The Rays move into 2017 with an outfield of Corey Dickerson, Kevin Kiermaier, and Steven Souza, Jr. As I recently wrote, at bare minimum the Rays need a platoon partner for Dickerson in left field, filling the spot left empty by the Guyer trade. They must decide whether they care more about offense or defense for this addition.
If they want offense their target should be Franklin Gutierrez.
Franklin Gutierrez is the best bat on the market if you’re trying to replace what Guyer brought to the team. Over the last two seasons Guyer’s 157 wRC+ ranked sixth in MLB vs LHP with a minimum of 300 PA. Gutierrez ranks eleventh with a 151 wRC+ so he would be an almost perfect replacement of Guyer’s production against lefties.
Otherwise, Gutierrez is admittedly limited. He won’t bring much against RHP (Gutierrez hasn’t received over 100 plate appearances against RHP since 2011).
Once upon a time Gutierrez was a fantastic center fielder, but he hasn’t been that in a long time. In 2009 he put up a Kiermaier type 6.0 fWAR season on the heels of +31.0 UZR and +33 DRS season in center field with a tick above league average bat. He’s been a below average defender in the corner over the past few years, not far off Guyer’s defense last year.
Since 2009 Gutierrez has played for the Mariners. He has signed free agent deals with the Mariners in the past and is coming off a 1/$1.5MM deal. He should be in the Rays’ price range if this is the direction they choose to pursue.
As a soon to be 34 year old Gutierrez’s limited skill set should make him affordable for the Rays. The Rays could decide to go for defense, but Gutierrez’s lefty mashing tendencies could make a great pairing with Corey Dickerson in left field.