Why are these guys smiling? Well, two of them got free rides to first and the other hit an opposite field bomb (doesn't he always do this once a series) to help propel the Rangers to a 6-4 win.

Brandon Morrow was well Brandon Morrow. There were moments he would look great and others where he simply couldn't throw one in the zone even if it was worth $10,000,000 per strike. He goes 5 innings, gives up four runs, walks four guys, doesen't strikeout a batter and gives up two home runs. He now drops to 0-4 on the season and the team is 1-5 in his starts.

The worst of it came in the third inning when Morrow got two quick outs and then walked Omar Vizquel and Ian Kinsler and then served up the opposite-field homer to Michael Young.

"After I walked Vizquel, I just lost it against Kinsler," Morrow said.

It's something we've seen before, and it wasn't lost on manager Don Wakamatsu.

"We've seen it in different starts this year where he has a tendency to lose it for a little bit and we're trying to figure out what causes that," Wakamatsu said.

Morrow doesn't quite have an explanation or an immediate cure for it, but does have an idea.

"You have to slow it down for a second and get back to what you were doing when you were throwing strikes," Morrow said.

But apparently that easier said than done.

“The game plan was to get at him early," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Morrow "We know what type of fastball he has and we are a fastball-hitting team and when he threw something in the zone, we tried to get on him.”

Realistically, the Mariners were still within striking distance at 4-2, but the absolute crush job of a two-run homer by Nelson Cruz - a 2009 home run derby participant - into the left field upper deck made things slightly more difficult.;

Seattle had chances in the late innings but couldn't capitalize, but Wakamatsu was concerned with the early innings.

"The big thing for me was we had Feldman with 24 pitches in the first inning and we allowed him to go 6 2/3 innings," Wakamatsu said. "Our strength is to put pressure on the opposing pitcher and get to their bullpen like anybody else."

Wakamatsu was happy with the 11 hits, but the Mariners didn't get the big hit, and they simply can't wait till late in games for the one big hit to rally them. It needs to be a progression, throughout the game. They get two early runs on Feldman but don't knock him out of the game. Basically, they are trying to score runs with a sure out every third inning, since Ronny Cedeno is barely hitting -- one hit tonight.

RANGERS NOTES:
• Texas has now won 8 of 10 and 11 of 16…are 18-6 vs. AL West (21-22 vs. rest of AL)… remain a half game ahead of the L.A. Angels for the AL West lead.
• Scott Feldman pitched his 3rd consecutive quality start (10 in last 13)…lasted 6.2 innings and has now thrown 6 innings or more in 12 of last 13 starts…at 8-2, his .800 winning pct. ranks 4th in AL…despite allowing 7 hits, opponents are batting just .222 (72x325) against Feldman, 3rd-lowest mark among AL starters.
• Hank Blalock knocked in the 1st Texas run of the night with a 435 ft solo home run in the 2nd… has hit safely in 5 straight games (.429/9x21) and is batting .400 (14x35) with 4 HR, 2 doubles, and 8 RBI in last 9 games, raising his average from .237 to .260.
• Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 7 games with a 3-run HR in the 3rd… has hit safely in 12 of last 14 (.360/18x50)…later added a single, finishing 2x5 with a HR and 3 RBI…3rd in the AL with 34 multi-hit games…a career .455 hitter against the Mariners (15x33).
• Nelson Cruz was named to the All Star team on Friday and followed with a 2x3 performance including a 2-run home run in the 8th.

MARINERS NOTES:
• Despite out-hitting the Rangers 11-9 as well as scoring 2 late-inning runs, the Mariners fell to the division-leading Rangers, moving to 4.5 games out of first place.
• Brandon Morrow allowed 4 runs in 5 innings of work, all of the runs coming as a result of the long ball…in his last 2 starts, all 7 runs have come via the home run, including 4 consecutive solo shots and one 3-run HR by Michael Young…Morrow, who is averaging 7.2 strikeouts per 9 innings (45 K, 46.0) failed to record a strikeout in a start for the first time in his career. Kept his pitch count low, tossing 74 pitches in 5.0 IP.
• Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 515th career double, passing Edgar Martinez for most career doubles, tying Joe Cronin for 38th on the all-time list…also had his 12th multi-hit game on the season (last: July 1 @NYY), finishing 3x4 with a double and 2 runs scored.
• After hitting the go-ahead home run in previous night’s game, Franklin Gutierrez doubled in his first AB, scoring Ken Griffey Jr. from 1st base… also extended his career-high hitting streak to a career-high 13 games (.462/24x52)…has hit safely in 21 of his last 23 games, batting .389 (35x90) with 7 HR and 18 RBI…raised his batting average from .251 to .297 during the 23 game stretch.
• Ichiro extended hitting streak to 9 games with a lead-off single in the 1st …later added a double (18) and a stolen base (19)…now averaging a multi-hit game for every other game played (39 multi-hit games in 78 games).
• Kenji Johjima caught Nelson Cruz attempting to steal 2nd base in the 2nd inning…has now thrown out 5 of his last 9 runners and 8 of last 17…despite spending time on the DL and starting only 32 games, Johjima is tied for 4th in AL with 13 CCS…Johjima later added a 2-out, RBI double in the 8th to score Ken Griffey Jr.
• Russell Branyan snapped a 3 game hitless streak with an RBI double in the 1st, scoring Ichiro on the play…was his longest streak of games without a hit this season.
• Chris Shelton had his first career AB as a Mariner when he pinch hit for Chris Woodward in the 8th, resulting in a 5-3 PO to end the inning.

Brandon Morrow's transitions from reliever to starter to reliever to starter - et al - have been well documented.

For all that, he's making his sixth start of 2009 tonight, and the 11th start of his big-league career.

On the trade:
“I wish Yuni the best, obviously. I think we talked about this back in November, the ability for Jack to be able to acquire depth in our minor league system as we move forward is paramount. This trade is part of that. One guy is real close and adds some long-term value.”

On Yuni making progress.
“I think you saw signs of it. I don’t know about long-term. There were certain games I thought he played outstanding out there and made some great strides. But the inconsistency is what we saw more than anything.”

Was it a challenge working with him?
“No. He’s an awfully nice kid and regardless of the perception, we had a good relationship. This isn’t as much about Yuni as it is about we are trying to do as an organization and the direction we are going. This allows us to=2 0add arms and one of those arms is not that far away. We went through a lot of injuries this year and need depth.”

Can Yuni get to a higher level as a player?
“I think he has a better understanding after going through this year and what he needs to do to be a consistent play. He is talented.”

On perception of giving up starter for two unknown pitchers.
“We have discussed it enough, starting in spring training, what our philosophy is and we’re going to do whatever is possible to help us win h ere. We will continue to give guys an opportunity and we’re giving Ronny Cedeño an opportunity right now. What allowed us to do this trade is the belief system that Ronny gives us a better defensive shortstop right now. There are a lot of dynamics to the trade and that is definitely one of them.”

Can you afford to have Cedeño hitting the way he is and in the line-up every day?
“Ronny has hit in the past and on this last road trip he hit a couple of big home runs for us. We know the potential is there offensively and the rest is just to give him the at-bats he needs to get to that point. We can’t afford to have him hitting what he is now, but he has shown signs of doing some damage.”

Will Cedeno be able to relax perhaps a little now that he's the starter?
“I think it’s similar to Russell Branyan. You have heard Russell speak about it since day one of spring training that he never really had an opportunity to be a starter. Ronny came into spring training competing for a job and now it’s his and I would like to think he feels a lot more comfortable knowing that he has a supporting case around him.”

On Lopez at third
“Not as much as we were before. No. we are still going to have him take ground balls over there but I don’t foresee it.”

Are you disappointed that Yuni didn’t work out here?
“We try to create an environment that allows people to succeed. Again, I think he has a greater understanding and sometimes a player goes to another organization with the benefits of what they just went through. That’s what I hope we hope we’ve done for him.”

How much did Yuni's inability to get the direction they wanted from him influence the decision to trade him.
“I don't want to talk negative about any player. It just got to point where we were really happy with what Ronny was doing out there. We're very happy with his defense. We're hoping that (offense) comes around a little bit. It was just time to move on.

We got a couple nice arms. When you have a chance to get someone's Minor League Payer of the Year I think you have to weigh everything in balance. At this moment in time, we think that was the right thing to do.

How quick did this trade come about?
We always have these discussions. You have these names that are discussed. In this particular case, probably the last 48 hours it came to a head.

I think when you say you get two arms with it, that's nice. I think it goes back to Ronny playing so good defensively right now. I think when Yuni came back here, the role would have been a little bit undefined.''

Acquiring talent is your first priority. Sometimes it's in the way of arms and other times it may be a position player. At the end of the day, everybody needs arms never have enough arm. That wasn't necessary a priority. We exchanged names that because the name we were intrigued with.

We said from day one we wanted to accumulate talent.

Character is preached with the M's, did Cortes' recent legal troubles come into consideration?
“He stubbed his toe a couple times. I had a discussion with him today and told him that's not acceptable. But everything we know about him and all the discussions we've had, and we've dug in to a reasonable deep level, is he's a good kid. He had an issue here. It's behind him. He's aware of his mistake. It's behind him and here we go.''

So it being his third organization doesn't raise a red flag?
Look who he was traded for in the past. Tyler Lundstrum is a first round pick. Sometime you have players who are desirable for other clubs. It was probably the case there and it's certainly the case here.

On Dan Cortes and Derrick Saito
“I don't want to build expectations but he's got a power curveball and a power arm. He's 6-6, 220. so it's not too back. The left-hander is not a big guy but he's real crafty. His strikeouts rate back in college he averages 14 strikeouts per nine innings So we thin he has a chance to be a big league pitchers as well.

Does talent sometimes trump minor character questions?
“Sometimes you take a step back in terms of a certain player's behavior. Then you move forward. I've made mistakes just like all of us have. You learn from them. At the end of the day, we have a good kid here who has talent. He's 22-years old and he's pitching in double-a. That's not bad.

“It they (Royals) were thinking of that (moving to AAA), then he's probably pretty close. Our guys will get a chance to look at him. When you have a player come in you want him to get his feet on the ground, have that comfort level for him. If he progress es like we hope then we'll certainly move him as well.''

The state of the left side of the infield?
“You know, it's the land of opportunity. Chris (Woodward) is an experienced big-league player He's got seven years behind him. Ronny's is getting a chance to play every day now. Langerhans has come in and contributed just about every game he has played in. You ask played to step up and you hope they do. In this case, you hope for that as well.

You always keep ear open. Always try to improve your ballclub. Sometimes you go with what you have. I don't think a point in time that I'm' not going to try not to pursue talent.

Would you like to get (Josh) Fields, Phillippe Aumont, Cortes on the same team to push each other?
“Yeah, I think every player has his own timetable. So when you look at talent, there more to it than that. One kid is 22, the other is 22, the other is 20. So some have more experience than others. It's nice to think of that concept of the three pushing each other but in the same sense talent will dictate when you make a move.

As the media entered the Mariners clubhouse, there was Yuniesky Betancourt still boxing up his personal belongings and packing up his gear. Noticeably missing was his usual look of amusement - be it a smile or smirk.

For all of the criticism I've leveled at him on the field, he's always been extremely personable to me. Even last night at the Rainiers game, he greeted me with a handshake and was friendly when talking to me.

He was also gracious enough to speak with the media with the help of Fernando Alcala. During the interview, he seemed a little sad and even got a little choked up. About the only time he smiled was when Felix Hernandez walked by and screamed "Yuuuuuunnnniii!!! I love you, I'm going to miss you. I'm going to throw you a fastball!!"

Felix did the same thing later, this time saying, "first pitch - curveball, second pitch - change-up, third pitch -- nothing.

Yuni has never been the best quotes, even with an interpreter, but here's the transcript.

Was he surprised he was traded?
Once I got taken out of the line-up yesterday, I thought something was going to happen.

Why do you think it happened?
It's just part of the game. Trades happen. If it was going to happen then it’s suppose to happen.

On his level of disappointment?
I understand it’s part of the game. But it is sad to leave the city that he’s been in four years, my teammates, the front office executives, it is sad to leave all the people here in Seattle.

Who would he miss most?
I’m going to miss everybody, I’m going to miss Lopez, Felix, Beltre and Silva cause the guys helped a lot with the language barrier and helping become a big league player.

Is he looking it as a new start?
It’s part of life. You have ups and downs, it is a new beginning have to keep your head up high and keep working.

Did he feel like he was making progress on what Wak wanted?
I felt I made a few strides now I’m going to Kansas City and see what they expect from him and go from there.

On his schedule with the Royals
I’m going to play in AA from Sunday until Wednesday and then I’m going to be back working out with the team on Thursday.

Did he expect to be here long-term?
When I signed the deal, I did expect to be here long term. I knew trades were part of the game, but I did expect to be here.

When did he find out?
I didn’t know officially last night, but I knew something was up when I was pulled from lineup a few minutes before the game.

I want to thank the Mariners for giving me four years and letting me show my talents at the major league level.

What went wrong in his time here?
It’s something you just work hard and see if things work hard, and in this case it didn’t work out here. But you just keep working hard.

Looking back could you have improved more?
I’m just going to focus on giving a 100 percent with my team. That’s all I can do.

How close did he come to reaching his potential?
The main thing I just try to give 100 percent and keep working hard. In terms of potential, I just wanted to do the best I can.

On playing second base for the Royals?
I don’t know what’s going to happen where I’m going.

Did he even think was a possibility a week ago?
You always know it’s a possibility. But a week I ago was injured and just focused on getting healthy.

The Royals are in Boston and Yuni is presumably on his way there as well, longtime Royals beat writer Bob Dutton of the Kansas City has this story in which some of Betancourt's former Mariners teammates now on the Royals - and there are plenty of them - seem happy about the deal.

But Royals fans? Well not so much. If you are looking for bitterness, anger, frustration, stunning disbelief and vitriol check out some of these links.

I went over to KC Star columnist Joe Posnanski's personal blog --- a must read. But it seems to have crashed, perhaps for the amount of words he's going to crank out demolishing this trade. I wait for it in anticipation.

The Star's fan blog Upon Further Review has this post, with this passage.

This is a head-scratcher. I don't understand -- or approve of -- this trade on any level. To me, this seems like another example of the Royals dealing for a player because of what they think he can be, rather than recognizing what he actually is

.

Over at Royals Review, the comment section of their post, which is growing quickly, is quite humorous to read. I love this comment.

Seriously, this is a bad dream. I’m going to wake up. I’m going to wake up. I’m going to wake up.

Royals Authority has this post

With this passage:

Can't hit, can't run, doesn't take a walk, can't play defense... Holy crap.

and this passage:

As much as I didn't like the Freel trade, this deal has me irate. How in the world the Royals could commit to a player for so long with such limited skills baffles me to no end. Of course, I say this knowing we're talking about a team that has allowed Tony Pena Jr to stick around for so long. I guess the joke is on me for being a fan and hoping that someday, this regime would understand how to build a better ball club.

And finally Royals Radio etc. has this post.

Check out the title of it.

Jack Zduriencik saved his team a minimum of $5 million Friday and moved shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt in the process - a win-win decision by the Seattle Mariners general manager.

Yuni was no longer part of the future here, although he was under contract through 2011 at a cost of about $10 million.

Yes, the Mariners had to eat a big bite of that in sending Betancourt to Kansas City with between $3-$4 million, but the savings might just motivate ownership to allow Zduriencik to add salary this year.

Make no mistake, this wasn't the only deal in the works. The minor league pitchers the Mariners got? That's nice. But Jack Z. is looking at helping Seattle this season.

Moving Yuni did that in two ways: It got him out of the clubhouse and off the field where he had driven teammates, coaches and manager Don Wakamatsu crazy - and it saved money.

It almost certainly won't be the last deal the team makes this month, or perhaps even this week.

How fed up were the Mariners with Betancourt? It was made clear the team didn't want him at shortstop in 2010, but that was the tip of this Yuni iceberg.

In Baltimore not long ago, I wanted to interview Betancourt, and there was no translator on the road with the team.
I asked Adrian Beltre if he'd translate for me. He said no. I asked Jose Lopez. He said no. Finally, Guillermo Quiroz did the honors.

The point is, Yuni's teammates had had it with him, with the excuses and the lack of focus on team.

After Wakamatsu benched Yuni last month - for not working hard enough before games - the shortstop spent three consecutive days standing alone in the outfield during batting practice.

He didn't take one ground ball. He didn't take one swing.

He lost those teammates who had been in his corner - or tried to be - over the years.

There was a message sent to the Mariners with this trade. Not only did Zduriencik back his manager, he showed the team that it could count on him to take care of problems once players found them unresolveable in the clubhouse.

Yuni's smile and personality will be missed. His game will not be.

Well, it wasn't the Pirates like everyone speculated and I did see a Royals scout at Cheney Stadium the last two days. Perhaps, not the haul or the impact that you expected giving away an every day, but it shows how far Yuni has fallen off in the Mariners eyes. Remember not long ago, there was a proposed trade with Royals sending DH Billy Butler for Betancourt that never happened.

But anyway here's what we have:
Yuniesky Betancourt traded to the Royals in exchange for RHP Danny Cortes & LHP Derrick Saito.

Cortes will report to AA West Tenn in the Southern League and Saito will report to A Clinton in the Midwest League.

Cortes

Saito

"The opportunity presented itself for us to acquire a pair of talented arms and as we move forward we felt this was the right thing to do at this time," Zduriencik said in press release. "We want to thank Yuni for all he has done for the Mariners and wish him the best of luck in Kansas City."

Cortes recently had a minor run in with law in Arkansas.

My new buddy and top Tacoma Rainiers intern Drew Samuelson shot this video and gave me permission to use it.

From the release...

Cortes, 22, is 6-2, 3.12 (20 ER, 57.2 IP) in his last 11 games, 10 GS, dating back to May 7 after beginning the 2009 season 0-4, 5.96 in his first five starts. He was invited to Royals big league camp this spring, and has spent the season pitching for Northwest Arkansas in the AA Texas League, compiling an overall 6-6, 3.92 mark in 16 games, 15 starts. In 80.1 innings pitched, he has allowed 77 hits and struck out 57.

Cortes was the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2008 (the Paul Splittorff Award) and was rated by Baseball America as the Royals top pitching prospect entering the 2009 season. Prior to the 2008 season, Baseball America tabbed him as the second-best prospect in the Royals system, as well as naming him as the owner of the system's Best Fastball and Best Curveball.

The 6-foot-6, 216-pound right-hander is a native of Pomana, Calif. Cortes was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 7th round of the June, 2005 draft after pitching for Garey High School in Pomona, CA. He was traded to the Royals on July 24, 2006.

Saito, 21, is 2-6 with 1 save and a 4.26 ERA (24 ER, 50.2 IP) in 21 games, all in relief, with A Burlington in the Midwest League. He allowed 8 earned runs in his first four games (8.1 IP), but has allowed just 16 ER in the 17 games since (42.1 IP) for a 3.40 ERA. For the year, Saito has struck out 52 in 50.2 IP, while walking just 14. Saito has limited left-handed batters to a .200 (11x55) batting average.

Saito spent his first professional season (2008) with Idaho Falls in the Northwest League, where he was 3-4, 4.36 in 18 games, all in relief.

The 5-foot-9, 155-pound left-hander is a native of Wailuki, Hawaii. Saito was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round of the June, 2008 draft after pitching for Col Poly San Luis Obispo University. As a sophomore, he set a school Division I record by averaging 14.13 strikeouts-per-nine-innings pitched.

Betancourt, 27, was hitting .250 (56-for-224) with 10 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs and 22 RBI with Seattle this season. He is currently on rehabilitation assignment at AAA Tacoma. Betancourt was signed as a non-drafted free agent on Jan. 26, 2005. In 588 games (2005-09) with Seattle, he hit .279 with 123 doubles, 27 home runs and 202 RBI while walking 70 times and striking out 186 times.

UPDATE: I went on the Mitch and the Morning show with Steve Sandmeyer this morning to discuss last night and the Mariners in general, you can listen to it here. My apologies to my boy Ian Furness, whose show I normally frequent on Fridays. I will never cheat on you again, especially since you play the my favorite song as entrance music.

A quick piece of advice before we discuss Yuniesky Betancourt yet again: Never eat Tim's Cascade Jalapeno potato chips after 2 a.m. There is nothing good that can come from it. No matter how delicious they taste.

Ok let's get to talking about Yuni.

Yesterday was definitely interesting for me and I'm sure for Yuniesky Betancourt. I outlined some of it in my Rainiers story for today's paper.

Here's a rundown of the events ...

* Yuni showed up early in Tacoma did some individual work and took part in Rainiers infield, team fundamentals and batting practice -- all with no problems.

* During his pregame meeting with the media, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said Yuni was to start at shortstop and play seven innings.

* 35-40 minutes before the 7 p.m. game Rainiers manager Daren Brown received a phone call from the Mariners higher-ups, saying to pull Betancourt, which leads to several questions that can't be answered. So I was at Cheney trying to figure out why he was pulled and what was going on. From my sources, we were able to find out it didn't hamstring related.

* So then I had Larry, who was up at Safeco, ask Jack Z and the Mariners for a comment on the situation. From Jack Z, we got "no comment" and officially "an organizational decision."

* Basically I'm stuck dugout watching and any time that Yuni retreated to the clubhouse, I would go down and wait at the clubhouse door to see if he was leaving (I really felt like a paparazzi or one of those creepy autograph dealers). On Wednesday, he played five innings and left after the sixth inning. Yuni never left early and I went back and forth from the press box to the clubhouse door about five times.

* After the game, Daren Brown confirmed that Yuni wasn't hurt and he was told by the organization to pull him from the line-up.

* Yuni, despite my constant criticisms, is pretty friendly, immediately shook my hand when I saw him and said hi.

So I talked with him -- without an interpreter -- which can be tough.

And he genuinely did not know why he wasn't playing and didn't seem to understand the possible insinuations that stem from that. When I asked his if he had talked to his agent about a possible move, he seemed genuinely surprised.

Here's what we know ...
* Betancourt is healthy. He told me so. And I actually wonder if playing Yuni at second base isn't just for the Mariners, but as a possible showcase for other teams.

At one point this season, the unhappiness and frustration with Betancourt and his play from the coaching staff was higher than was let on publicly. They may not want to get rid of him immediately, but they have shown they can move on without him.

* Jack Zduriencik's refusal to say anything other than "No comment" may say more than not saying anything at all.

Because the Pirates are in town, does it mean that Betancourt is going to be traded for Freddy Sanchez or Jack Wilson? Not particularly. There are parts that seem like a match, but I don't think it would be a one for one swap. The Pirates may want Greg Halman, they may want a young reliever like Mark Lowe. Remember the possibility of a multi-team deal is real. Jack Z's first trade as a GM was a three-teamer which may be a reason for the delay in anything happening.

Plenty of teams want Sanchez and plenty of teams have contacted the M's about possible deals. One thing I found with Jack Z is that he's honest about what happens but he plays his cards close to the vest. Remember with JJ Putz most of the rumored deals were with the Cardinals and Tigers and then Jack pulled the three-teamer with the Mets and Indians.

* According to Larry, Wakamatsu was genuinely surprised and unaware that Yuni had been scratched from the line-up.

* I will be back at Cheney Stadium again tonight on Yuni-watch again.