The Mariners have officially parted ways with 1B / DH Daniel Vogelbach. Vogey was loaned to the Toronto Blue Jays this evening in exchange for casho considerations.
Vogelbach was drafted on August 20, with a 39 wRC + and a .094 / .250 / .226 line through most of the second half of the 2019 season. Vogelbach’s fight was a challenge to the enduring power of his adaptations and the ability of Seattle’s coaching staff to help stick adjustments, and his regression from seemingly bright spot to understandable ace cutting is a disappointing end to Vogdor’s saga.
In Toronto, Vogelbach has far from a clear path to playing time. On an initial basis, the Blue Jays have a 21-year-old top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. In addition, the Jays as a full-time DH currently have 6’4 behemoth Rowdy Tellez, whose numbers have plummeted in recent years but have never fallen as low as Vogelbach’s recent fight. Vogelbach is a veteran of sorts, with Tellez just 25 and Toronto currently working with a punchless bench of just three players, but the loss of bat speed and flexibility that Vogelbach showed in 2020 does not immediately seem like the product of a slight change of landscape. Hopefully he can rediscover his early form of 2020 in the AL East.
