I've always felt like the Mariners made sense as a trade partner to deal off our surplus of pitching and the Lee deal seems to be a mutually beneficial proposition given Seattle's own surplus but at the middle-infield positions. Chris Taylor sounds like a Gasparino guy through and through. While he doesn't quite have a cannon arm, it still seems more than adequate for a utility player or 2B. Taylor has speed and looks to be a contact hitter. He should be an upgrade over **** at SS on the depth chart and provides another option beyond Charlie Culberson. What's funny is that Taylor sounds like a guy who could arguably make a case for himself to be the Mariners' starting SS over Ketel Marte. Despite the surplus in middle-infield options, it doesn't sound like Seattle has convincingly settled on a long-term answer at the SS position.
Lee now gets a better opportunity to show what he can do for a team lacking in pitching while Taylor provides the Dodgers with much needed depth for the infield while providing some optimism for offensive production. Even though Chris Taylor sounds like a standard role player, it seems to be good value in return for the Dodgers given that Lee was becoming more irrelevant within the organization with each passing day.
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Bernie Pleskoff, MLB.com (1/31/14)
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One of the bright lights of the system is Taylor, a shortstop/second baseman who has the ability to field well and provide "small ball"-type offense.
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Here's what has made Taylor stand out during his brief career: He has played for four teams, in four classifications. He has hit below .300 once during his campaigns with Everett (.328, Class A short season), Clinton (.304, Class A), High Desert (.335, Class A Advanced) and Jackson (.293, Double-A).
Taylor is a contact hitter with the ability to spray the ball to all fields with a short, compact swing. He does not try to power the ball out of the park. He is best described as a hitter who will take advantage of a pitcher's mistakes.
Although he doesn't hit home runs, he has enough pop in his bat and a swing that is generated with the barrel of the bat, to hit the gaps. He has hit 40 doubles in his 837 plate appearances so far.
This past season, Taylor won the Mariners Minor League Player of the Year Award. In addition, speed is one of his most refined tools, if not the most. Between High Desert and Jackson, he stole 38 bases, using his speed to position himself to score 108 runs for the two teams combined.
A right-handed batter, the 6-foot, 170-pound Taylor hit .321 against right-handed pitching and a very fine .294 against lefties. His only real slump came in July.
Taylor has quick feet and good instincts. His range to both sides and coming in on balls is good. He gets rid of the ball quickly and has a strong and accurate arm. He has enough ability to play shortstop. He just isn't flashy.
Taylor a Bright Light in Mariners System
Jason Parks & Bret Sayre, BaseballProspectus.com (7/25/14)
Scouting Report: Taylor is a polished talent with louder tools than he receives credit for; the arm is strong enough to make left-side throws, the actions at short are clean and athletic, he’s a legit plus runner and he has hard contact ability with the solid-average hit tool. He lacks major-league average power but uses all fields and has gap pop, which keeps his bat from playing empty, and he understands his own strike zone, so will put together good at-bats and force pitchers to beat him. It’s a soft profile in the sense that he isn’t likely to emerge as a middle-of-the-lineup threat or Gold Glove level defender, but he’s basically the prototype for an average player at the major-league level, with more value to the average team because of his defensive ability at a premium spot and his catalytic ability on the bases.
Immediate Impact: Taylor’s bat-to-ball skills, legs, and ability to play shortstop are going to allow him to hold his own at the major-league level right out of the gate. It’s never going to be special and he’s always going to have to prove himself because of the higher ceiling talent that exists at the position elsewhere in the org, but his fundamental baseball ability will make him a safer choice for major-league reps going forward. I had one scouting director refer to Taylor as a Ryan Theriot type, a player who doesn’t receive much credit but enjoys a respectable career at the major-league level and brings more to a team than the stat sheet might suggest. It’s not the worst comp for Taylor. —Jason Parks
The Call-Up: Chris Taylor
Vince Lara-Cinisomo, Baseball America (7/24/14)
Scouting Report
A fifth-round pick from Virginia in 2012, Taylor signed for $500,000 following his junior season. He was considered a glove-first prospect when he entered pro ball, but he hit his way to Double-A Jackson in 2013. He handles the bat well, and though scouts say he does not possess home run-power, he has shown the ability to hit for gap power, with 34 extra-base hits this season in 302 at-bats.
At the Triple-A all-star game in Durham, he pounded two doubles, including one off the tall blue wall in left-center field, a performance for which he was singled out as “top star” for the Pacific Coast League. Taylor’s strong performance this season is not a PCL illusion. His home park in Tacoma depresses doubles and runs scored, relative to parks the Rainiers visit on the road. In fact, Taylor has done the majority of his damage away from Tacoma (.952 OPS on the road versus .815 at home).
The Mariners’ No. 8 prospect in the Midseason Prospect Update, Taylor brings positional versatility and an ability to hit for average to the Mariners, and he could carve a useful career as a utility player. But it seems the Mariners could plug him in in place of shortstop Brad Miller, who’s posted a .598 OPS thus far.
What To Expect: Mariners SS Chris Taylor
