KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There’s a roster move coming Friday, when the Seattle Mariners will activate pitcher Cliff Lee, move Ian Snell from the rotation to their bullpen and send Jess Colomé to Tacoma.
And it might not be the only move made by the team this week.
At issue is Seattle’s offense, which began the series in Kansas City ranked 12th in the American League in runs scored (72) and dead last in home runs (9).
For the Mariners, the focal point may be at designated hitter, where they have produced a .171 average without a home run and six RBI in 19 games. The Royals, by contrast, are batting .351 with seven home runs and 17 RBI in two fewer games
One question facing Seattle, then, is how to beef up its numbers at DH, and whether the team can do better than the combination of Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney.
There are free-agent bats still rattling around – think Jermaine Dye – but there’s no certainty that what’s available is an improvement.
A trade? It’s probably too early to pull a production hitter away from a team, and the Mariners may not have what other teams want for such a bat.
So, staying in-house, what kind of creativity might the Mariners try? There’s not a player in the system hitting for power and batting average, and the highest batting average in Tacoma belongs to infielder Josh Wilson.
One possible solution?
Designate outfielder Eric Byrnes (.111) for assignment, opening up a spot on the Mariners 40-man roster. Move Milton Bradley from left field to DH, move Griffey and Sweeney to the bench, where they can pinch-hit and make occasional starts at DH. Put rookie Matt Tuiasosopo to left field and let him play. Call up Wilson and give him the roster spot opened by Byrnes.
The upside? More production at DH, and Tuiasosopo gets the chance to prove he belongs in the big leagues. In Wilson, you have a true reserve shortstop who can play anywhere in the infield.
And, on your bench, you have two veteran hitters available who would give opposing pitchers pause late in a game.
Better still, it doesn’t cost much.
That’s a rare one
The Elias Sports Bureau, which researches such things, determined that Seattle’s series loss in Chicago was the first time since the 2002 White Sox that a team lost a series of at least three games on a home run in the opponent’s final at-bat in each game.
On tap
Seattle plays Kansas City today in a 5:10 p.m. (PDT) game on FSN. Probable starting pitchers: Ian Snell (0-2, 5.14 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (0-2, 3.28).
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
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