The Mariners have placed 27-year old lefty starting pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain. Rowland-Smith has pitched in 22 games (19 starts) for the Mariners this year and he is 1-10 with a 6.96 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP. He has given up a stunning 129 hits and an amazing 23 homers in only 98 1/3 innings for the Mariners this year. The Mariners have recalled 24-year old starting pitcher Luke French to replace him in the starting rotation. French pitched in 4 games (1 start) earlier this season for the Mariners and he was 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP.

The Mariners have released 35-year old righty reliever Joe Nelson. Nelson pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Mariners and he was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP. He has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) overall for two teams in the minors this year and he is 3-2 with 1 save, a 3.64 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. The Mariners saw enough out of Nelson to know that he wasn’t going to help them this season but at least he will be free to look for a new job.

With the way the Mariners season is going they need to start looking at some younger players. That means guys like Michael Saunders should get a lot of ABs the rest of the way to show what he can do. He has played in 53 games for the Mariners this year and he is 33 of 145 (.228 avg, .718 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 7 homers and 21 RBIs. His power has come at a price though as he has already whiffed 48 times this season. Hopefully the Mariners will give Saunders more P.T. so they can see if he can fix some of the flaws in his swing. He does look like he has a nice upside though.

The Mariners have traded 30-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Jack Hannahan to the Red Sox for either a player to be named later or cash. Hannahan played in 63 games in AAA-ball for the Mariners this year and he was 51 of 224 (.228 avg, .675 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 5 homers and 33 RBIs. Hannahan has not played in the big leagues yet this season. He played in 51 games for the Mariners last season and he was 34 of 148 (.230 avg, .656 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers, 11 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Mariners won’t miss Hannahan at all as they are the likely winners in this trade.

24-year old lefty swinging 3B Matt Mangini didn’t come into this season as one of the Mariners’ top 30 prospects but he’s playing like one in AAA. Mangini has played in 73 games in AAA-ball so far this season and he is 76 of 245 (.310 avg, .901 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 10 homers, 41 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. If the Mariners either trade Jose Lopez or he gets hurt look for the Mariners to give Mangini his first shot at the majors. If neither of those things happen the Mariners could call up Mangini when rosters expand in September provided that he keeps playing well in the minors.