The Seattle Mariners have released 33-year old righty reliever Justin Miller. Miller pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Mariners in AAA-ball this year who are 0-0 with a 1.04 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Miller had an opt out clause for May 1st if he wasn’t on the Mariners, so the team beat him to the chase. I look for some other team to pick him up and give him a shot this year.

35-year old lefty swinging Adam Kennedy is a natural 2B, but he can also handle playing SS, 1B and 3B defensively. That versatility is likely to get him into the lineup on most nights if he continues to hit well. Kennedy has played in 14 games for the Mariners so far this year and he is 14 for 42 (.333 avg, .903 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBIs. The Mariners are hitting so poorly right now that whoever gets hot with the bat should be in the starting lineup, end of story.

22-year old righty rookie starting pitcher Michael Pineda is off to an outstanding start to his major league career. Pineda has started 3 games for the Mariners so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Pineda has only given up 13 hits in his first 19 1/3 innings for the Mariners as he has looked sharp. Pineda has whiffed 16 batters so far this year which shows what kind of stuff he has but he has also walked 7 batters. The Mariners have a good defense but not much of an offense, so Pineda should aggressively attack the strike zone and take his chances. He has a HUGE upside!

23-year old righty swinging outfieder Greg Halman has been put on the minor league disabled list. His wrist was fractured when he was hit by a pitch and he will be out indefinitely. Halman came into this season as the Mariners’ #11 prospect. He was likely going to get called up soon if he played well and the Mariners continue to have problems scoring runs, because of his power. Halman has played in 4 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 3 for 13 (.231 avg, .670 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. The most important stat with him so far this year is the fact that he hasn’t whiffed yet. The Mariners hope that Halman gets healthy soon because they are going to likely need him at some point in 2011.

Jack Wilson hasn’t adjusted well to 2B. He made 2 big errors in a game last week that cost the Mariners a good chance to win it. After the inning that Wilson made the errors he came into the dugout and asked to come out of the game. That sent Mariners’ manager Eric Wedge into a tizzy and Wilson is deep in his Dog House. Wilson has played in 6 games for the Mariners this year and he is 6 for 18 (.333 avg, 722 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 3 stolen bases. Lefty swinging Adam Kennedy has taken over at 2B for now. He has played in 6 games for the Mariners so far this year and he is 5 for 16 (.313 avg, .750 OPS) with 2 runs scored. Kennedy is at least as good of a player as Wilson is (and possibly better), so the Mariners will be o.k. with Wilson in the Dog House. I think Wilson’s days are no numbered in Seattle.