Seattle Mariners Promote Chris Taylor, Joe Beimel

After suffering a savage four game sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros, it was evident that something (or some things) needed to change for the Seattle Mariners. There were players in the majors who needed to be in the minors, and players in the minors who needed to be in the majors. Shortly after the game there was this:

This is still unconfirmed, but it seems like as solid a bet as any to happen. Joe Beimel is the Mariners’ top lefty relief option right now, and Chris Taylor has been playing excellent ball since returning from the DL. Add in that he was pulled from the Rainiers game today in the sixth inning and it seems like a done deal.

Over 88 trips to the plate with Tacoma, Taylor is hitting .321/.386/.487. He’s got two home runs and is playing stellar defense at short. Coupled with Brad Miller‘s throwing problems of late, it appears that Taylor will be coming up to start at short. Miller will find DH at bats and still play some short, but that’s a big maybe.

The team has long been hesitant to roster both Miller and Taylor at the same time, and perhaps they’re not planning on doing that now. Miller could be sent to Tacoma, as he’s got options remaining. But he’s still been an alright player on the year, as his range and bat have kept him from being the zero that he can feel like on his worst days.

Beimel will be coming to town to take over for Tyler Olson, who walked everyone and their neighbor during his first taste of big league action. Lucas Luetge is on the 40-man, but his recent big league stint was too… recent. So it’ll be Beimel. Which will create a bit of a mess, most likely.

Beimel’s not on the 40-man, having signed a MiLB deal in April. If he’s to join the M’s, someone’s either going to have to lost their 40-man spot or go on the 60-day DL. That could be Edgar Olmos, who’s been dealing with a shoulder injury for quite some time. But if he’s not headed to the 60, someone’s losing their spot. Maybe Luetge, even. Who knows.

For what it’s worth, Beimel’s thrown 3.2 innings this year for Tacoma. He’s allowed no runs while striking out five. Sounds good. Clearly this bullpen needs some fresh faces, even if Beimel’s is a face we’ve seen plenty of.

These changes project to be good changes, though it’s not clear yet who’s going to leave the big team in order to facilitate them. If I had my druthers it’d be Olson and Taijuan Walker, with the M’s using their off day next Thursday to skip his spot in the rotation. That’d also give him a chance to start in Tacoma, where he can hopefully calm down and start to get over whatever’s been making him suck so bad.

We’ll have to be patient – which clearly I’m not doing, seeing as I’m writing this now and not later – but ultimately these sound like good changes. The Mariners just lost four games in a row. All they need are good changes, and more Nelson Cruz home runs.

UPDATE: Tyler Olson and Yoervis Medina have been optioned to Tacoma, per Dutton. Seattle did the right thing here, as Medina’s ERA has absolutely not made up for his wildness. We’ll see if more moves are coming, or if the team’s going to go with a short bullpen for a little while.

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