The Seattle Mariners have been dealing with some injuries and offensive losses and that makes signing Kendrys Morales an option, while names like Dan Uggla, Chase Headley or Rickie Weeks could be in the mix for Nick Franklin after Corey Hart was injured and now the DH will be out for up to six weeks and that means the Mariners may have to scramble for a trade to hold their offense steady this summer.
Hart was placed on the DL and according to ESPN.com he could miss six weeks with the injury after the MRI revealed a bad strain in his hammy. The report says that the Mariners called up Nick Franklin, who had been hot in triple A and now they could look at a trade to help with the DH position. Many have called on the team to sign back Kendrys Morales, but so far that has not happened, while a trade for Dan Uggla could end up doing more harm than good the way he has played.
The Mariners have been getting calls from the local media and fans to sign back Morales, who has been on the market all this time. The team needs some more power on offense if they have any hope for making the playoffs and getting Morales could be the start of that. The team spent big on Robinson Cano this offseason and brought in Corey Hart as an offensive weapon after he was injured last season and he had been playing fairly well before the hamstring issue. Hart had surgery on both knees but looked fine in the outfield and he brought some much needed power to the lineup as well.
The Mariners now may have to get a bit desperate to hang on into the summer, as Logan Morison is their other main DH option, built he is dealing with a hamstring as well. Morrison will be back soon, but he still has rehab in the minors to go through and even then he may not be fully ready to get back into the lineup every day. Morales was the home run leader for the team last season and he remains on the free agent market due to the qualifying offer given to him by the M's. The team could try and sign him, but Morales doesn't seem like he wants to come back and he may wait until June so that the draft pick compensation goes away and then he can sign wherever he wants to.
According to the Seattle Times, the Tacoma Rainers staff had been a little concerned, as Franklin was pulled from a game the other night due to those issues and that came after a booted ball and two errors in one game. A bad stretch doesn't mean Franklin is on his way out of town, but one reason he could be frustrated is the fact that he is stuck in the minors right now and is tearing it up stats wise. Granted, when Franklin was up for a few games earlier in the season he had just two hits in 16 at-bats, but right now anything looks better than Miller.
