IANNETTA TO MARINERS

The Seattle Mariners signed Chris Iannetta to a one-year, $4.25 million deal which will relegate Mike Zunino to backup duties. Talk about an uninspiring duo behind the dish. "Chris has a very distinct skillset and really brings an added dimension," GM Jerry Dipoto said. "Not only stability behind the plate, where he's worked very hard to improve, but he's also a veteran with an idea when he gets into the box. He does a lot to help your lineup get longer." Dipoto also thinks he knows why Iannetta struggled at the dish last year. "Chris had a horrific year on batting average on balls in play, and usually that's indicative of just being a little unlucky. He's got good right-handed power and an excellent walk rate.” Iannetta did have a .225 BABIP, well below his .277 career mark, and his first season under .276 since 2010. He does own a .351 career OBP, a mark he surpassed in 2013 and 2014, before falling to .293 last season. The soon-to-be 33-year-old should improve, but he’s nothing more than a depth C2 option in mixed leagues.

Meanwhile, Zunino is an unmitigated disaster. He hit .174 last season, after batting .199 in 2014, as he simply cannot hit anything off-speed. He had a .230 OBP, .300 SLG and 11 homers in 350 at-bats last season, one of the worst offensive efforts in all of baseball.

ONE LAST HOPE

Tim Lincecum hopes to throw for teams soon – January is the target date – after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip (an impingement was also addressed surgically). The 31-year-old righty, a two-time Cy Young winner, has fallen on hard times of late. How much of that has to do with health woes versus an arm that is just worn out? Will health in his hips allow him to regain the lost 5-6 mph on his fastball? Probably not. OK, it won’t. The once great starter had a 4.13 ERA last season and that was his best mark since 2011. While many view him as a viable bullpen option, Lincecum still would like to be given a chance to start. We shall see how it goes.

THE 2016 MLB FREE AGENT TRACKER.

AN OUTFIELDER

Gerardo Parra hit .237 with a .625 OPS over 55 games with the Orioles in the second half. That stinks. Overall, he still had his best season to date, hitting .291 with 14 homers, 51 RBIs, 83 runs scored and 14 steals. The steals were one off his career best, the homers were a career best, ditto the runs scored, while the RBIs were his largest total in six years. It sounds like despite the slowdown he had while with the Orioles that the club from Baltimore wants him back. The Royals and Mets have also been strongly linked to the solid, yet somewhat underwhelming, fantasy option. We shall see.

NUMBERS

Trevor Bauer has 341 strikeouts over 362.1 innings in his career. That’s an 8.47 K/9. Shouldn’t it be higher given his stuff?

Mark Buehrle has won 10 games while throwing at least 198 innings each year since 2001. He’s won at least 12 games the last eight years. He may or may not pitch again in 2016.

Bartolo Colon has won at least 14 games the last three years while throwing at least 190 innings each season. He’s 421 years old. Wait, I meant 42.

Ian Kennedy allowed 1.66 homers per nine, the worst mark in baseball for starters in 2015. Always known as a fly ball guy, that effort dwarfs his 1.12 career mark.

Hector Santiago has a 3.55 ERA and 1.32 WHIP for his career. In 2015 the numbers were 3.59 and 1.26.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Thursday at 8 PM EDT and Friday at 10 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).