Saunders is up

Here's one of those Good News-Bad News things

Mariners promote Saunders from Minors
Fellow outfielder Balentien designated for assignment

In an attempt to bolster their struggling lineup, the Mariners selected outfielder Michael Saunders from Triple-A Tacoma and designated outfielder Wladimir Balentien for assignment on Saturday.

The team now has 10 days to trade, release or outright Balentien to the Minors.

Saunders, 22, was selected by the Mariners in the 11th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. He was hitting .310 with 13 home runs and 32 RBIs in Tacoma, where he's spent this entire season. He'll be in uniform and available to play in Saturday's game against Cleveland, and his first appearance will be his Major League debut.

Saunders was a Rattler in 2006 and did make his Major League debut today against Cleveland. Balentien was a Rattler in 2004.

Here is the news from Geoff Baker's blog with Larry Stone filling in for, um, Geoff Baker.

Anyhow, Saunders got the news at 11:30 p.m. last night. His mother and father were already in town to see him play for Class AAA Tacoma, so he woke them up at their hotel room, delievered the news, and told him they'd be seeing major league action today. Some of his good freinds are also down here.

"I didn't sleep a wink, actually, to tell you the truth,'' he said. "I was moving around all night, my heart was thumping.''

Saunders had surgery on his right labrum and took seven months to recover. He missed te first month of the season and says he was "still rehabbing'' as he played. The biggest part was getting his throwing arm back up to speed.

His bat was fine.

"I've widened my stance a little and that's helped me kind of track baseballs and be a little bit more consistent at the plate,'' he said. "I've worked a lot with (AAA hitting coach) Alonzo Powell down there and he's helped me out a lot, taught me about the mental side of hitting.''

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said the move was made because the team feels Saunders is ready to be the future left fielder. But there were also short-term considerations as well.

Good luck, Michael.