Good news Mariners' fans, Putz is back! Although the Saves he may acquire are completely worthless this season, they could be good for next year. Every good outing that Putz completes will only help his possible trade value. Putz will not be around for long, but will most likely complete the season in Seattle. With the M's drafting Closer Josh Fields in the first-round of this years draft, Putz is not the future (especially because of his age).
To make room for Putz, the Mariners optioned Ryan Rowland-Smith down to AAA Tacoma. Rowland-Smith will use his time down in Tacoma to work on building up his stamina and mentallity so he may become a starting pitcher.
The whole point of sending R.R-S. down is so the Mariners will have a quality starting prospect inside the system. What about Phillipe Aumont? How about drafting one? Brandon Morrow was supposed to be a starter, what happened to that? "At some point we have to commit one way or another," Riggleman said, saying he thinks it would be "50-50" among Mariners brass as to what to do with Morrow. "But right now, [the team is] committed to reliever. Who knows down the road?"
From the Seattle Times:
"Manager Jim Riggleman said Rowland-Smith was "not real happy'' about being sent down but that the team felt the best way to transform him into a starter was to have him make a few in Tacoma.
Rowland-Smith threw 75 pitches in Saturday's game and Riggleman said it won't take much to extend him out. Asked if Rowland-Smith would be back in September, Riggleman said "I doubt very much it would be all the way to September before we see him again.'' He said one option could be to simply add another starter to the rotation when Rowland-Smith is ready to return."
note: The Jim Riggleman quote from also from the Seattle Times
Keywords: J.J. Putz, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Seattle Mariners
