Huard: Mariners may face even tougher roster decisions soon

The Mariners’ uninspiring start to the 2017 season has had consequences, and dropping three games to the A’s before Sunday’s blowout win didn’t help. As 710 ESPN Seattle’s Shannon Drayer wrote, center fielder Leonys Martin was the first casualty of Seattle’s slow start to a season with lofty postseason expectations.

Martin was designated for assignment Sunday morning, with the Mariners recalling hot-hitting first baseman Dan Vogelbach. Martin’s struggles from the end of last season continued through his first 58 at-bats in 2017, as he hit .111 with no home runs or RBIs. Any team that claims Martin off waivers must pay his $4.85 million salary. If the 29-year-old passes through waivers, Seattle can send him to the minors and potentially call him up later in the season.

Because of outfielder Guillermo Heredia’s promising play in a part-time role and Vogelbach’s strong start in Triple-A, 710 ESPN Seattle hosts Brock Huard and Mike Salk said DFA’ing Martin made sense, even if it was still relatively shocking.

Huard said that the message from general manager Jerry Dipoto is clear and could be a sign of major moves to come.

“Jerry Dipoto is not his predecessors. Jerry Dipoto is not in a feel-good year of feel-good stories off the field and what you’ve done in the past,” Huard said. “This is what you have to do this year because, ultimately, of the moves Jerry Dipoto has to make with this roster in the months ahead or in the years ahead. That Felix, and Cano and Cruz and their core guys are not in a window of being here for the next five years. They’re not. And in some ways, he may have to start making even tougher decisions come June or July if they underperform. So  this is a very clear first step to Jerry Dipoto saying to that team and to all of us: ‘This is not yesteryear’s Mariners.’”

Watch the clip above for more of the conversation.

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