Mariners DFA Rickie Weeks, call up Danny Farquhar

HOUSTON – The outfield muddle just became a little less muddled. Rickie Weeks was a tough fit for the Mariners from the beginning and with two starters failing to give innings the past two days and a reliever needed, what appeared to be a tough decision for some was made for them. Weeks was designated for assignment and reliever Danny Farquhar recalled from Tacoma.

“Rickie is a professional, went about his business in the locker room in a very professional manner,” manager Lloyd McClendon said after announcing the move. “I think he was a positive influence on a lot of guys in the locker room. It just didn’t work out on the field for whatever reason. With the stress that we had on the bullpen, this was a move we had to make.”

Lack of playing time most likely was the biggest reason why it didn’t work out on the field. Although Weeks gamely tried to learn the outfield, he didn’t get to the point where he could be put out there on any sort of a regular basis, even in a platoon situation. I found it strange that while it was announced early on in spring training that he would platoon in left with Dustin Ackley, we didn’t see him out there very much when games began. It’s tough to learn a new position without playing time and it’s tough to put someone who hasn’t played the position out in the field when games count. After the acquisition of Mark Trumbo, it was even tougher to find Weeks time.

“Playing time was certainly going to be diminished quite a bit,” McClendon said.

I wish Rickie well. He has in him a bit of that old-school that has been fading quickly from clubhouses around the game. This couldn’t have been a comfortable situation for him to be in recently but you never saw that from him. As McClendon said, very much a professional and that was appreciated.

Lineup

Seth Smith, LF
Austin Jackson, CF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nelson Cruz, RF
Kyle Seager, 3B
Mark Trumbo, DH
Logan Morrison, 1B
Brad Miller, SS
Mike Zunino, C

Mike Montgomery, LHP

Notes

• Farquhar is expected to arrive in time to be available for today’s game. He hasn’t pitched since June 9 and is stretched out enough to give the Mariners multiple innings if needed. Vidal Nuno, Fernando Rodney and Carson Smith did not pitch Friday so McClendon should have plenty of bullpen available.

• With a National League series coming up next week, the Mariners most likely will not go with eight in the bullpen for long. I would anticipate seeing another move made Sunday or Monday. With Weeks DFA’d, the Mariners have a spot open on the 40-man roster so they will have a number of players available to them to call up.

• Had Felix Hernandez not just blown up on the mound and had the team not been struggling as badly as it has been recently, I would probably have been entertained by seeing a position player on the hill Friday night. With the current circumstances, though, this for me was not one of those fun innings. That said, I have to give Jesus Sucre his due. Pretty impressive that not only was that his first time pitching, but it also was the first time he has ever thrown from a pitching mound. He said they told him to be careful not to go all out and that he tried to keep it to 75-80 percent. He still managed to hit 90 mph on the radar gun. Probably not, but maybe this pitching thing is easier than we all thought.