The roster picture keeps getting clearer and clearer by the day, and Monday morning the Mariners' ML camp bid farewell to three more guys who came to Arizona with big league hopes and dreams. Those names:
Luke French. French started out well, but he got torched in his final two starts, and besides, it probably didn't matter what Luke French did in camp anyway once Michael Pineda made it apparent how much talent he has. Pineda's unofficially officially the #5 starter now, while French will report to Tacoma and stay stretched out as depth. We will see him again at some point, so this is only temporary bad news for all you huge Luke French fans out there.
Chris Gimenez. Gimenez has a neat collection of defensive abilities, in that he is able to keep from embarrassing himself in an unusual assortment of places, but he also isn't much of a hitter, and my goodness would it be nice for this bench to have a hitter.
Josh Bard. Josh Bard and Chris Gimenez each went 6-29 with five walks and no homers this camp, so it's only sensible that the same thing happens to them both.
Along with making these moves, the Mariners also purchased the contracts of Chris Ray and Jamey Wright, adding them to the bullpen and maxing out the 40-man roster. So only a few questions remain:
(1) Will the final bench spot go to Josh Wilson, Luis Rodriguez, or a last-minute trade or waiver acquisition?
(2) Will the final bullpen spot go to Cesar Jimenez, Tom Wilhelmsen, or a last-minute trade or waiver acquisition?
(3) Assuming Mauricio Robles lands on the 60-day DL, who's leaving the 40-man roster to make room for Adam Kennedy and Ryan Langerhans?
We'll know everything within just a few days. Everything.