By Blaidd Drwg
It has been a bad couple of weeks for former Mariners. The transaction wire is just full of bad news:
June 25th – Washington National – Designated 1B/3B Greg Dobbs for assignment.
June 21st – LA Angels – Requested waivers on OF Raul Ibanez for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release
June 20th – Arizona Diamondbacks – Designated RHP J.J. Putz for assignment.
Raise your hand if you had any idea that Greg Dobbs was still in the majors. JJ Putz, at age 37, suddenly could not get a MLB hitter out, posting a 6.59 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in just 13 innings. I am pretty sure that someone will sign him once he clears waivers since the D’backs are on the hook for the roughly 7 million they owe him for this season. It wouldn’t be a bad risk to take, especially if he suddenly becomes effective again.
I thought Ibanez, despite the good month and a half he had last year, was done and I was confused why the Angles signed him and expected him to be more than a bench guy. I always had a healthy respect for Raul and Dave Schoenfield wrote a nice tribute to him here. If Raul is really done (and I hope he realizes he is done), he should sign a 1 day contract with the M’s, retire and get to throw out the first pitch sometime before the season ends.
FlatbreadGarden 