The Seattle Mariners pulled the trigger on a significant trade last week.
They should have also pushed the panic button. The problems that ail the Mariners are deeper than one new player can fix.
The M’s entered this weekend losers of seven in a row, dropping to seven games below .500 and 9½ games behind division-leading Houston.
Friday’s 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay encapsulated the whole Mariners season. Great starting pitching, awful hitting and, of course, a decisive home run allowed by Fernando Rodney.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik has spent the past two years and a lot of money trying to build an offense.
Yet here are the Mariners once again near the bottom of the American League in hitting. Seattle entered this weekend next-to-last in batting average and runs. In on-base percentage, the M’s are dead last.
It’s the same meek tune for a Mariners team that has spent most of the past decade near the bottom of the league in hitting. And this is despite new addition Nelson Cruz being among the league leaders in home runs, hits and RBI.
Seattle is already in danger of slipping out of the playoff hunt.
And that’s why Seattle gave up one of its top prospects in outfielder Gabby Guerrero to acquire Mark Trumbo from Arizona.
But even Zduriencik admits that the trade won’t fix Seattle’s problems.
“Mark Trumbo is not the savior,” he told Seattle radio station AM-710 KIRO. “Mark Trumbo will come in and add a real nice piece and maybe give you a spark. But the biggest thing we need is for the players that are not performing to their level to perform to their level.”
Zduriencik didn’t single out anyone with that comment, but he didn’t need to. He could have been referring to any number of players. You could play Pin the Tail on the Goat with Seattle’s lineup card and rarely miss.
There’s Robinson Cano, who will make $24 million this season in the second year of a 10-year, $240 mil- lion contract. That an awful lot of money for a player who has resembled a light-hitting middle infielder rather than the slugger Seattle hoped he would be. Cano has just two home runs this season after his 14 home runs last year matched his career low.
There’s Dustin Ackley, once a bright prospect who is well past the delivery date on his potential. He is hitting .194 this season, which is a minor victory considering he was batting .177 one week ago.
Brad Miller was supposed to be Seattle’s everyday shortstop, but his .227 batting average saw him relegated to a platoon role.
And then there’s Rodney. With an earned-run average of 6.85, watching the beleaguered closer is a roller coaster ride that makes M’s fans nauseous, even when it doesn’t fly off the rails.
Seattle’s situation is made more frustrating by the fact that 37 of its 55 games have been decided by two runs or fewer. With even an average offense, the Mariners would be contending for a playoff spot.
This year was supposed to be different. Tabbed by many experts as a World Series contender, this year’s Mariners were supposed to end a 13-year playoff drought after missing a Wild Card spot by one game last season.
But instead, the Mariners are singing a same old song that leaves its fans as blue as the team’s ballcaps.
Micah Rice is The Columbian’s sports editor. Reach him at 360-735-4548, micah.rice@columbian.com or on Twitter @col_mrice .
