Mariners Take on A’s and More

                                            New Mariner Yonder Alonso

The Seattle Mariners are now in Oakland to take on the A’s in a two game series before coming home to play the Los Angeles Angles for four games and then the Baltimore Orioles for three and then they will go back on the road for the rest of August.

These nine games will be important for the Mariners to stay in the wild card race. These games are quite winnable if the Mariners can keep their head into the games. On Sunday the Mariners traded for Yonder Alonso first baseman of the A’s so all he has to do is change locker rooms and dugouts. The Mariners are hoping that Alonso could be the difference in the team making the playoffs or not. He adds more offense to the team.

The Mariners will be facing a righty Tuesday night so Alonso should be in the lineup at first base for the Mariners. In fact they will be facing a lot of righties the next couple weeks. So Valencia will be used as a backup for pinch hitting and he will be able to give Seager rest when needed as well.

Dave Phelps who had his elbow injured in the first game on Sunday will likely be put on the disabled. How long he will be out we may know later today since he is back in Seattle where he had tests made on Monday. Who takes his spot in the bullpen is anyone’s guess. With Felix on the disabled list and the Mariners really needing a starter along with a possible reliever I would not be surprised that Jerry Dipoto is on phone right now.

The Mariners will not only have to have someone added to the roster in place of Phelps they will need to make a roster move to add on Alonso as well. So at least two moves will be made on Tuesday and Alonso will give the Mariners more offense power which the Mariners will need with the lack of pitching continue to compete for the wild card spot. August could be one of the busiest months on record for Dipoto.  

The Mariners will be able to add more to the roster in September as well. The lack of hitting in the catcher’s spot they will add another one and the team will be able to do some pinch hitting. Along with catching a couple position players and primarily more relievers will come aboard. If the Mariners are able to stay close like right now that could help them out quite a bit.

For now the Mariners will need to take care of the A’s, Angels and Orioles. We hope that they can get several games above the five hundred mark.

This coming weekend will be for retiring Edgar Martinez number. I hope as many as you can will make your way to Safeco Field. Go M’s.