Miguel Batista has been told that he is no longer in the rotation, at least for his next start, according to John Hickey.  This was expected, and in all likelihood Ryan Rowland-Smith will be promoted to fill the rotation spot on Saturday, at which time Jared Wells should find himself back in Tacoma as Batista takes his bullpen spot.

I suppose there is a chance that Ryan Feierabend fills Batista’s spot, he certainly deserves it, but with RRS last starting on the same day as Batista it makes it really easy to slot him and let him pitch on regular rest.

Hickey also reports that Jeremy Reed will start receiving starts at first base, where he spent a lot of time in college.  This is another good move, in my opinion.  It appears that the team is choosing not to value defense in a lost season, allowing Raul Ibanez to stay in left field rather than shifting to DH; a dying man’s wish, if you will.  With Raul and Ichiro firmly entrenched at the corners (I don’t see them moving Ichiro back to center field, even though that would make a world of difference), center field and left/right backup duties are pretty crowded, being rotated between Wlad Balentien, Willie Bloomquist and Reed. 

Reed has been hot in his last 10 games or so, while Bryan LaHair still has people thinking he’s good after two games in Texas.  If you haven’t noticed, he’s not so awesome, hitting five singles in eight games since then, so giving some of his at bats to Reed isn’t a bad thing at all.

The lineups are going to be a mess from here on out.  Three guys behind the plate, about four guys at first base (LaHair, Reed, Clement, Cairo) and five guys fighting for outfield spots, with the DH slot taking someone left over; and it’s not even September callups yet!

Baseball America, one of the most cited names in regards to ranking baseball prospects, has Seattle Mariners prospect Jharmidy DeJesus on their latest “Prospect Hot Sheet” at number 8, surrounded by some of baseball’s brightest prospects, including David Price, Zach McAllister, Elvis Andrus, Brandon Wood, Matt Weiters and others.  Here’s what they had to say about DeJesus:

Team: Rookie-level AZL Mariners (Arizona League)
Age: 18
Why He’s Here: .400/.455/1.050 (8-for-20), 1 2B, 4 HR, 5 RBIs, 2 BB, 4 SO
The Scoop:It takes a pretty impressive performance from a complex-league player to land on the Hot Sheet, but DeJesus turned some heads with the power he displayed this week. DeJesus was signed last year out of the Dominican Republic for $1 million as a shortstop, but his big frame has already warranted a move to third base. Many draw comparisons between DeJesus and Carlos Triunfel, another prized Mariners shortstop prospect, but DeJesus has shown more power than Triunfel displayed in his first two professional seasons. DeJesus’ success should not come as a complete surprise as he was highly touted coming out of the Dominican Republic and is a year older than most international signees from 2007, because he didn’t sign in 2006, when he was eligible, due to his bonus demands.

When I put together my All Minor League Team post a few days ago, DeJesus was merely an afterthought. Not because he didn’t deserve to be on there, but because I had written the entire thing before remembering him, not to mention he was playing for Seattle’s lowest minor league affiliate. Either way, this guy has just been promoted to Everett and will find himself top-5 prospect status sooner than later, if he hasn’t already.  You can see his complete 2008 statistics here.

UPDATE: Didn’t catch this, but Churchill’s latest “Farm Report” is focused on DeJesus as well.  It’s full of some good info, so check it out!

It’s nice to see this organization starting to make some moves to put them on the right track, or at least pointing themselves towards the right track. 

One of the team’s weaknesses was the shortage of worthwhile starters in the upper levels.  In just a few short weeks the organization has added three guys to go along with Ryan Feierabend in Ryan Rowland-Smith, Gaby Hernandez and Brandon Morrow.  While Morrow is the only one with true impact potential, the other guys are exactly the type of pitchers the organization needs to produce from within.  These guys can better or at least match the numbers produced by Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn, Carlos Silva while costing nearly $30 million less per season.  Wouldn’t it be nice to spend that $30 million on an impact bat, covering their salary for more than just one season, rather than on one year of filling the back of the rotation?

Those guys are still here for now, but Washburn and Batista are only under contract through next season, if they make it that far at all, and hopefully the new GM will be smart enough to fill those holes from within.

The only thing left to do this season would be to move Batista from the starting rotation (7.07 ERA) to the bullpen (4.15 ERA), and replace him with Rowland-Smith or Feierabend.  That gives you a rotation that includes Felix Hernandez, Washburn, Silva, RA Dickey, RRS/Feierabend.  If Washburn is dumped this month then he can be replaced by the other one.  That should work out fine until the rosters expand for September, at which point Morrow should be ready to make a few starts.

Who takes Washburn?

The New York Yankees have supposedly bowed out, and the Colorado Rockies filled their rotation with Livan Hernandez, so is there anyone left to take Jarrod Washburn’s salary off of the Mariners’ hands?

We won’t know until three days after he’s placed on waivers, which probably won’t come until the end of August once GM Pelekoudas has finally given up on getting something back, but the prospects of him entering the offseason as a Mariner are seeming more realistic than a month ago. 

That said, there is still a lot of time for a team to become desperate for a “solid” starter.

Teixiera Blurb

Mark Teixiera’s three favorite places to play are New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, according to the LA Times.  That’s a surprise to me, but would Seattle have a chance at signing him because of this?  I doubt it, because he’s already on a winning team in Los Angeles that will probably try and extend him, especially if it meant keeping him out of Seattle.  Also, as good as he is offensively, he’s looking for a ten year deal, which is never a good idea in my opinion.  I used to be extremely gung ho about the prospect of signing Tex, but 10 years is an awfully long time to commit to, especially when you aren’t confident that the organization can pull together the remaining pieces.

KOMO radio has reported that Jose Vidro has finally been DFA’d. All I have to say is it’s about damn time. No longer will we have to watch the worst hitter in baseball bat in the middle of the order. No word yet on who will take his place on the roster but my money is on Wlad getting the call.

UPDATE: Wlad has been called up to take Vidro’s roster spot according to Ryan Divish.

Brandon Morrow will finally be on his way to justify Seattle taking him with their first pick a couple years back.  His true value is as a starter, and if he fails he can always be sent back to the ‘pen.  This is the right move to make now that Seattle isn’t competing for anything other than Stephan Strasburg’s services.

Jared Wells is being promoted, which baffles me.  Ryan Rowland-Smith should be promoted, pushing Miguel Batista into Morrow’s former role.  The only way this makes sense is if they just want an extra arm until Batista/RRS’s turn comes back around, in which time they’ll jettison Wells.

Wells has been pretty bad this year in AAA, but relievers have a funny way of playing well in the major leagues despite shotty track records.  Hopefully he is one of those guys.

Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched today in AAA and was solid.  Miguel Batista pitched for Seattle and wasn’t.  In five days who will be starting for the Mariners and who will be in the ‘pen?  The answer should be obvious, though us Mariner fans can never be sure what the course of action will be.

…for the record, would vest if he recorded 625 plate appearances this season, or 1150 plate appearances between 2007 and 2008 with at least 600 coming in 2008.

I’m just throwing this out there, because I think I had been relaying incorrect figures in the past.  Larry Stone had the scoop back in May.

Not counting tonight’s game, Vidro has 325 plate appearances so far this season.  He has 950 plate appearances between 2007 and 2008, meaning he needs 280 more plate appearances this season in order for his 2009 option to vest. 

There are 51 games left this season, so he’d need 5-6 plate appearances per game in order for the option to vest, which is impossible.  Hopefully he won’t be around all season, but at least if he does we know he won’t be back next year.

Jose Lopez has had a lot of ups and downs with the Mariners and many fans, myself included, were ready to give up on him coming into this season.  I was hoping that Yung Chi Chen would somehow challenge him for the starting job this Spring, or that the rumored Cha Seung Baek for Ray Durham  trade would be made.  He’s been hitting though, and it appears that he’ll be around for a while because of it.

There are still questions about whether he’ll be able to put together an entire season after dropping off the past couple years; questions that won’t be completely answered until the 2008 season is in the books.  Manager Jim Riggleman said on a recent pre-game show that Lopez is arriving early and getting extra work in alongside Raul Ibanez and Adrian Beltre, something he hasn’t done in the past, which is good to hear since there have also been concerns about his work ethic and focus in the past.  (Off topic, but this is the reason dealing guys like Ibanez and Beltre isn’t always an easy decision.  Raul has always been known as someone that takes the young guys under his wing and is fluent in both Spanish and English, which doesn’t hurt, while Beltre is considered by some teammates as the unofficial captain, according to what Shannon Drayer told us recently.)

If Lopez is part of the organization’s long term plans I don’t think he’ll stay at second base.  He’s arguably the worst defensive second baseman in the game, mainly because his range is so limited (see comments).  There will be better options at the position coming up through the system, including AAA’s Luis Valbuena, who is an above average glove and should be able to pull his weight with the stick after some more time with Tacoma.  Yuniesky Betancourt could even be moved to second base, where he would be much better suited due to his own lack of range, and where he showed he could excel after his call up in 2005.

Lopez may be better off at third base and could be moved there whenever Adrian Beltre departs, whether it be via trade or via free agency next year; a position switch that is made plausible by the organization’s lack of impact third base prospects.  He has played a handful of games at third throughout his career and proved that he has the throwing arm to handle the position.  He has struggled at times, but that can be attributed to unfamiliarity.  His bat doesn’t really fit the mold of a corner infielder at this point, which is the main problem, though he has been hitting well in the fifth spot recently.

Lopez had been hitting better than ever in the 2-hole this year and despite not walking enough for that spot, his .314/.331/.428 line was pretty solid.  He had a 101 OPS+ (OBP plus SLG, ballpark adjusted), which is one point above a league average hitter.  In 97 plate appearances in the 5-hole (23 games) his line is .322/.351/.533, which is good for an OPS+ of 132.  His slugging percentage in that slot is over 100 points higher than in the 2-hole, thanks to the 4 homers he’s hit there compared to the 5 home runs he hit in the 2-hole over 350 plate appearances.

Keep in mind that those 5-hole stats are based on an extremely small sample size, and we can expect the numbers to taper off a bit, especially once pitchers remember to stop throwing inner-half fastballs to him like they did in the 2006 season’s second half, though the raw power is no fluke.  As a prospect Lopez was thought to contain quite a bit of power.  He was putting up solid power numbers as a very young minor leaguer, including 13 homers and 35 doubles as a 19 year old in AA.  As a 20 year old he posted 18 homers over 482 at bats between AAA and Seattle.  He turns on that inside fastball as good as anyone in the game, and could become a force if he ever learns to jump on other pitches. 

The thing many of us seem to forget, myself included, is that Lopez is just 24 years old.  This is the fifth season that we’ve seen him, so it seems as if he’d be much older, but he is the same age as many of the system’s top prospects who’ve yet to see any big league action.  Despite his age Lopez has nearly 2000 MLB at bats under his belt, giving him a foundation that many players do not get.  He’s still a few years from hitting his physical prime, so he has time to become the offensive force the organization thought he would be as a top prospect years ago.

If Lopez can continue to develop his offensive game he’ll be a big part of Seattle’s lineup for a long time.  He is currently under team control through the 2011 season.  If the organization can realize that moving him to third will save runs, then that’s just icing on the cake.

MLBTR lists Carlos Silva, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, Jose Vidro, Kenji Johjima and Miguel Cairo as Seattle’s top candidates to be placed on waivers this month, which makes sense.  If any of these guys are claimed the organization better not think twice about letting someone else take their contracts.  I believe it was last season that Richie Sexson was supposedly claimed by the Detroit Tigers, but then-GM Bill Bavasi inexplicably pulled him back.

As the trade deadline has passed, one can only look back and wonder why the Mariners made so few moves. The only move we made was trading Arthur Rhodes for a potential back-of-the-rotation guy. The Mariners also have not filled Rhodes roster spot yet. Why? I couldn’t tell ya!

The Mariners failed this trade deadline. Interum GM Lee Pelekoudas needed to show that he was up for the challenge of being the Mariners GM. His tenure with the Mariners in 2008 willl determine if he is in consideration for the 2009 GM spot. The trade deadline, at least to me, showed me that he is not the man for the job, in two areas specifically.

First and foremost, Lee Pelekoudas did not shed the baggage that Bill Bavasi brought upon the team. Pelekoudas did not provide some salary relief to this team. His Washburn deal with the Yankees fell through. He was not flexible in that deal, what-so-ever, and he wasn’t flexible in any other deal. Pelekoudas kept around the mistakes of Bavasi, which leads me to wonder, “What are you thinking?!?” He needed to get rid of as much Bavasi-salary as he could have, while still looking towards the future.

Secondly, Pelekoudas had extremely lofty, almost arrogant demands for his trade pieces. Some even characterized the GMs demands as “outrageous.” Arrogant, borderline stupid management of your trade bait will not get you into the final circle of consideration for the 2009 job.

I was cursing at my computer every time I hit refresh. Everytime I hit refresh all I read was “trade dead.” This was not the trade deadline that Mariners needed. We have no way to contend with this team. Shed the Bavasi-baggage.

It looks as though Ryan Rowland-Smith is going to fill Arthur Rhodes’ roster spot, bumping R.A. Dickey to the bullpen.  Dickey has been great as a starter, but the bottom line is that manager Jim Riggleman doesn’t feel comfortable with the knuckleball, something that has been reported on various occasions.  Dickey would become the long reliever, something Seattle has been doing without while RRS was in AAA.

After that Brandon Morrow will likely be sent down to get stretched out and will be replaced by a Tacoma arm, either Tracy Thorpe or Jared Wells.  Neither has been impressive, in fact they’ve been downright awful, but they’re the only minor league relievers currently on the 40-man roster besides Eric O’Flaherty, who’s injured.  Both pitchers were acquired this season, Thorpe from the Blue Jays and Wells from the Padres.

At some point in the near future you would think that Seattle would unload Jose Vidro.  There isn’t a single reason why he’s on the team.  I’m assuming they were hoping to pawn him off on someone before the deadline.  He should be DFA’s as soon as possible, but there is a chance they hold onto him one more month in hopes of dealing him before the August trade deadline, which would be ridiculous.  He’d clear waivers without a problem, but no team would take Vidro, even if they were having a first base/DH crisis.  Just drop him, Lee!

Once he’s gone that opens the door for Wladimir Balentien, who starts in the outfield and bumps Raul Ibanez to DH.  There will be an open 40-man roster spot at that point, probably reserved for Michael Saunders.  At that point I don’t see any other 25-man roster moves happening until the roster expands for September.

The Toronto Blue Jays are the latest to show interest in Seattle outfielder Raul Ibanez, according to Jayson Stark.  This is a good thing, considering most of the teams formerly interested in Ibanez have seemingly dropped out, though the Chicago Cubs are still in the mix.   The Jays are also trying to get their hands on Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay.

Less than an hour left, so there is no guarantees that a deal will get done for Ibanez, Washburn or Beltre.

UPDATE 12:41pm - Talks are ongoing, especially now that Jason Bay is off the market.  Adam Lind is a possibility to be sent Seattle’s way.

UPDATE 1:00pm - Deal dead.  The teams were close.  From Jayson Stark:

Looks as if Raul Ibanez is staying in Seattle. Just when it appeared that the Blue Jays and Mariners were close to a trade for the Seattle outfielder, the Mariners apparently had second thoughts. According to an official of one team that spoke with those clubs Thursday, this would have been a 2-for-1 deal involving all major league players.

The Florida Marlins had been the front runner for Arthur Rhodes’ services for the last few days, and now it’s official.  Seattle picks up minor league starting pitcher Gaby Hernandez.

Hernandez is nothing special, but he gives the team some depth where they’re the thinnest.  The farm system is weak as far as starting pitching in the upper levels.  Hernandez should be reporting to AAA Tacoma AA West Tennessee. 

No complaints with this deal.  Not a bad trade, not a particularly great trade.  The bottom line is we got a pitcher that could potentially help down the road, for a guy that wasn’t going to help after this season.  USSM likes the pickup.

^This is how the last couple of games have appeared to me.  Seattle comes roaring along with some exciting rally, then the Rangers shut them down before you even know what happened. 

Jayson Stark reports that the Mets are no longer in on Raul Ibanez after the Mariners would not lower their asking price.  Seattle reportedly wants pitcher Jon Niese plus one other prospect.  Niese was one of the pitchers the Mets were unwilling to give up in the Johan Santana deal.

There had been some speculation that the Mets may be interested in Washburn as well, but Stark dismisses that.  Too bad, because perhaps one of those top prospects could have been be pried away if Seattle packaged Washburn and Ibanez (and maybe Rhodes) together in a deal.

As far as the Cubs go, the Mariners are looking to get Felix Pie plus one, and I don’t see that happening.  Pie was one of the prospects the Cubs refused to trade in the Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts negotiations over the offseason.

I like that interim GM Lee Pelekoudas is aiming high and playing hardball, but there is a line between trying to make a good deal and being ignorant.  Guys like Niese and Pie would be a great start at replacing players like Chris Tillman and Adam Jones that left in the Erik Bedard trade, and mad kudos to Pelekoudas if he can pull it off, but he’s not going to get any respect as a GM if he is delusional.  I’m assuming that the demands will lower slightly tomorrow as the deadline approaches, but there is really no pressing need to trade anyone.  Next season should be the year where a few more contracts are sold off at the deadline.

The Jarrod Washburn trade– you know, the one where he was dealt to the Yankees and was all but official– has fallen through, according to Newsday and various other sources.  Seattle was apparently insisting that New York take all of Washburn’s salary andgive up a decent prospect (or two?).  Seattle apparently wasn’t eager to take Kei Igawa in the trade, which would have made it easier for the Yankees to part with the young talent.  Newsday goes along with what Geoff Baker wrote a few days ago in that the two teams could match up after the deadline if they choose to, as Washburn and his steep salary should easily clear waivers.  One fan said he heard Yankees GM Brian Cashman on XM radio saying that no player names have been discussed with the Mariners, so who knows which of the various reports we’ve gotten over the last week or two are true.

Luckily, Seattle has a new suitor for Washburn: the Colorado Rockies, though it’s unknown how serious they are.  It’s hard to know if a deal will get done at all, because Seattle is reportedly asking one NL team for two top-10 prospects.  Maybe the Mariners really were asking for both Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner from the Yankees, a proposition that seemed absolutely ludacris.

Seattle is still discussing Raul Ibanez with the New York Mets, but there isn’t much headway being made.  While the high price for Washburn seems a little unnecessary, the high price the team is seeking for Ibanez makes a little more sense considering he’s on his way to type-A free agent status.  Despite the constant reports linking the Mets and Ibanez, one Mariner insider doesn’t think the Amazin’s are nearly as interested as the reports indicate.  I wouldn’t be surprised, because that same New York media had everyone believing that Washburn was a Yankee, when talks didn’t get far at all.  The Arizona Diamondbacks are no longer interested in Ibanez.

The Chicago Cubs are interested in Raul Ibanez again, though a deal is not close.  You may remember that they were interested in him over the offseason before signing Fukudome.

Seattle will apparently listen to offers on J.J. Putz, though they reportedly shut down the Boston Red Sox when they were in town.  The St. Louis Cardinals and those same Red Sox are interested.  I think that if he has any value at all the team should deal him.  It continues to be a season of ups and downs for him, and his struggles will likely keep Brandon Morrow in the ‘pen for the rest of this season anyway.  Trade Putz if anything worthwhile is coming back, use Morrow as closer this year, use Mark Lowe or someone else next year until Josh Fields is ready.

The Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Mets are the most common teams linked to Arthur Rhodes at this point.  The Marlins may be close to adding him, according to this report.  Seattle is looking for a mid-level minor leaguer in return.  Whether or not Washburn and Ibanez go anywhere, you can bet Rhodes will be playing elsewhere in a couple days.

The San Francisco Giants are thinking about going after Adrian Beltre.  The team has been linked to Beltre in the past.

Since so much talk has been about Seattle rebuilding and the future of the team, I’ve decided to compile my Seattle Mariners all-minor league team.  There are obviously players on the 25-man roster that will be part of the organization’s plans for years down the road, such as Jeff Clement, but I decided to eliminate all current MLB players for the sake of simplicity.

C: Adam Moore, West Tennessee (AA), 24 years old
If you follow this site you may already know how high I am on Moore.  Last season he was being compared to a Michael Barret in his prime, which is already great, but that was before his promotion to West Tennessee.  In 2007 he put up a great .307/.371/.543 vital line to go with his 22 homers and 102 RBI, but that was playing in a league in where hitters thrive due to small ballparks, bad pitching and dry desert air.  His success continues this year, sporting a line of .324/.395/.510, 11 homers and 59 RBI through 93 games.  Whatever he can do offensively is just icing on the cake, however, because his defense, game calling abilities and handling of the pitching staff are what make him the organization’s best catching prospect.  Moore will become Seattle’s catcher once he makes it to the bigs, nudging Clement to a different position.  Or, if Clement’s defense continues to improve, Moore could become trade bait.  Moore could be up with the club towards the end of next season as a September callup, assuming he’s on the 40-man roster by then. 

1B: Dennis Raben, Everett (SS A-), 20 years old
Brand new to the organization after being selected 66th overall of this year’s draft, the left handed hitting Raben is already being referred to as Seattle best long-term option at the position.  Seattle has had their eye on Raben for a while, as they selected him 1450th overall back in 2005.  He’s starting his professional career off right after a solid three year college career as an outfielder with Miami, hitting .328/.476/.609 with a solid walk rate through 19 games with the Aquasox in Everett.  He’s got a pretty sizable list of mechanical and game plan issues to work on, and was called a bad pick by some because of it, but so far he’s doing his best to silence his critics.  His college experience will help him rise through the farm system fairly quickly, and he’s expected to be ready towards the end of the 2010 season, if not sooner.  Here’s a video of him taking some BP, and here’s one of him taking a ball opposite field for a homer while with Miami.

2B: Luis Valbuena, Tacoma (AAA), 22 years old
While someone on this list may be the real second baseman of the future (*cough couch, Triunfel), Valbuena may be the best option among players currently playing there, though Edilio Colina (A) and Christopher Minaker (A+) are playing well.  Valbuena’s Mariner track record is filled with ups and downs, but he started off great this year for AA West Tennessee, hitting .304/.381/.483 through 70 ballgames.  He’s struggled since being promoted to Tacoma, hitting just .198, but he’s a plus defender and has some useful skills.  Jason A. Churchill wrote a piece on him for the Post Intelligencer, in which one scout was quoted: “He’s got a nice, fairly compact swing.  He generates good bat speed, kind of like a Rafael Furcal or Jose Reyes, though he will strike out a little. But he’s got some pop, too.”

SS: Carlos Triunfel, High Desert (A+), 18 years old
Most Mariner fans know all about Triunfel, even though he’s only in his second professional season and just 18 years old.  He’s Seattle’s number one prospect and has been compared to everyone from Miguel Cabrera to Alex Rodriguez to Miguel Tejada.  While Seattle would be thrilled to have someone of that caliber, he still has a lot to prove, but he has the offensive tools (but maybe not the size).  Playing in High Desert against players years older than him, he’s hitting .276/.326/.384 through 323 at bats despite a slow start.  He’s having a great July and is hitting .465 over his last ten games.  He’s also beginning to show some of the power scouts are projecting of him, as he’s blasted his first five professional homers this year.  Triunfel is heading for a career as a five-tool star, but probably not as a shortstop, his current position.  He’s been struggling there defensively, and it’s more than likely that he will be moved to third base, second base or even right field, but I’ll keep him here for now.  He’s so young that it’s hard to determine when he’ll find his way to the big leagues, but he could be there as soon as the 2010 or 2011 season. 

3B: Mario Martinez, Pulaski (R), 18 years old
A shortstop last season in the Arizona League, Martinez has been moved to third this season, probably because of his size (6′1″, 208), though he could very well be moved again before his minor league career is over.  He put together a good year last season, and is excelling this year in his second season of rookie-ball, hitting .320/.350/.483 through 38 ballgames.  He’s got a smooth swing and is fairly advanced for a rookie-baller.  He’ll probably get promoted at the end of Pulaski’s short season.  Among the players on this list Martinez the farthest away from big league action

LF: Michael Saunders, Tacoma (AAA), 21 years old
I’ve been a big fan of Saunders for a while now.  He’s got a really sweet lefty swing, a bit long, but he’s working on it.  He, like Valbuena, started off great in AA, hitting .290/.375/.484 through 67 games, but struggled a bit once promoted.  He’s sitting at .239/.307/.402 through 23 games in Tacoma.  He’s no super star, but he’s very balanced offensive player and has good range in the outfield with a very good arm.  I’ve seen him play a couple times and have liked what I’ve seen.  Saunders could get a September call this year, but he won’t be ready for regular MLB action until at least next season.

CF: Greg Halman, West Tennessee (AA), 20 years old
It’s rare to find top baseball talents in Europe, but Seattle found just that in Halman.  Hailing from the Netherlands, Halman is regarded as the best pure athlete in the Mariners’ system.  He’s been barely missing the five-tool player distinction as he hasn’t had the “hit for average” part of that down, but he’s getting closer.  So far this has been the best season of his career.  Between High Desert and West Tennessee he’s hitting .273/.320/.548 with 25 homers, 71 RBI and 26 stolen bases through 100 games (67 at A+, 33 at AA).  His biggest weakness is his bulky strikeout totals, like many recent Seattle outfield prospects (162 K in 467 PA in 2007, 76 K so far this year).  As a plus defender and potential 20-20 or 30-30 guy, he’ll certainly be a mainstay with the club as long as he can work on cutting down the strikeouts and keeping the average up, though easier said than done. 

RF: Wlad Balentien, Tacoma (AAA), 24 years old
Most of us know all about Wladdy by now.  Big time power potential, decent range in the outfield, cannon arm.  He’s had some trouble laying off the outside breaking ball this season and in the past, leading to some big strikeout totals, but seems to have turned the corner as of late.  I wrote briefly about it here, but Jason A. Churchill wrote in more depth about it for the Post-Intelligencer.  “I think he’s made an adjustment,” an AL scout told Churchill. “In Las Vegas it looked as if he went up to the plate looking for a certain pitch in a certain part of the zone and if he got it he was going to hurt it. Earlier in the season, and probably in the big leagues, too, he was allowing the pitcher to dictate everything.”  Wlad should be up with the big club sooner than later.

Mike Wilson (AA) is another outfielder to keep your eye on and could have some great power as a part-time player.  Jharmidy DeJesus (R), a shortstop/third baseman in Arizona, is a highly touted Dominican signee that is more physical than Triunfel.  He could become the organization’s top prospect one of these days.

What a ballgame.  Mariners come back from a 7 run deficit to lead Texas 10-9 going into the bottom of the 9th.  Too bad J.J. Putz still isn’t the J.J. Putz we had last year and blew the save.  I guess Brandon Morrow won’t be starting this season after all.

Well, Johjima was injured, so maybe something positive came out of it.  (Ugh, may karma strike me down right now for saying that.)

We all know that Wlad Balentien stuggled during his first stint with the big club this year.  After he was sent back down to Tacoma he continued to struggle mightily for a while, but he has since stepped it up a notch.  Over the last month (roughly) he is hitting a few ticks below .300 with seven homers and eight doubles.  There was one stretch where he homered in four straight contests.  His strikeout rate has also declined a bit.

Right now Seattle doesn’t have room for him, but after the trade deadline they could.  Even if no move is made, Seattle can then shift Raul Ibanez to DH.  Raul has to stay in left through the deadline in order for the organization to try and convince potential trade partners that he’s capable of playing in the field.  After the deadline Raul can safely DH, because he’ll be with Seattle through the end of his contract.  If Raul is traded then there is an obvious vacancy for Wlad.

Now, if Seattle manages to get an outfielder from the Yankees, then that’s a different story all together.  Either way, Seattle needs to get Wlad up ASAP so that he gets some experience under his belt for next season.  He has proved enough in AAA.

“[Seattle] has long made choices that puzzled much of the rest of the league, and leaving Balentien in Triple-A could become another one of those non-moves that hurts a player. He’s ready to step in and take his lumps. The sooner he gets those out of the way, the sooner Seattle can decide whether he’s part of their long-term plans,” one scout told Propsect Insider’s Jason A. Churchill.

Jim Street has an interesting blurb at mlblogs:

With the clocking ticking towards the Thursday afternoon non-waiver trade deadline, the Mariners reportedly are considering deals that would include left-handed pitcher Jarrod Washburn (Yankees), third baseman Adrian Beltre (Rays) and left fielder Raul Ibanez (Mets).

This is the first I have heard of this rumor. You might be thinking why would the Rays trade for Beltre when they have Longoria? Well, Longoria is capable of playing SS even though he has never played there before, and even though Bartlett is a great defender he gives them absolutely nothing offensively, so trading for Beltre would greatly improve their offense while only slightly hurting their defense. The Rays would be the perfect team to trade with as their farm system is stacked and they should be more willing to trade off some of their top tier prospects than other teams, except David Price because he is untouchable.

UPDATE: Rumor busted.  See comments.