2B or not 2B? Apparently not, as yesterday Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto acquired second baseman (and perennial NL stolen-base leader) Dee Gordon from the Miami Marlins, with plans to move him to center field. Sure, why not? He‘ll cover ground anyway, and he’s got a glove. What did we give up? I‘ll let ESPN’s David Schoenfield talk:

Jerry Dipoto has said he wanted to acquire a center fielder for the Mariners ... so he acquired Dee Gordon from the Marlins. ... He's signed for three more seasons plus an option so he could be a long-term solution there. They did give up Nick Neidert, their top pitching prospect. He's not a flamethrower, but immediately becomes one of the Marlins' top prospects as well and Derek Jeter has dealt away his first major chunk of salary.

Man, I hate helping effin' Jeter.

Gordon will turn 30 in April, which generally isn't a good age for a speedster ... until we remember (because surely we remember) that Lou Brock set the single-season stolen base record in 1974 at age 34/35.

Gordon can also hit: He's got a .293 career average. What he doesn't do is walk (.329 career OBP) or hit for power (.367 career slugging). He's got 11 HRs in his career, 40 triples and only 90 doubles. That last is shocking. His best doubles season is 24: twice. I imagine we‘ll place him at the top of the lineup. But if he slumps at Safeco, as players have been known to do, we’re in trouble. 

That said, his WAR last season was 3.1, which is equal to Jean Segura‘s. And it’ll be nice to have some speed on the basepaths. Here's a highlight reel from a few years ago: