Jack Cust Released

It appears the Mariners aren’t going to find a taker for Cust, not that anyone thought they would, and he has been released by the organization. This is a tough pill for me to swallow simply because while everyone else sucked it up on the offense Cust was consistent. His biggest crime was the fact he didn’t hit home runs.

Cust started off slow but picked it up pretty viciously in May. He got on base, he started being able to show a little power.  But, it just seemed like he did something to get into Eric Wedge’s dog house and he never really got out of it.

It also didn’t help that Adam Kennedy had a hot a bat in the early going and cut into Custs playing time and continued to do so long after his usefulness wore out.

Cust struck out a lot and even grounded into some inopportune double plays, doing so he did himself no favors. But, he was still a decent player during his time here and it’s too bad that he won’t be remembered better.

That doesn’t mean this isn’t what needed to be done. He’s not any better than Carp -who also adds some defensive value- and releasing him doesn’t hurt the team. It actually may even help them out by adding some roster flexibility and potentially an individual who could add defensive value in the field.

Best of luck to Cust. I’m sure we’ll get to hear the ever worn out “Why do they always get better” all over again when he goes all Casey Kotchman for another team. But, until then Best of luck Mr. Cust.