Greg Halman Returned To Tacoma

Update: according to Ryan Divish, Trayvon Robinson is getting the call. It might seem hasty, but Robinson does have 100+ games of triple-A experience under his belt, and he's more ready than Halman is. While his playing time, I'd expect, will be limited, Zduriencik wants to give Guti a push, and one way to give him a push is to let a rookie eat into his action. Robinson won't just sit on the bench.

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Once upon a time, Greg Halman got off to a strong start. I don't mean in 2010. In 2010, Greg Halman went 4-for-29. But in 2011, Halman came up soon after recovering from an injury and collected 11 hits in his first 25 at bats. He was spraying line drives, he knocked a home run, and with Franklin Gutierrez struggling so bad, there were some calls to see Halman get more playing time.

Since Halman's 11th hit, he has batted 64 times in a month and a half. To show for those 64 plate appearances, he has nine hits, a homer, a walk, and 26 strikeouts. He whiffed three times yesterday despite starting against a lefty, and he's by and large just looked out of sorts for some time. So today, the Mariners have announced that they're demoting Halman back to Tacoma.

I don't think the Mariners really wanted to have Halman up that much in the first place. But they needed someone who could cover center with Gutierrez's uncertainty, and for a few reasons neither Ryan Langerhans nor Michael Saunders worked. So Halman stuck around for two months. The team just traded for Casper Wells, though, and Wells can do the job in the middle, so Halman's no longer needed. He can go back to the minors and play more regularly as he tries to fix the things he currently does wrong.

Who's coming up to take Halman's place? The team hasn't said yet. There are tons of possibilities, since the Mariners have 39 players on their 40-man roster. Wily Mo Pena, for example, could be the guy. But I think it's more likely that they select a roster player, and I think it's more likely that they select an outfielder, so then we're looking at Mike Wilson, Carlos Peguero or Trayvon Robinson. And of those three, Robinson's the best bet. He's had a ton of success in triple-A, and as a versatile switch-hitter, he'd give Wedge the most options.

I don't know who the Mariners will call up, but if it's Robinson, I won't be surprised. If it's Pena, I won't be surprised, either. In terms of excitement, it's kind of win/win.