Mariners release first basemen Richie Sexson

[tomkent53]

OAKLAND -- Richie Sexson got the news everybody, including Sexson, expected late Wednesday night when Seattle Mariners general manager Lee Pelekoudas and manager Jim Riggleman told him he was being released.

Sexson, 33 and in the last year of a contract that brings him $15.5 million this season, was hitting .218 with 11 homers and 30 RBIs at the time of his departure.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Riggleman had said he was planning on playing Sexson at first base in the series finale against the A's in Oakland Thursday, then a day or two in Kansas City.

But watching the negative vibes coming from Sexson as he was passed over for Wednesday's start pulled the trigger for Riggleman.

"You could see his dissatisfaction," Riggleman said, "and I thought to myself, 'You know what, we don't need this.' "

Pelekoudas said that the plan had been for Sexson to get lots of playing time under Riggleman to see if his production improved after the departure of fired manager John McLaren on June 19.

"We gave Richie lots of rope to play with," Pelekoudas said. "There just wasn't enough of an improvement for us."

So Sexson, a Vancouver, Wash., product who as recently as 2006 hit 34 home runs and drove in 107 runs for the Mariners, is off the roster and, as of Monday, when the waivers on Sexson expire, he will be free to sign with another team.
And the Mariners believe he will land elsewhere.

"Both Lee and I feel that he has a lot of baseball left in him," Riggleman said of Sexson. "But whatever caused the slide from 2006 to 2007 and to what's happened this year in '08, we have not been able to find the key."

Sexson's locker was cleared out when his teammates began arriving early Thursday for the series finale with the A's.

And there were more moves. Left-handed starter Erik Bedard was put on the disabled list. Two Tacoma players, pitcher Jared Wells and infielder Tug Hulett, were elevated from Triple-A for the short term.

One could return as early as Friday, when Felix Hernandez will come off the disabled list to start in Kansas City. The Mariners have to make another move to get Hernandez back on the roster.

For the moment, Riggleman said, Miguel Cairo and Jose Vidro will get most of the playing time at first base, although he wouldn't rule out catcher Kenji Johjima getting more playing time even as he loses playing time behind the plate to rookie Jeff Clement.
On Thursday, Cairo was given the start.

And, in a late lineup switch, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who'd been written into the early lineup as the designated hitter, was given the start off with Vidro stepping in as the DH.

John Hickey, Seattle P-I
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseba..._sexson11.html

[deluxbucs]

not exactly sure how the baseball salaries work out but if the twins could get him for really cheap I wouldnt be against it

[CrisafiIsGay]

CRAP! Now the Mariners won't meet their strikeout quota

[tomkent53]

Originally Posted by deluxbucs not exactly sure how the baseball salaries work out but if the twins could get him for really cheap I wouldnt be against it

Twins might wanna hold off on that, considering past history. Remember Bret Boone? He played way worse in Minnesota during his short stint.

[deluxbucs]

yeah but if he could be had for say 1 mill for the rest of the year as a back at 1st base and emergency Dh it might be worth a shot

[Chubz]

not surprised at all. The Ms were mulling this a few weeks ago

[Uncle Ben]

I'm glad Milwaukee got rid of him when they did. He has gone down hill in recent years.

[KobeBryant_24]

Hmm, wonder if the Bronx Bombers will sign him as a DH or something..

[P J Shaker]

Sexson will find a place somewhere...he has the potential to be what he used to be, i just think it was the place he was in mostly...maybee a team will take a chance on him like the astros did with tejada

[tomkent53]

Toronto perhaps? God knows they need some power hitters.

[tomkent53]

Update: Yankees GM has said that they are interested in Sexson.

[cruzg24]

Maybe its possible Sexson was juicing...... his productivity did start to decline after mandatory testing.

[P J Shaker]

Originally Posted by tomkent53 Update: Yankees GM has said that they are interested in Sexson.

yea, who dont they have interest in

[InfinitePulse]

I'm just surprised that it took them that long to do it...

[tomkent53]

Apparently Richie Sexson isn't the only Least Valuable Player in baseball. I was listening to Jason Smith last night on ESPN radio. He made a case for Sexson for AL's "LVP", and he also mentioned the NL's LVP: Andruw Jones. He's batting .164 at the All Star break. Smith also mentioned Sexson has 31 RBI's through the break. Jones has 10. If Sexson doesn't play the entire second half, and Jones continues his pace through the second half as well, Jones will have less RBI's than Sexson.