The Seattle Mariners have announced some roster moves. Denard Span is joining the active roster, John Andreoli is being optioned to AAA Tacoma, and Taylor Motter has been claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins.
Span, 34, was acquired by the Mariners in a 4-player trade on Friday (5/25). He reached base safely in 35 of 43 games with Tampa Bay, batting .238 (34×143) with 27 runs scored, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 28 RBI, 28 walks and 6 stolen bases. He reached base safely in 23 straight games, April 15-May 15, batting .272 (22×81) with 18 runs scored, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 17 RBI, 17 walks and 4 stolen bases during the streak. Span was part of a 5-player trade between the Rays and Giants on Dec. 20, 2017, that sent Span, Christian Arroyo (inf), Matt Krook (lhp) and Stephen Woods Jr. (rhp) to Tampa Bay from San Francisco in exchange for Evan Longoria (inf).
Span is an 11-year Major League veteran with the Minnesota Twins (2008-12), Washington Nationals (2013-15), San Francisco Giants (2016-17) and Tampa Bay Rays (2018). He was originally selected by the Twins in the first round (20th overall) of the 2002 June Draft out of Tampa Catholic High School, where he played on the 2001 state championship team and was all-state as a junior and senior. He was inducted into Tampa Catholic’s Baseball Hall of Fame on Feb. 10, 2010.
Over his 11 Major League seasons, Span has hit .282/.348/.396 (1418×5032) with 737 runs, 250 doubles, 66 triples, 64 home runs, 460 RBI, 492 walks and 182 steals. He is one of three National League outfielders with double-digit homers and steals in each of the last two seasons (2016 & 2017), joining Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon. He tied for the NL lead with 184 hits in 2014, led the NL with 11 triples in 2013 and tied for the AL lead with 10 triples in 2009.
Andreoli, 27, made his Major League debut with the Mariners on May 23 at Oakland after being selected from AAA Tacoma prior to the game. In his debut, he went 1-for-3 with a walk and made a sliding catch in right field to rob a base hit in the 8th inning. Prior to his selection, Andreoli was hitting .294 (37-for-126) with 21 runs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 20 RBI in 32 games with the Rainiers this season. He was on the Rainiers disabled list from April 22-May 2 with a sprained finger on his right hand.
Andreoli was signed by Seattle as a minor league free agent on Dec. 8, 2017. He spent the past three seasons (2015-17) with AAA Iowa in the Chicago Cubs system. Last year, he hit .244 (105×430) in 119 games with 81 runs, 24 doubles, 8 triples, 14 home runs and 26 stolen bases. He was T1st in the Pacific Coast League in steals, T10th in triples and 11th in runs.
Motter, 28, was designated for assignment yesterday. He spent most of the 2018 season with AAA Tacoma, where he hit .197 (29×147) with 21 runs, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 21 RBI, 16 walks and 4 stolen bases in 37 games. After being recalled on April 3, he appeared in 7 games with the Mariners, batting .267 (4×15) with 2 runs, 1 home run, 1 RBI and 2 walks. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound infielder/outfielder was optioned to Tacoma on April 17. Motter was acquired by the Mariners from Tampa Bay along with Richie Schaffer (inf) in exchange for Dalton Kelly (inf), Andrew Kitteredge (rhp) and Dylan Thompson (rhp) on Nov. 18, 2016. In parts of 3 Major League seasons with the Rays (2016) and Mariners (2017-18), he is a career .198 (70×353) hitter with 42 runs, 15 doubles, 10 home runs, 36 RBI, 34 walks and 12 stolen bases in 132 games.
