Despite having a day off Thursday, the Seattle Mariners made a couple of roster moves in preparation for today’s start of a road series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.
The Mariners optioned struggling outfielder Greg Halman to Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday. While they did not immediately announce a corresponding roster move to fill Halman’s spot on the 25-man roster, a pair of sources within the Mariners confirmed that recently acquired outfielder Trayvon Robinson would take his place.
Robinson has been with the Rainiers for a handful games since he came from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team trade that sent Erik Bedard and Josh Fields to the Boston Red Sox.
Robinson was born in South Central Los Angeles and was a high school standout at Crenshaw High School. The Dodgers selected him in the 10th round of the 2005 draft.
He was rated as the Dodgers’ 10th best prospect coming into this season by Baseball America.
Robinson put together an outstanding season in his first year of Triple A. In 100 games with Albuquerque, he hit .293 with nine doubles, six triples, 26 homers and 71 RBI. He has a .375 on-base percentage and a .563 slugging percentage. His most glaring negative statistic is his 122 strikeouts in 368 at-bats. He played in three games with the Rainiers and had one hit in nine at-bats.
Halman, 23, had his issues with strikeouts this season, just as he has for much of his career.
The talented rookie showed moments of brilliance in his time with the Mariners, but never got consistent playing time because of a logjam of outfielders. He struggled of late, getting just two hits in his last 28 at-bats with a homer and 12 strikeouts. In 30 games, he hit .230 (20-for-87) with four homers and nine RBI and struck out 32 times.
Playing every few days wasn’t helping Halman, and with the acquisition of Casper Wells, his playing time was likely to decrease.
CUST RELEASED
Designated hitter Jack Cust was officially released by the Mariners on Thursday. Cust was designated for assignment on July 29.
Per major league baseball rules, the Mariners had 10 days to trade him, release him or send him outright to their minor league system.
The Mariners had to offer Cust on waivers, but he wasn’t picked up by any of the 29 other teams. That gave the Mariners the option to outright him to Triple-A Tacoma or release him. They chose the latter.
Cust, 32, hit .213 (48-for-225) with 15 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 23 RBI in 67 games for the Mariners this season.
ON TAP
The Mariners open a three-game series against the Angels today at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. Left-hander Jason Vargas (6-10, 4.19 ERA) will start for Seattle, while the Angels will go with ace Jered Weaver (14-5, 1.88 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Root Sports and 710-AM.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
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