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Mariners designate Chone Figgins for assignment

Chone Figgins has been designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners

By Adam J. Morris
Figgy Pudding
Figgy Pudding
Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The Seattle Mariners have designated Chone Figgins for assignment, closing the book on a pretty terrible free agent signing by the M's.

The Figgins signing was one of the first moves made by Jack Z upon taking over as general manager of the Mariners after the 2009 season. Figgins got a 4 year, $36 million deal with a vesting option for 2014 that had the potential to make it a 5 year, $44 million deal.

That option won't vest.

The thing about Figgins is that, one year into the deal, he looked like a bad signing...just not THIS bad of a signing. I remember, in 2010, people saying that, yeah, the Figgins deal backfired, but really, you couldn't blame Jack Z for that because really, who could have expected Figgins to play so poorly?

But look at Figgins' career numbers:

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
2002 24 ANA 15 12 12 6 2 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 5 .167 .167 .250 .417 9
2003 25 ANA 71 270 240 34 71 9 4 0 27 13 7 20 38 .296 .345 .367 .711 90
2004 26 ANA 148 638 577 83 171 22 17 5 60 34 13 49 94 .296 .350 .419 .770 103
2005 27 LAA 158 720 642 113 186 25 10 8 57 62 17 64 101 .290 .352 .397 .749 101
2006 28 LAA 155 683 604 93 161 23 8 9 62 52 16 65 100 .267 .336 .376 .712 85
2007 29 LAA 115 503 442 81 146 24 6 3 58 41 12 51 81 .330 .393 .432 .825 117
2008 30 LAA 116 520 453 72 125 14 1 1 22 34 13 62 80 .276 .367 .318 .685 83
2009 31 LAA 158 729 615 114 183 30 7 5 54 42 17 101 114 .298 .395 .393 .789 110
2010 32 SEA 161 702 602 62 156 21 2 1 35 42 15 74 114 .259 .340 .306 .646 84
2011 33 SEA 81 313 288 24 54 11 1 1 15 11 6 21 42 .188 .241 .243 .484 40
2012 34 SEA 66 194 166 18 30 5 2 2 11 4 1 19 48 .181 .262 .271 .533 54
11 Yrs 1244 5284 4641 700 1285 185 58 35 402 337 118 526 817 .277 .349 .364 .713 92
162 Game Avg. 162 688 604 91 167 24 8 5 52 44 15 68 106 .277 .349 .364 .713 92
LAA (8 yrs) 936 4075 3585 596 1045 148 53 31 341 280 96 412 613 .291 .363 .388 .751 99
SEA (3 yrs) 308 1209 1056 104 240 37 5 4 61 57 22 114 204 .227 .302 .283 .585 68
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/20/2012.

Figgins had almost exactly the same season in 2010 as he did in 2008 and 2006. The steals were about the same, the OPS+ is almost exactly the same. The numbers look worse because Figgins was in Safeco, which depresses offense, but Figgins was also in his 30s and coming off one of the best seasons of his career. A significant drop-off had to be expected. While Figgins wasn't good in 2010, it also is a performance that shouldn't have been outside the realm of possible outcomes.

And then, in 2011, Figgins was even worse. Figgins posted a 484 OPS in 313 plate appearances. Zack Greinke has a career OPS than that, and he's a pitcher.

2012 was better, not better enough to matter, and now, Figgins is gone.

Evan Grant talked last season about wanting to see the Rangers take a flyer on Figgins, give him the opportunity to be the 25th man, a speed and defense guy off the bench, and I suspect that once Figgins clears waivers, he'll get an NRI with some team. Who knows, maybe it will be the Rangers.