Dee Strange-Gordon

The writing had been on the wall for a couple seasons. Last year, Strange-Gordon -- he decided to start using his full legal surname to honor his mother -- spent the season as a reserve, playing sparingly. Seattle auditioned younger players as it looks to the future. The reduced playing time snapped Strange-Gordon's streak of double-digit steals through the first nine years of his career. He didn't help his cause by making even weaker contact than usual; 10 of his 11 hits were singles. Gordon's sprint speed is still 86th percentile and he can play second base and outfield, so he has a chance to stick around the majors for a while as a bench piece. However, even for a roster needing a boost in steals, Strange-Gordon is not an advised fantasy pickup.

Well, at least you don't have to decide if it's worth investing a second-rounder anymore. Gordon could still be a top stolen base contributor, but his days of dominating the category are history. There are several reasons. Gordon isn't getting on base as frequently, pushing him to the bottom of the order most of the time. Not only is he getting fewer opportunities, Gordon runs on a lesser percent of chances when hitting in the lower third of the order. Injuries are also a factor with Gordon missing chunks of the past season with wrist, quad and back woes. Finally, even if healthy, he may not play every day as Seattle has youngsters ready at second base and in the outfield. Gordon still runs with 84th percentile speed so he should continue to maintain a plus batting average and score runs. However, in the current landscape, the lack of power is even more detrimental, irrespective of where he's drafted.

Gordon has been at one extreme or another over the past five seasons as he has stolen either close to 60 bases in a season, or 30. Last year was one of those down years and it marked the second time in three seasons he stole 30. Thirty is the new 60 in terms of the running game league-wide, but nobody who drafted Gordon as highly as they did last year projected him for 30 bases. The main culprit in the reduction of his running was an anemic 2% walk rate. Pitchers know they can overpower him with velocity, and will throw him strikes and allow him to put the ball in play and take their chances on the batted ball finding an infielder's glove. The 50-point drop in BABIP last year resulted in his lowest mark in that category since the 2013 season. The dual eligibility is nice for 2019, but the addition of Mallex Smith to the lineup could force Gordon's impatience down to the very bottom of the lineup, if he even remains in Seattle.

Gordon came back for his first full season since his PED suspension, and mostly picked up where he left off. He has now stolen at least 58 bases and hit .289 or above in every full season in which he's played, and his per-game stolen-base pace was similar in 2016 once he returned from suspension. He continued to put bat to ball with great consistency in 2017 (13.4 percent strikeout rate), with his contact skills and speed more than making up for a low walk rate (3.6 percent). The biggest difference for Gordon in 2017 was that he scored runs in bunches, exceeding his previous career high by 22 thanks to the production behind him in the lineup. A repeat in that area may not happen, but Gordon landed in a spot with a good supporting cast with the trade to Seattle in December. He's expected to patrol center field for the Mariners, meaning he will gain dual eligibility early on.

Gordon was suspended 80 games in late April for PEDs, and was hitting a mediocre .266 with six steals at the time. He returned in late July to hit .268 the rest of the way, adding 24 valuable second-half steals. Swiping 30 bags in half a season matched expectations although the average was lower than anticipated. Gordon hit his usual number of line drives and bountiful grounders, but not as many resulted in hits. The difference between .265 and .305 is one seeing-eye grounder or infield hit a week, so a rebound in average is likely. Those that were on Gordon for his plentiful steals should have no real reason to reconsider, especially since the cost of acquisition has dropped.

Gordon went from someone people could not draft ahead of Billy Hamilton to someone that has already gone in the first round of offseason expert drafts. Stolen bases have become more precious than water in a desert these days, so Gordon challenging 60 on an annual basis makes him very valuable. He enhanced his value batting .333 and scoring 88 times for a bad offensive team thanks to his ability to put himself in scoring position at the drop of a hat. He rarely walks, but he also makes a lot of contact thereby forcing defenses to make a great play to get him out. As long as he slashes and dashes at the top of the lineup, he’s going to be a fantasy asset. If the Marlins can get better bats behind him and Stanton can stay healthy for a full season, 100 runs is a lock. A .300/60-steal/100-run season would make him a top-10 overall player in 2016.

Gordon had the type of season that many were hoping to get from Billy Hamilton in 2014, and he came at a much cheaper price on draft day. Speed has always been his best tool, and he used that weapon to rack up 64 stolen bases last season while settling in as the Dodgers' leadoff man for 133 of the 148 games that he played. Even when Hanley Ramirez was dinged up, Gordon stayed at second base, and thus will not have shortstop eligibility in most leagues to begin 2015. Of particular concern was a noticeable shift in Gordon's plate discipline between the first and second half, as he struck out at an 18.2% clip after the All-Star break while drawing walks in just 1.6% of his plate appearances (.300 OBP in the second half). Traded the Marlins in December, Gordon will serve as the Marlins' starting second baseman after the position was a revolving door for the club throughout 2014. It remains to be seen if a move down in the batting order will materialize given the aforementioned on-base percentage issues, but Gordon should continue to receive plenty of green lights on the basepaths in 2015.

Gordon posted a .385 OBP for Triple-A Albuquerque but again failed to show enough at the big league level for the Dodgers to consider him a future starter. He batted .234/.314/.298 with 10 stolen bases in 94 at-bats for the Dodgers, displaying blazing speed but little else. Defensively, he's proven too erratic at shortstop, leading the organization to experiment with him at second base and center field the last couple years. Gordon turns 26 in April, and 2014 is clearly a career crossroads.

After batting .304 in 224 at-bats in his rookie year, expectations were high for Gordon as he opened the season as the team's shortstop and leadoff man. However, Gordon was batting just .229/.280/.282 on July 4 when he suffered a thumb injury that kept him out for over two months. Once he returned, Luis Cruz and Hanley Ramirez kept Gordon on the bench and he finished with a .228 average and 32 stolen bases in 87 games. Gordon will have to impress this spring to push his way into the lineup again, as Ramirez and Cruz are slated to hold down the left side of the infield, but he could become an option at second base if needed. His stolen-base potential makes Gordon worth monitoring closely in all formats.

An electrifying talent when he gets on base, Gordon made his big league debut in 2011, batting .304/.325/.362 with 24 stolen bases in 224 at-bats for the Dodgers. As good as a .304 average is, Gordon drew just seven walks and managed only 11 extra-base hits (no home runs). He's small and pencil-thin, so projecting anywhere near five home runs as his future upside is pushing it, but if the Dodgers give him full-time at-bats in the leadoff position, he should hit for average, score a ton of runs, and steal upwards of 50-60 bases. Walks are irrelevant in most fantasy leagues, but he'll need to draw more of those to stay in and at the top of the lineup.

Gordon remains a fantasy prospect worth monitoring strictly for one thing - his penchant for stolen bases. Gordon swiped 53 last season (73 in 2009) while batting a Juan Pierre-like .276/.331/.353 for Double-A Jacksonville. His 5-foot-11 frame leads to little in the way of power projection, but if Gordon can show progress in his plate discipline this coming season, he could be in the mix to replace Rafael Furcal (free agent) at shortstop in 2012. He'll open the season in Triple-A.

Gordon was named the organization's minor league position player of the year after batting .301/.363/.394 with 12 triples and 73 stolen bases for Low-A Great Lakes. He's a dynamic talent whose performance caught up quicker to his raw ability than expected last season. Look for Gordon to reach Double-A by season's end and for now, consider him the heir apparent to Rafael Furcal, whose contract expires after the 2011 season.