Seattle Mariners

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu told the media that he thought Ken Griffey Jr. was starting to get his groove back. Last night was the perfect indication that he was right.

Ken Griffey Jr. slammed a pinch-hit home run in the eighth to tie the game at three. It was a classic shot by Junior that sent the Safeco crowd into a frenzy. He hit it seven-rows deep over the right-centerfield wall on the first pitch off D'Backs reliever Tony Pena

To begin this column, I’d like to extend a heartfelt sympathy to Russell Branyan, Jose Lopez and Rob Johnson, who have all been impacted by family illness or death in recent days.

On June 17th, the Seattle Mariners called up 23-year-old first baseman Mike Carp from Triple-A Tacoma. He is taking the roster spot of LHP Erik Bedard, who was placed on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.

The San Diego Padres defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-3 Thursday afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game series. The Padres (29-36) were able to avoid a three-game sweep with the mid-day sun beaming down on the crowd of more than 25,000 at Petco Park.

The visiting Mariners (32-24) got out to an early lead when Ken Griffey Jr. jolted a ball deep to left-center field to plate Mike Carp for the 1-0 lead. Young Brandon Morrow started his second game since returning from the DL for the Mariners.

A partial tear in Jake Peavy’s ankle ligament may cause experts to shred their perception of the starting pitcher trade market as the baseball season nears the trade deadline, and it’s possible that the Mariners could become the beneficiary.

Peavy’s injury, initially expected to keep the righty out for a month, could keep him out for 8-12 weeks according to recent reports.

On day one of the draft, Seattle picked up 4 positional players. That's right, no pitchers. While many are frustrated that the M's passed on the likes of Tanner Sheppers, James Paxton, and Rex Brothers twice, I am kind of at a moot point.

It's no secret that Z loves positional players. All of his marquee draftees in Milwaukee were position players.

But here's my thing, why did we have to significantly overdraft on the likes of Nick Franklin and Steven Baron? Both of which could be had at 51 and 82.

I can only think of 2 real reasons.

No matter what happens this year, the Mariners are building and playing for 2010 and beyond. While the roster isn't particularly loaded with top tier talent, Captain Jack and Co. can rebuild this roster pretty quickly by letting go a couple of these guys.

Its a Billy Beane move, throw away your season that’s going nowhere anyway in order to compete in the future. I think Z would be wise to take said road.

Ichiro Suzuki entered the league just nine years ago. He won the A.L MVP and the Rookie of the Year in his first year while leading the Mariners to 116 wins (a MLB record).

He averages over 200 hits per season and a career batting average of .331. In 2004 Ichiro broke the most hits in a single season with 262.

He owns the record for most hits in a four-year span. Between 2001 and 2004 Ichiro got 922 hits. He has also appeared in eight straight All-Star games.

When the Seattle Mariners signed Ken Griffey Jr., I was hoping for at least a 20 HR, 85 RBI season. I felt if the Mariners used him as their everyday DH, he could produce moderate power, something the Mariners have not had since Edgar Martinez left.