Josh Kinney Up, Erasmo Ramirez Down, Adam Moore Very Down

I was away last night for personal reasons. "Personal reasons" always sounds so severe, like something must be horribly wrong, but, no! I was away last night for awesome personal reasons! Personal reasons can be good, bad, or okay! While away, I noticed that the Mariners won late, but I didn't notice that Erasmo Ramirez had been removed from the game with an injury. Erasmo Ramirez had been removed from the game with an injury, and while it wasn't immediately clear what the matter was, reports came out that he was getting an MRI on his elbow. You never like when a pitcher needs an MRI on anything.

The Mariners found a doctor who works Saturday or Sundays and word is back on Ramirez: he's got a "mild" flexor strain, which Eric Wedge has referred to as the best-case scenario. These things are always cause for alarm and without knowing Ramirez's medicals we can't say whether this is a little thing or something that could turn into a major thing, but Wedge is optimistic that Ramirez won't miss too much action. He doesn't need Tommy John surgery right now.

What Ramirez does need is a little rest, so he's been placed on the 15-day DL. Josh Kinney has been called up from Tacoma to take his roster spot. What is a Josh Kinney? Kinney was a member of the bullpen pile last spring, and he's a 33-year-old righty with 58 games of big-league experience. His career ERA is not good, but his career peripherals are much better. He's gotten strikeouts and generated a ton of groundballs while working fastball/slider/curve. With Tacoma this year, Kinney's been effective in relief, with 38 strikeouts and ten unintentional walks. Interestingly, he hasn't generated many grounders, which he's done at every stop before. But he's pitched in just 27 games so the sample is limited.

Basically, Kinney is a reliever who is fine and who makes sense as a fill-in at the moment. What Kinney wasn't was a guy on the 40-man roster, so space on the 40-man roster needed to be made for him. Space was made at the expense of Adam Moore, who was designated for assignment. Moore has obviously had problems with injuries this season, and when he's played, he's posted a .619 OPS in triple-A. He's 28 years old. Moore could end up remaining with the organization, or he could get claimed and go elsewhere, and with Jesus Montero, John Jaso, Mike Zunino, and others, whatever happens probably isn't going to matter very much. For us and the Mariners. It will matter very very much for Adam Moore. I have no reason not to say best wishes to him, whether he stays with the Mariners or finds a team that likes him more.