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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

When the Philadelphia Phillies were rumored to be interested in Erik Bedard a couple of weeks ago it put Phillies GM Pat Gillick in a bit of a moral dilemma.  There had been rumors that Gillick could be Seattle bound after season’s end, meaning he’d be in control of the players he would have jettisoned in […]

No new word yet on what’s going on with the Jarrod Washburn trade.  There are a million conflicting reports out there regarding who’s coming and going.  There is, however, some other trade talk to digest.
One scout thinks Seattle should trade Yuniesky Betancourt, saying that “he probably won’t reach his potential in Seattle.”  Would Seattle deal him?  […]

ESPN News Ticker has said that a deal between the Yankees and Mariners for Washburn is close to happening but it did not say who else was in the deal. Updates when they come out.
 
UPDATE: FSN has said the deal is Washburn and Vidro for Melky Cabrera and Kei Igawa. This is a great deal for the […]

Prospect Insider’s Jason A. Churchill just put up a good read on dealing Adrian Beltre, including what kind of packages Seattle could expect from the Dodgers and Twins.  While there have been reports that the Dodgers weren’t interested in Beltre and that they were on his no-trade list, Churchill throws this out there:
(do not believe everything you […]

Erik Bedard’s shoulder situation is unchanged, so there is no telling when he’ll be back, Carlos Silva’s back injury has pushed his next start back.  That leaves a rotation of Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn, who should be traded any day now, RA Dickey and occasionally the awful Miguel Batista.  Pair the numerous open rotation spots […]

Joel Sherman says that Kei Igawa isn’t in the proposed Jarrod Washburn deal, and the New York Yankees will require Seattle to pay some of Washburn’s contract, rather than taking on Igawa’s.  Jon Heyman reports Seattle is asking for both Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner, not one or the other as I assumed yesterday.  USS […]

This one got past me yesterday.  Ed Price of the Star-Ledger:
A person familiar with the Seattle Mariners’ plans, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of trade discussions, said a possible trade of lefty Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees has “got legs” and predicted “something will happen there.”
The person said talks […]

In his latest blog entry, Geoff Baker refers to some reports that the Florida Marlins are interested in lefty specialist Arthur Rhodes.  I must have missed these rumors, but it makes sense.  The Marlins are looking to acquire a left-handed reliever, most notably Brian Fuentes, who has a large salary and will cost top prospects.  Rhodes […]

From Baseball Prospectus:

The Mariners have been in a holding pattern since throwing Richie Sexson overboard, making many wonder why they can’t get some deal done. With Erik Bedard sidelined by shoulder problems, the next most desirable player they have is Raul Ibanez. Several teams have inquired about his services, but all have been told that […]

This season there has been a lot of reports that say Adrian Beltre is eager to return to a Southern California team.  Those reports may be inaccurate, however.  Beltre has a limited no-trade clause that allows him to block trades to up to eight ballclubs.  We found out that one of those eight teams were the […]