Look who'll be getting the call (Bumped)

Bumped to second from the top. Just wanted this one to be near the top for a while.

The Tacoma News-Tribune has this short story. Ex-Rattlers will be bolded.

The kids are coming, and when the major league rosters expand on Monday, Mariners minor leaguers will be coming two at a time.

Although a handful of Tacoma players are expected to join Seattle during the next seven to 10 days, only two will join the Mariners in Texas on Monday – left-handed pitcher Justin Thomas and infielder Luis Valbuena.

For Thomas, 24, and Valbuena, 22, this will be their first trip to the big leagues. Valbuena started this season at Double-A West Tennessee.

In the days that follow, the Mariners expect to call up catcher Rob Johnson and pitchers Brandon Morrow, Mark Lowe and Jared Wells.

Thomas and Valbuena were teammates on the 2006 Rattler team. Johnson ('05) was called up at the end of last year and went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in six games. Lowe ('05) is working his way back to the M's.

Mariner System Report (Games of 7/23)

SEATTLE (MAJ: 38-63 4th American League West): The Mariners lost 6-3 to Boston in 12 innings at home. Felix Hernandez (’03) allowed three runs and struck out six while walking five over six innings for a no decision. Raul Ibanez (Foxes, ’94) homered for Seattle, but the Red Sox scored three in the twelfth for the win.

TACOMA (AAA: 51-53, 3rd Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division): The Rainiers lost 3-2 at Nashville. Matt Tuiasosopo (’05) drove in a run for Tacoma. But, Brad Nelson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a 2-1 Rainier lead.

WEST TENNESSEE (AA: 53-48, 12-19 5th Southern League North Division): The Diamond Jaxx beat Chattanooga 6-5. Johan Limonta (’06) drove in three runs and Greg Halman (’07) homered for West Tennessee. Shawn Kelley (’08) got the final six outs for the save.

HIGH DESERT (High-A: 45-58, 13-20 second half 5th California League South Division): The Mavericks lost 7-2 to Inland Empire. Carlos Triunfel (’07) went 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for High Desert, but the two-game Maverick winning streak came to an end.

EVERETT (Short Season-A: 15-21, T-2nd Northwest League Western Division): The AquaSox lost 16-5 at Boise. This was loss number four in a row for Everett.

PULASKI (Rookie: 22-13, 1st Appalachian League East Division): The M’s lost 5-0 to Burlington. Guy Welsh (’07) had a pair of hits for Pulaski.

PEORIA (Rookie: 9-16 T-7th Arizona League): The AZL M’s lost 13-7 to the Giants.

MARINER SYSTEM SCHEDULE TODAY
Seattle – OFF DAY
Tacoma (Ryan Feierabend 4-1) at Nashville (Richie Gardner 6-3) 7:00pm CDT
West Tennessee (Doug Fister 5-11) at Chattanooga (Sam LeCure 7-4) 5:15pm CDT
West Tennessee (Travis Chick 2-5) at Chattanooga (Pedro Viola 1-6) – GAME TWO
Inland Empire (Victor Garate 0-0) at High Desert (Travis Mortimore 1-2) 9:05pm CDT
Everett (Bobby LaFromboise 1-1) at Boise (Josh Whitlock 0-1) 8:15pm CDT
Burlington at Pulaski 6:00pm CDT
AZL Rangers at AZL Mariners 12:30pm CDT

One up, One down

Baker had this last night.

The team is getting tired of waiting. Jeff Clement has been recalled from Class AAA Tacoma and will be in uniform tomorrow night. And he's not going to sit on the bench.

"We want him to play and we do want him to catch a little bit,'' Mariners manager John McLaren said after his team's fourth straight loss overall and eighth in a row at home. "We need some pop in our offense, so we're going to work him in.''

Wladimir Balentien gets the ticket back to Tacoma. McLaren compared his situation to Clement's previous demotion in mid-May. He says Balentien has some things to work on and will likely be back with the club before the season ends.

Bye-Bye Baek

Cha Seung Baek ('00) is now in the San Diego Padre organization.

M's trade for Padres' Wells

Ah, that headline would have excited a little more 12 months ago. After all, a guy like David Wells could have kept things interesting around here for what promises to be a dismal four months to come. But no, it's not David making his way to Seattle. A guy named Jared Wells has been picked up in exchange for Cha Seung Baek. He's a living, breathing body. What else? Well, actually, all snarkiness aside, there is some potential here. But a lot has to happen first.

This is the same Jared Wells who pitched for Fort Wayne in 2004. He tossed a seven-inning complete game against the Rattlers in the first game of a doubleheader on May 2, 2004 and gave up one run on four hits.

Mariner roster moves (3/24)

A couple of ex-Rattlers left the big league camp before the game with the White Sox yesterday.

Outfielder Wladimir Balentien struck out in his bid to land a spot on the Mariners' 25-man Opening Day roster this spring, but his departure on Monday morning was all about playing time.

"He's a young kid learning the strike zone and we want him playing every day," manager John McLaren said. "He needs to get ready for his Triple-A season down there."

The 23-year-old Balentien, who batted .319 (15-for-47) with a team-leading three home runs and nine RBIs in Cactus League games, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, along with catcher Rob Johnson. Left-handed pitcher Jake Woods was reassigned to the Minor League camp.

Balentien ('04) had a good spring, but there is a reason he and Johnson ('05) are headed to Tacoma to start the season.

"We don't want those guys sitting around as extra players,"
McLaren said. "We want them playing on a regular basis."

And that is what they will be doing in the PCL to start the season. The story mentions that Johnson was 5-for-13 in his Cactus League games.

A few Mariner roster moves

This is from a few days ago, but I'm just getting around to it.

In their second round of spring training cuts today, the Seattle Mariners optioned four players, including catcher Jeff Clement, to Triple-A Tacoma.

The others were pitchers; right-handers Jon Huber and Sean White and, left-hander Cesar Jimenez.

Of those four players, three have worn a Rattler uniform. Clement in 2005, Jimenez in 2003, and White on a rehab assignment in 2007.

Then later that same day.

Re-assigned to Minor League Camp (2):
Infielder (1): Matt Tuiasosopo
Left-Handed Pitcher (1): Phillip Barzilla

Tuiasosopo was a Rattler in 2005.

I'll head over to Jay at Mariner Minors for analysis on both the first and the second. Here are some bits on the Jimenez, Clement, and Tuiasosopo.

Jimenez had pitched significantly worse than the other left-handers, both in the running and on the fringe, and since his main weapon, the change, is more effective against right-handed hitters, using him as a left-handed setup man doesn’t make sense. I see him as a long or middle reliever, if anything, but he’s not the kind of pitcher the team should be planning around. For a time earlier in camp, it looked like they might be.

There were suggestions at the beginning of camp that Clement would have to play himself into a full-time role to get a job at all, and whether that assessment was the right one or not, he did little to stand out.

Tui hit only .250./280/.333 in the big camp this year, but it’s a step up from the cumulative .156/.182/.188 line he had been running in spring before now. We’ll see how he fares in Tacoma this year.

Thanks, Jay.

Mariners make moves

Seattle sent some players from the major league camp to the minor league camp yesterday. Jim Street will handle the news, I'll just bold the ex-Rattlers involved.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Right-hander Phillippe Aumont, the Mariners' first-round Draft choice last June, was among 12 players reassigned to the Minor League complex on Thursday.

The first significant round of cuts this spring also included right-handed pitcher Joe Woerman, second baseman Yung Chi Chen and first baseman Bryan LaHair, all assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Reassigned to the Minor League camp were: right-handed pitchers Brodie Downs and Stephen Kahn, left-hander Robert Rohrbaugh, catchers Jair Fernandez, Adam Moore and Brant Ust, outfielder Bronson Sardinha and infielder Mark Kiger.