mariners 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach.
He was once a promising prospect after being taken in the second round of the draft. Now, he is about to be a free agent looking for a new place to call home. Daniel Vogelbach has been set free, after being designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners.
Even though he hit .206 a year ago, Vogelbach was an All-Star and finished the year with thirty home runs. When he connected with the ball, it traveled a long way. Unfortunately, he didn’t connect with the ball very often.
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Coming into this season there was a lot of pressure on Vogelbach to produce. The Mariners decided to go all-in with Evan White, giving him the first base job before the season started.
This moved Vogelbach to the designated hitter position. While White has struggled with the bat, hitting a paltry .206 thus far while striking out every third time he steps to the plate, Vogelbach has been even worse.
A .094 average with a pair of long balls were the driving force behind his eventual DFA.
The Mariners have fully committed to the youth movement and at 27 years of age, Vogelbach could have been a part of the rebuild. With the lack of production coming from his bat, Vogelbach seems like an old 27.
Having played in parts of five seasons, though only having 223 games under his belt, Vogelbach will be playing on the cheap for some time. My guess is some team will take a chance on him, snapping him up after the Mariners put him on waivers. There is still upside with this guy, he just needs to put the bat on the ball at a higher rate.