It’s funny how sometimes people can go completely unnoticed until something happens they had nothing to do with. Today, Trayvon Robinson got traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Robert Andino. Most of you right now after the fact cannot even tell me where he played before, how old he is, or whether he is bad, good or a prospect. Well it just so happens that I know a little about Trayvon Robinson as he has been a part of the Mariners’ organization for the last year and a half.
Quickly I will explain who he is from a strictly statistical perspective before I delve into the more important issues.
In 90 games he has a .215 BA, .272 OBP .330 SLG. He has 7 career SB and 5 Career HR. He can play left field or center field, and has an average to below average arm.
Now to the Important stuff. He’s only 25, He has a cool name, although it carries different connotations now than when he first showed up with the Mariners, he is out of Crenshaw High School in L.A. and is black. He is out of Minor League options and therefore will be with the big club until he really sucks, and he is a former Mariner now.
What does this mean? It means he will be one of your Baltimore friends new favorite players and that he has the ability to surprise a few folks before eventually letting them down. Additionally it means that the Orioles have some confidence in Robinson and see more in him than the Mariners do. The Mariners also have a lot of outfield depth right now so they needed to get rid of someone.
Lastly for those of you who don’t know, Former Mariners are always better than Mariners. Last year the team that had the most players on starting lineups that had been drafted or originally signed by a team was the Mariners. The mariners are also notorious for letting people go too early before they become great, Doug Fister, Brandon Morrow, R.A. Dickey, David Ortiz, Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek, all former Mariners. And that is just off the top of my head.
So we’ve got two possibilities here, Robinson wins a game with a walk off against either the Red Sox or Yankees and some Orioles fans love him and he justifies the trading of Robert Andino, but he never does anything else. Or he becomes the next thing to complain about by us Mariners fans and Robert Andino is out of the league in two years.
-David Ringold
