The Mariners have demoted 23-year old switch hitting 1B Justin Smoak to AAA. Smoak has played in 16 games for the Mariners this season and he is 10 of 63 (.159 avg, .439 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBIs. He has now played in 86 games overall this season with the Rangers & Mariners and he is 59 of 298 (.198 avg, .624 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 10 homers and 39 RBIs. Smoak will need to work on making contact in the minors as he has whiffed 80 times in the majors this year. The Mariners have recalled 24-year old righty swinging 3B Matt Tuiasosopo to replace Smoak on the active roster. He played in 24 games earlier this season for the Mariners and he was 9 of 54 (.167 avg, .451 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 23 whiffs. Tuiasosopo also has played in 38 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 36 of 143 (.252 avg, .791 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers and 21 RBIs. Smoak will be back in Seattle if he gets hot in AAA as he was the key to the Cliff Lee trade.

The Mariners have placed 32-year old switch hitting outfielder Milton Bradley on the 15-day disabled list with patellar tendinitis in his right knee. Bradley has played in 73 games for the Mariners this year and he is 50 of 244 (.205 avg, .641 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 8 homers, 29 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Bradley has looked lost at the plate this season as he has already whiffed 75 times this year. Trading for Bradley has turned out to be one of the Mariners worst moves over the winter.

UPDATE:  (8/16/2010) - Milton Bradley is going to have knee surgery tomorrow which will likely end his season.

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.