Darrin Beene is entering his seventh year at The News Tribune, having covered the Tacoma Rainiers in 2005 and Major League Baseball for two years before that. Beene, a former assistant sports editor at The News Tribune, also worked for the Los Angeles Daily News and Los Angeles Times. He lives in the South Sound with his wife and two children.
This blog is about baseball in general but specifically the Seattle Mariners and the Mariners’ Triple-A team, the Tacoma Rainiers. It will contain news, analysis, answers to your questions and audio reports.
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It's official. The Mariners have acquired switch-hitting infielder Jose Vidro and cash considerations from the Washington Nationals in exchange for right-handed reliever Emiliano Fruto and outfielder Chris Snelling.
“Jose is a professional hitter,” Mariners GM Bill Bavasi said in a press release issued by the team. “We feel we can add him to our batting order anywhere from the second- to the sixth-spot and he will add production to our line-up. With the addition of Vidro and Jose Guillen to our returning players, I think we are a much stronger offensive team.”
Vidro, 32, is a career .301 hitter in 10 big league seasons with 304 doubles, 12 triples, 115 home runs and 550 RBI in 1,186 career games. In his career, Jose has nearly identical numbers from both sides of the plate: As a right-handed batter, he has hit .301, with an on-base percentage of .362 and a slugging percentage of .458; as a left-handed batter, his line is a .301 average, with a .363 OBP while slugging .459.
“I’m excited to add his bat to our line-up,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “One of the problems we had last season was that we didn’t keep enough innings going. Adding a hitter like Jose, who makes contact and hits with runners on base, will help our offense.”
Vidro, a three-time All-Star, hit .289 with 26 doubles in 126 games last season. He posted a .323 average (43x133) vs. left-handed pitching.
Jose, who is signed to a contract that covers the 2007 and 2008 seasons, had spent his entire pro career with the Montreal/Washington franchise. He made his ML debut with Montreal in 1997.
Fruto was 2-2, 5.50 in 23 games with Seattle last season. He allowed 34 hits and 34 walks in 36.0 innings pitched.
Snelling hit .250 (24x96) with 6 doubles and 3 home runs in 36 games with Seattle in 2006. In 59 combined career games in the 2002, 2005 and 2006 seasons, Snelling is a career .237 hitter with 8 doubles and 5 homers.
