Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
In the flurry of moves made this offseason by Jerry Dipoto, it might have been easy to miss the acquisition of Boog Powell. In Dipoto’s first trade for the Seattle Mariners, Brad Miller, Logan Morrison and Danny Farquhar were exchanged for Powell, Nathan Karns and C.J. Riefenhauser from the Tampa Bay Rays. Karns was the big-name piece for the Mariners in the deal, considering the starting pitching that was needed at the time. In reality, Powell might have been the bigger piece in the trade.
Herschel Mack Powell, nicknamed Boog after the famous Baltimore Orioles player of the same name, has not appeared in a MLB game yet in his young career. He is only 22 years old, though, and has hit for a .307 average and a .401 OBP throughout his minor league career. He fits the new philosophy of the Mariners perfectly: a guy who doesn’t hit for much power, but gets on base and doesn’t strike out.
Powell has played a little in all three outfield spots, mainly in center field. He is considered an above average fielder with speed. He has been moved around quite a bit, with the Mariners being his third organization, but one of those trades could most likely be attributed to his 50-game suspension for the use of amphetamines in 2014. He did continue to produce after the suspension, though, so a big drop off is not expected in the future.
Powell is a left-handed bat that could provide useful in the future. It is possible that he is eventually moved from center field into one of the corner outfield spots if Leonys Martin, the newly acquired outfielder from the Texas Rangers, performs well enough to get the full-time job. Martin is under control until 2019, which gives him a good chance of keeping the center field spot with the Mariners. With outfielders Seth Smith, Franklin Gutierrez and Nori Aoki all with one year guaranteed left, it is more than likely Powell will be playing for the Mariners in 2017. Depending on how the season goes, he could see a call- up during this season at some time.
Having Powell in the outfield would clear some money to make the big name acquisition I expect next offseason. The Mariners are contenders this season, but a big name in 2017 or 2018 could be what puts them over the edge. Powell gives them the flexibility to obtain one of those big names without compromising their defense or speed. Considering Powell was seen as almost a throw-in at the time of the deal, in a few years he may be the piece that makes everyone think the Mariners won this deal hands down.
