Roster moves signal must win for M’s tonight

Yesterday, the Mariners made a major statement by optioning Jesus Montero to AAA. Montero has struggled mightily behind the plate this season, and the team seems to have finally given up on him as a backstop. Catcher Jesus Sucre replaced Montero on the 25-man roster.

Yes no more catching! Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

However, the Mariners still needed to make a corresponding 40-man roster move, since Sucre isn’t on the 40-man and needs to be as a member of the big league club. As a result, Dave Cameron of USS Mariner, Fangraph and ESPN Insider has reported  on Twitter that Robert Andino will be DFA’d to make room for Sucre. Cameron believes that 40-man roster member Carlos Truinfel will replace Andino in Seattle.

However, Geoff Baker is refuting Cameron’s claim, saying he believes the Mariners will still DFA a minor leaguer and Andino will remain with the team, as he said yesterday when the Montero news broke. Cameron asserts that he has had “multiple sources confirm” that Andino is in fact on waivers.

Most recently, Shannon Drayer dropped a big development on Twitter, tweeting that Brad Miller is heading to Tacoma from Jackson, likely indicating a middle infield move in between the AAA and MLB clubs. This is big, because Drayer is an insider. Baker, a fellow insider, had refuted the Andino news to this point and contradicted an outsider in Cameron.

Despite all of these rumors, one thing remains clear for the Mariners: they need to end their losing streak. They return to the friendly confines of Safeco Field tonight and have the man born to pitch there on the hill with Joe Saunders making the start. They face a red hot Rangers team with a pitcher in Justin Grimm on the hill who has lost three of four starts. They appear to be rid of roster problems like catching Montero and bad-hitting Andino. It’s time to get off the schneid and save the season by snapping the streak.