The Seattle Mariners made news yesterday I trading Ichiro to the New York Yankees. After their game with the Yankees, the Mariners sent first baseman Justin Smoak to AAA Tacoma.
Mike Carp was called up in the corresponding transaction to replace him.
Smoak was hitless in last night’s game, and was mired inand 0 for 19 slump. He was batting .189 on the season. Smoak was a centerpiece in the dealthat sent Cliff Lee to the Rangers in 2010.
“This is for him. This is what we feel like is the right thing to do for him right now,” said, Mariners manager Eric Wedge. “If you watch his batting practice, it’s been very consistent both from the right side and the left side,” Wedge said of Smoak. “That’s it, that’s what we need to see. … The feel and the consistency, with that feel that you can get there and hold onto it — give yourself a chance with each (at-bat) — and that’s what he’s been struggling with.” Seattle PI
