Mariners Notebook: Padres take Aurilia

The Mariners sent the Padres about $1.4 million in cash, enough to cover the bulk of the rest of Aurilia's $3.15 million contract. In return, the Mariners will receive a player to be named later.

Aurilia was designated for assignment by the Mariners on July 10, which gave the club 10 days to work out a trade. The July 10 move was made to activate left fielder Raul Ibanez from the disabled list.

The Mariners and Padres weren't able to settle on a specific minor leaguer to head Seattle's way, but there are several names that have been kicked around. The Mariners will scout those players the rest of the year and the two sides will strike a deal -- or the Padres will send a chunk of cash back Seattle's way.

"This will be a good move for Rich," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "This gets him back to the National League, and it gets him back to the Western Division, which he knows well. We wish him the best."

Aurilia had played nine years in San Francisco before leaving after last season to sign a one-year deal with Seattle. He, like the rest of the Mariners, struggled, and he was one of the first to go when the Mariners decided to go younger.

"I think he can help San Diego," Melvin said. "When he was here, he had some of his better swings against National League teams and against old National League pitchers who are over here now.

"He was starting to swing the bat better overall, too."

THE NEW BULLPEN: Rookie lefty George Sherrill joined the bullpen last week.

Veteran lefty Ron Villone left the pen, at least for a little while, with his start last night against Boston.

Everything about the Mariners is changing, and the bullpen is no exception. The end might not be yet at hand, either, according to pitching coach Bryan Price.

Veteran Shigetoshi Hasegawa has struggled through a disappointing season. Second-year right-hander Julio Mateo has run hot and cold, too. Villone has been extremely durable, and has overcome control troubles to post a 3.31 ERA. Mike Myers' ERA (4.37) doesn't reflect the fact that only five of 33 inherited runners have scored on his watch. Rafael Soriano has missed virtually the entire year with injuries. J.J. Putz has looked dominant at times and not so at other times.

Closer Eddie Guardado has been steady, but the Mariners simply have been behind too much to make his save numbers (17 of 22) look too gaudy.

"If we are going to have second-half success," Price said, "it's because the bullpen is going to get us to Eddie.

"I think the talent to be successful is there. But we're two-thirds of the way through the season, and we haven't gotten where we need to be."

In Price's mind, Aug. 1 is a day when things might have to change again, and that's just 11 days away.

"I'm not speaking for Bob (Melvin), so this is just my opinion, but when we get to two months to go we may need to reassess our roles in the bullpen," he said. "Maybe we'll need to give J.J. some setup opportunities. Maybe some for Mateo, too.

"It might be that we need to use Shiggy earlier and throw him longer. But I don't make those decisions. We have the unfortunate luxury to have two months to look at our relievers and see how they fit for next year."

THE BREAKS: After hitting homers Thursday and Friday against Cleveland, third baseman Justin Leone saw the Indians pitch him differently Saturday and Sunday.

He hit the homers on fastballs, but all of a sudden he wasn't seeing nearly so many of them. He had several at-bats in the last two games of the series where he didn't see a single fastball.

The ploy worked, the rookie going 0-for-7 in the last two games of the series.

He says he knows he'll keep seeing breaking pitches, "as long as I keep swinging at them like I have been."

Melvin agrees: "After he hit the homers on fastballs, it was time for the pitchers to try something else, so they showed him the breaking ball. Now it's his turn to adjust."

CLEANING UP WITH BUCKY: Rookie slugger Bucky Jacobsen was in the lineup last night as the cleanup hitter.

The DH made his first two starts batting sixth Friday and Saturday, then moved to fifth Sunday. Yesterday, he took over in the No. 4 slot with Ibanez not available.

"Raul's got the flu bug," Melvin said, listing his left fielder as day-to-day.

He went on to explain that he doesn't see Jacobsen, the man with the most power in the lineup, as a cleanup hitter in the short term with second baseman Bret Boone, also right-handed, batting third.

"When Raul comes back, then we'll see," Melvin said. "With Boonie (Bret Boone) in the No. 3 hole, I'd like to have a left-handed hitter behind him."

NOTES: Boston second baseman Pokey Reese came out of the game after the top of the third after suffering some rib cage pain. ... With Ibanez out of the lineup for the night, Randy Winn moved from center to left and Hiram Bocachica got his first start since July 10. "Obviously we don't want Raul to be sick, but Boca needs to get some at-bats," Melvin said. Bocachica came into last night with just 56 at-bats. ... The Mariners now play 18 games without a day off.

P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or johnhickey@seattlepi.com

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