In a continued attempt to improve their faltering offense, the Seattle Mariners designated 13-year veteran Willie Bloomquist for assignment and called up shortstop prospect Chris Taylor from Triple-A Tacoma.
This move comes just days after the Mariners picked up catcher Erik Kratz, and brought up first baseman Connor Hale to the big club, all in an attempt to improve Seattle's offense, which ranks last in the American League with a .231 team batting average.
Bloomquist, 37, was having a miserable 2015 campaign, batting just .159, over 100 points below his career average of .269. His durability and skill is becoming questionable as he has appeared in just 130 games in the last three seasons, hitting a single home run in that time. His career could be winding down as not many teams will want to take chances on an older player, who hasn't played much lately, has little power or speed, and is now struggling to hit for average.
As for Chris Taylor, this will be his third stint in the majors, his second in 2015. After shortstop/second baseman Nick Franklin was traded at the deadline in a three-team deal last year, Taylor became the most major-league ready shortstop for Seattle. He played in 47 games last year, hitting to a tune of a .287 average. He displayed his speed by stealing five bases, which will be critical in lifting a Seattle team that ranks 12th in the American League in stolen bases. But in 20 games with Seattle this year, Taylor hit just .159, stealing two bases but also getting caught twice. He was sent down to Tacoma to fine-tune his offense. He did that, hitting .289 in Tacoma while smacking two home runs, and stealing 13 bases over just 48 games. He bats ninth in the Seattle order tonight versus the Oakland Athletics, hoping to spark the Mariners who thought to be the team to beat in the American League West during spring training. Seattle is wallowing in fourth place, 9 1/2 games behind the surprise team of the year, the Houston Astros.