According to Jim Bowden of ESPN, the Seattle Mariners have signed veteran second baseman Rickie Weeks to a one-year contract. The deal worth around $2 million with another $2 million possible with incentives.
Weeks, a 10-year MLB veteran who has spent his entire career up to this point with the Milwaukee Brewers, is a career .249/.347/.424 hitter. His best season was in 2010 when he hit .269/.366/.464 with 29 homeruns, 32 doubles and 11 stolen bases. Weeks was named an All-Star in 2011 when he hit .269/.350/.468 with 20 homeruns and 26 doubles in 118 games.
Partially due to injuries, Weeks’ production started to slip after that, but he bounced back in a part time role with the Brewers last season hitting .274/.357/452 in 286 plate appearances. Weeks has reportedly refused to move to the outfield with the Brewers in the past, but with Robinson Cano holding down second base, he simply cannot expect to see much time there. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the Mariners plan to use Weeks a lot in the outfield. One would expect that Weeks understood this before signing the deal.
While he is far from the player that he used to be, Weeks is still a productive hitter against left-handed pitching. He is athletic enough to handle the outfield, so if that transition goes well, it is easy to see how he could be a valuable utility-type player for the Mariners, who gets the bulk of his playing time against lefties.