Mariners possess fully armed and operational Tony Zych

Hello, how is your Tuesday? I hope you have enjoyed some of nature’s bounty, felt the warmth of the sun on your brow, the wind on your cheek, and perhaps spent time, even if just a moment, in stillness.

The Mariners have done none of these things. Jerry Dipoto’s Transaction Gerbals have been kept ceaselessly in their dank, dark, hole; forever spinning, spinning, spinning. Already we’ve had one roster move today, and apparently someone forgot to FILE THE PAPERWORK CORRECTLY because now we have another one:

Mariners recall RHP Tony Zych from rehab assignment and activate him from 60-day DL. INF/OF Stefen Romero optioned to AAA Tacoma.

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) August 23, 2016

Zych struggled with his command in only 12 IP in 2016, but has flashed the stuff necessary to devastate hitters, running a 30+ K% in small samples the past two years. Remember Satan's Frisbee?

Coupled that devilry with a 94-97 MPH fastball, and the Mariners just added another big, power right-handed arm. With the collection of Zych, Steve Cishek, Arquimedes Caminero, and Edwin Diaz the Mariners now have perhaps one of  baseball's most terrifying collection of right-handed relievers.

What does it mean for first base? Well it means that tonight Adam Lind is starting against CC Sabathia. Adam Lind has been very bad against everyone in 2016, and left-handers for his entire career. While clearly not an ideal situation the roster expansion just a little over a week away should allow the current roster crunch to relax. For now, the team has chosen to prioritize late inning leads over the ability to maximize 1B utility. Ideally you'd have both. The 2016 Mariners are many things, but ideal is not one of them.

gobiz