Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that the club has acquired outfielder Jarrod Dyson (pronounced "juh-ROD") from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for right-handed pitcher Nathan Karns.
"Jarrod brings us a winning pedigree, along with elite level defense and base running," Dipoto said. "He joins players like Leonys Martin and Jean Segura in creating a disruptive element on the bases to our offensive game, while also enhancing our ability to prevent runs on defense."
Dyson, 32, hit .278 (83x299) with 46 runs, 14 doubles, 8 triples, 1 home run, 25 RBI and 30 stolen bases in 107 games with Kansas City last season. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound outfielder tallied at least 30 stolen bases for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons (2012-16), one of five players to accomplish this feat. Dyson hit safely in a career-best 10 consecutive games last season, batting .372 (16x43) with 10 runs, 1 double, 1 triple, 3 RBI and 5 stolen bases from Sept. 2-17. In 2016, he made appearances defensively in center field (57 games, 50 starts), right field (21 GS) and left field (19 G, 12 GS). Dyson began the season on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique and was activated from the DL on April 19.
Since 2012, Dyson has recorded 156 stolen bases, T6th-most in the Majors (also: Ben Revere) during that time span. Over the last 5 seasons, the left-handed hitter has been successful on 84.8% (156x184) of his stolen base attempts, 2nd-best in the Majors during that time. He has stolen 37 bases as a pinch-runner, the most of any active player and 5th-most of any player dating back to 1974.
Dyson, a native of McComb, MS., was originally selected by Kansas City in the 50th round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Southwest Mississippi Junior College. In parts of the 7 Major League seasons with the Royals (2010-16), he is a career .260 (355x1365) hitter with 48 doubles, 29 triples, 7 home runs, 101 RBI and 176 stolen bases in 550 career games.
Karns, 29, went 6-2 with a 5.15 ERA (54 ER, 94.1 IP) in 22 games, including 15 starts, with Seattle last season. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound right-hander recorded 101 strikeouts and 45 walks. He posted a record of 6-2 with a 4.56 ERA (41 ER, 81.0 IP) with 84 strikeouts and 38 in 15 starts before making his first appearance out of the bullpen on June 29. In 7 relief outings, Karns recorded 1 save and posted an 8.78 ERA (13 ER, 13.1 IP) with 17 strikeouts and 7 walks. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a low back strain on July 30 before being transferred to the 60-day DL on Sept. 1. The native of Franklin, Pa., was originally acquired by Seattle along with left-handed pitcher C.J. Riefenhauser and outfielder Boog Powell from Tampa Bay in exchange for right-handed pitcher Danny Farquhar, infielder Brad Miller and infielder Logan Morrison on Nov. 5, 2015. In parts of 4 Major League seasons with Washington (2013), Tampa Bay (2014-2015) and Seattle (2016), he has compiled a career record of 14-9 with 4.41 ERA (130 ER, 265.1 IP) with 270 strikeouts and 111 walks in 54 career games, including 46 starts.