Arizona Diamondbacks sign Jarrod Dyson

The 33-year-old Jarrod Dyson has played eight years in the major leagues, all but the most recent of them with the Kansas City Royals. Last year, he appeared in 111 games for the Seattle Mariners, hitting .251/.324/.350 for an OPS+ of 83, basically in line with his career figure there of 85. He has mostly been a center-fielder, but has started at both corner outfield spots as well: I’m thinking this is mostly a “Gregor Blanco v.2018” type signing, with Dyson intended as a fourth outfielder, in particular someone who can credibly spell A.J. Pollock in center if needed. Jerry Crasnick broke the news on Twitter:

And Jon Heyman followed up with the price:

While that’s a reasonable enough deal, I certainly hope no-one out there thinks Dyson is intended as any kind of replacement for J.D. Martinez, despite the timing of the news. Because the power just isn’t there: indeed, after 661 game over those eight season, Dyson has only 12 career home-runs, less than half as many as Martinez swatted in three-plus months with the D-backs in 2017. Steve Gilbert explicitly addressed this on Twitter, saying the team “Were going to sign Dyson regardless of what happened with J.D. Martinez,” and are not necessarily done seeking outfield help. Dyson instead brings speed - he has 204 career SB, at an 85% success rate - and good defense. So he’s almost the anti-Martinez!

However, interesting to note though, that supposedly fixed Diamondbacks payroll budget for 2018 just moved up to the next notch on its belt...

UPDATE: The Diamondbacks have placed Shelby Miller on the 60-Day DL to make room for Dyson. Miller is expected to be back some time in June as he continues his rehab from Tommy John surgery from May 10th.