Mariners designate former SF Giants infielder for assignment

Former SF Giants infielder Tommy La Stella has been designated for assignment after a short stint with the Seattle Mariners. La Stella signed a one-year deal with the Mariners this offseason, but only appeared in 12 games for Seattle this year, registering 24 at-bats for the Pacific Northwest club before his DFA.

La Stella signed with San Francisco in 2021 after hitting .281 and striking out in just 5% of his plate appearances during the abbreviated pandemic season. The Giants signed him in free agency on a 3-year, $18.75 million contract - mostly backloaded to 2023 - hoping that he could thrive as a consistent contact hitter in a heavily matchup-based system. However, his tenure in San Francisco was marred by hamstring and Achilles injuries, and La Stella underwent multiple surgeries to in the 2021-2022 offseason.

The combination of the injuries, surgeries, and rehabilitation sapped La Stella's offensive and defensive talent until he was no longer a viable starter for San Francisco. La Stella slashed merely .239/.282/.350 for the Giants in 2022, with his limited mobility forcing him into a designated hitter role. Unable to support a rehabilitating DH, the Giants released La Stella ahead of the 2023 season, whereupon the Seattle Mariners acquired him hoping to rekindle the potential La Stella showed as an All-Star in 2019. Alas, it was not to be.

Seattle now has a little under a week to either organize a trade for La Stella or place him on waivers, which allows other MLB clubs a chance to acquire the rights to his contract. No matter where the former Giant ends up, San Francisco will be paying for most of the $11.5 million owed to La Stella in 2023. This opens up the possibility for San Francisco to re-acquire him on a minor league free agent deal. Is there a chance that La Stella ends up reuniting with his former team?

The answer to this question depends entirely on how effectively La Stella can play second base, several months removed from his Achilles surgeries. Part of the reason the Giants let him go was that Joc Pederson already filled the role of left-handed slugger in a DH platoon. With Pederson slugging .849 so far this year, it would be extremely difficult to find space for La Stella to continue operating in a bat-first capacity. As such, he'd need to regain the mobility needed to effectively man second base without being a defensive liability like he was for large parts of 2021 and 2022.

At present moment, there doesn't seem to be reason to believe that La Stella can bounce back into the role that was once earmarked for him in San Francisco. If he could, he likely would have beaten out Kolten Wong - who is already worth -1.0 WAR a month into the season - for playing time at second base in Seattle. However, if the Giants believe that a few more weeks or months of rehabilitation could make a difference, they could acquire him as an insurance policy for Brandon Crawford.

Crawford is only temporarily on the Giants' IL, and will likely return before La Stella could be acquired. But with second baseman Thairo Estrada also being Crawford's backup, another injury to Crawford later down the line would leave space to fill at second. Stashing La Stella in AAA Sacramento for such an emergency in July or August could prove surprisingly prescient.

Ultimately, it depends on what the 34-year old veteran infielder still has left in the tank. Hopefully, his elite zone control and defensive experience can still be an asset to an MLB team, even if it isn't the SF Giants. Otherwise, we may have just seen the unceremonious end to a long and decorated baseball career.