Mariners Acquire Robert Andino for Trayvon Robinson

The Mariners have traded away Trayvon Robinson to acquire utility man Robert Andino from the Baltimore Orioles. Andino played almost exclusively second and third base last year, though he’s got 964.1 career innings of average defense at shortstop, and has 25 career innings in the outfield split between left and center. People will tell you Andino is an outfielder. Those people are either lying to you, ignorant, or making a really annoying semantics argument.

Andino is estimated to make $1.8 million in arbitration this offseason, his second shot at arbitration, and going into his age 29 season he’s got two remaining years of team control.

Andino bats right-handed, and has hit lefties better than he’s hit righties, but that’s not saying much considering he’s significantly worse than average against of both varieties (76 wRC+ vs. lefties compared to 63 wRC+ against righties).

Robinson, by contrast, was a decent fielder and could potentially play all three outfield positions, but has major contact issues that have contributed to a 32.6 percent strikeout rate in 319 plate appearances.

Ultimately, however, Andino fills a spot. He’s not necessarily the “big bat” we’ve been hoping for. He’s not Josh Hamilton. Seriously, check his birth certificate. But he probably makes the team. Robinson was out of options. Even if Robinson ends up being a starting outfielder in Baltimore (unlikely), there’s a good chance he wouldn’t have even made the team here.