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Thursday, July 15, 2004
Olerud out, Bucky in
Jacobsen, Sherrill getting called up as M's continue roster overhaul
First baseman John Olerud will be moved off the roster by the Seattle Mariners today, sources close to the club acknowledged yesterday.
The Mariners come back from the three-day All-Star break to start the second half of the season against the Cleveland Indians at Safeco Field.
First baseman Bucky Jacobsen will join the team tonight to take Olerud's place on the roster. Also joining the club tonight will be left-handed pitcher George Sherrill. Jacobsen and Sherrill took part in the Class AAA All-Star Game last night in Pawtucket, R.I.
Sherrill will take the roster spot vacated by Matt Thornton. The left-handed starter was sent back to Tacoma on Monday as the team took three days off for the major league All-Star Game in Houston.
Olerud, a Puget Sound-area native who turned down a trade to the San Francisco Giants -- the Mariners would have gotten first baseman J.T. Snow in a salary swap -- less than two weeks ago, has a no-trade clause in his contract. While Olerud said he would be willing to waive it for the right circumstances, Mariners' general manager Bill Bavasi has not been able to find a deal to make that work.
Barring a last-minute deal, Olerud will be released or designated for assignment with the Mariners owing him the remainder of the $7.7 million on his contract. He's the latest in a series of players to fall victim to the Mariners' 32-54 record. Shortstop Rich Aurilia was let go Saturday, two weeks after the Mariners traded pitcher Freddy Garcia and catcher Ben Davis.
A career .295 hitter, Olerud is hitting just .245. More telling, he has driven in just 22 runs. He averaged 100 RBIs his first three seasons with Seattle after joining the Mariners in 2000, but he fell off to 83 RBIs and an 11-year-low .269 batting average last year.
This season was even worse. His power fell off and his bat slowed. He had bursts in late May and early June that that got his average up to .271 on June 17, but he's fallen off 26 points since then.
Jacobsen, a career minor leaguer who has been in three different organizations over the past eight years, is in the middle of his best season. He's hit 22 doubles and 26 homers while averaging .318. And he's driven in 86 runs for Tacoma, more than any two players on the Mariners.
Sporting a Jay Buhner-like shaved head, the right-handed Jacobsen is listed at 220 pounds, but that's a conservative estimate. What is not conservative is his swing, which produces mammoth home runs.
Alternating between first base and DH for Tacoma, Jacobsen, 28, was the winner of the home run derby at the Class AAA All-Star Game, and his power brought him back-to-back Pacific Coast League player of the week honors in June. His power is something the Mariners badly need.
Ironically, before the Class AAA All-Star Game Jacobsen was in a 4-for-24 slump, his first real tailspin of the season.
Scouts say trouble hitting the curve ball has kept Jacobsen back, but he's never gotten the chance to test curve balls at the big league level before; now, he apparently will get that chance.
The Mariners signed Sherrill (4-2, 2.37, 13 saves for Tacoma) out of the independent Northern League. He was 1-0 with one save and a 1.13 ERA in the middle of the 2003 season when the Mariners signed him. He moved to Class AA San Antonio, where he was 3-0 with an 0.33 ERA in 16 games.
Sherrill, 27, who has dropped about 20 pounds since the Mariners signed him, leads Tacoma in games pitched with 36.
GAME 87
MONEY TO BURN
With John Olerud off the roster as of today, the Mariners face the prospect of having to pay him $3.4 million, or the balance of his $7.7 million salary for 2004. That would bring to $13.58 million the amount the Mariners are obligated to pay to four players who are no longer on the team.
| DATE | EVENT | PLAYER | '04 SALARY | M'S OWE |
| Jan. 8 | Trade | Jeff Cirillo | $7.1 million | $4.7 million* |
| May 4 | Release | Kevin Jarvis | $4.25 million | $3.81 million** |
| July 10 | Release | Rich Aurilia | $3.5 million | $1.65 million^ |
| July 15 | Off Roster | John Olerud | $7.7 million | $3.42 million^ |
| TOTAL | $13.58 million |
FARM AID
The Mariners signed LHP George Sherrill as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2003. Sherrill began his pro career with Evansville in the Frontier League (1999-2000), pitched in Sioux Falls (2001), with Winnipeg in 2002 and with Winnipeg and San Antonio last year. Sherrill, 27, is a graduate of Austin Peay State (Tenn.). His 2004 stats with the Tacoma Rainiers:
| PITCHER | W | L | ERA | G | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| George Sherrill | 4 | 2 | 2.32 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 50.1 | 42 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 62 |
Bucky Jacobsen has spent most of his pro career (1997-02) in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. The Mariners acquired the 28-year-old Jacobsen as a minor league free agent on Nov. 10, 2003. His 2004 stats with the Tacoma Rainiers:
| PLAYER | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG |
| Bucky Jacobsen | 81 | 292 | 59 | 91 | 22 | 1 | 26 | 86 | 50 | 88 | 1 | 1 | .312 |
END OF THE LINE
The Mariners are releasing first baseman John Olerud, who originally signed with the club as a free agent on Dec. 7, 1999. Olerud, a Seattle-area native and Washington State graduate, is earning $7.7 million this season, but his batting average has fallen to a career low .245. Olerud's statistics with the Mariners:
| YEAR | TEAM | AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2000 | SEA | .285 | 159 | 565 | 84 | 161 | 45 | 0 | 14 | 103 | 102 | 96 | .392 | .439 | .831 |
| 2001 | SEA | .302 | 159 | 572 | 91 | 173 | 32 | 1 | 21 | 95 | 94 | 70 | .401 | .472 | .873 |
| 2002 | SEA | .300 | 154 | 553 | 85 | 166 | 39 | 0 | 22 | 102 | 98 | 66 | .403 | .490 | .893 |
| 2003 | SEA | .269 | 152 | 539 | 64 | 145 | 35 | 0 | 10 | 83 | 84 | 67 | .372 | .390 | .761 |
| 2004 | SEA | .245 | 78 | 261 | 29 | 64 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 40 | 41 | .354 | .360 | .714 |
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