The Mariners have signed 33 year old Miguel Cairo to a 2-year contract. The righty swinging Cairo played in 82 games last season for the Yankees and Cardinals and he was 44 for 174 (.253 avg) with 20 runs scored, 15 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Cairo has now played in 1,092 games in his major league career and he is 826 for 3,095 (.267 avg, .674 OPS) with 392 runs scored, 27 homers, 295 RBIs and 123 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Mariners as Cairo is a solid player off of the bench.

Just think of how good the Seattle Mariners would have been this season if they had better pitchers to fill the back end of their starting rotation?  They probably would have won the American League West.  Jeff Weaver has started 25 games this season for the Mariners and he is 7-12 with a 6.21 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.  In 133.1 innings this season, Weaver has allowed 176 hits, walked 33 batters and whiffed 73.  The most stunning thing about Weaver is the Mariners paid him over $8 million bucks for this season.  Lefty Horacio Ramirez is 8-7 which is unbelievable seeing how he has a 7.16 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP in 20 starts this season.  Ramirez has pitched 98 innings this season and he has allowed 139 hits, walked 42 batters and whiffed 40 this season.  He has been a huge bust as the Mariners gave up reliever Rafael Soriano to get him.  The Mariners are 80-70 currently which has them in 2nd place in the American League West, 8.5 games behind the Angels.  They are also 6.5 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card.

The Seattle Mariners are now 75-68 which has them 9.5 games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West.  They are also 6.5 games behind the Yankees in the chase for the Wild Card in the American League.  Unless the Mariners turn it around soon they will likely get a good look at top prospects Adam Jones, Wladimir Balentin and Jeff Clement as the season closes.

The Seattle Mariners have lost 9 of their last 10 games which has put them in jeopardy of not making the playoffs after playing so good the first 4 months of the season.  The Mariners are now 74-62 which has them in 2nd place in the American League West, 6.5 games behind the Angels.  Still, the Mariners are only 1 game behind the Yankees for the American League Wild Card after kicking their butts last night.  The offense has carried the Mariners so far this season.  Ichiro Suzuki has been outstanding again this season as he now has 201 hits on the year…..but he has done that in all 7 of his major league seasons so that comes as no surprise.  Ichiro is hitting .353 with 98 runs scored, 6 homers, 58 RBIs and 37 stolen bases this year.  Jose Guillen has proved to be a very good free agent signing in the off-season as he is hitting .289 with 19 homers and 84 RBIs this season.  Adrian Beltre is also having a good year despite playing most of it with an injured thumb.  He is hitting .280 with 21 homers and 83 RBIs so far this season.  The pitching has been pretty awful but the Mariners have gotten solid results from a couple of pitchers.  Starter Felix Hernandez has rebounded from a rough 2006 season as he is 11-7 with a 3.96 ERA so far this year.  Stopper J.J. Putz has been the best closer in the entire American League this season as he is 2-1 with 37 saves and a 1.45 ERA.

The Seattle Mariners are 9-4 the last two weeks as they’ve outscored the opposition 85-71.  The Mariners are really swinging the bats well and that has made up for some poor pitching so far this season.  The Mariners enter this week with a 33-26 record which has them in 2nd place in the American League West, 4.5 games behind the Angels.