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On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners were told that their shortstop Jack Wilson has a fractured bone in his left hand because of an accident he had.

The circumstances are what is really weird. Jack Wilson injured his hand when he was in the bathroom. The Mariners say he slipped and fell on his left hand while he was in there.

X-rays that were taking showed a fracture on Sunday. This is one of the most bizarre injuries you will ever see.

On Monday, Wilson will see a hand specialist and he is most likely headed to the 15-day DL for the second time this season.

This season, Jack Wilson has only played in 61 games but he has been very important to the Mariners. He has been a good hitter and a good situational player. He is also one of the best defensive shortstops in the league.

Wilson will be replaced by Josh Wilson (no relation). This season, Jack Wilson is hitting .249 with zero home runs and 14 RBIs.

He will be missed quite a bit and the Mariners hope to get him back as soon as possible.

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The Mariners are just coming off one of the worst months in team history. In July they had a 6-22 record and couldn’t do anything right. When they had good pitching games, they couldn’t score. When they had good hitting games (which were rare), their pitching struggled. 

The Mariners need someone to blame for all of their troubles last month and this year, and the person to blame is Don Wakamatsu. He has made many bad decisions as manager. For example, he kept on starting Ryan Rowland-Smith every fifth day and after seeing him struggle every game didn’t do anything about it.

Another bad thing Wakamatsu did was use the same pitchers in his bullpen way too often. He pitches Brandon League in almost any situation. He pitches him in the eighth, ninth, or extra innings. The Mariners have a pretty good bullpen and do not need to use League as much as they do.

Wakamatsu has also not mixed up his lineup at all. He has stuck with Ichiro, Figgins, Branyan, Lopez, Kotchman, Gutierrez, Saunders, Bard, and Wilson for almost every game. Maybe if he moved some players up or down he might have more success but he hasn’t tried that this year.

Wakamaksu has not managed this team well at all and I believe he should get fired soon so the team can get a new manager who will continue the promise of last season.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Earlier in the weekend Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times wrote an article outlining the idea that Upper Management might not be backing Don Wakamatsu completely, and possibly planning to fire Wak. Since taking over the Seattle Mariners Wak took a bad team and made them Semi-relevant in 2009. Well he has now took a semi-relevant team and made them completely bad.

Say what you will about his Management Style, or that he was given a bad team to begin with and did what he could with them, all because Z didn’t go out and get the big bat they needed. Now I admit this team was very badly built from the very beginning and Z should have put more thought into the offense, but you cannot put the entire blame on him. While no manager would be winning the pennant with this club, I don’t think any manager should be sliding into the third worst team in the Major League as of Aug. 1st.

Lets face it one big bat wouldn’t change how this entire team has preformed. The base-running has been horrid, and bullpen even worse with the Hitting just being plain nonexistent. With the way the team is responding to him, it seems as though they simply don’t care. Not a single player is playing with any guts or determination. It just seems like they all want to get through 9 innings and go home.

This team is built to be a  sub .500 club give or take 5 games. They are playing .260 baseball since July and just continue sliding into what could be their worst season in decades.

I do not think any manager can survive a 100 loss campaign let alone the 110 loss campaign that they are aiming for. No manager should be able to leave a month of playing with a 6-22 record, the Mariners worst since Aug. of 1977! Players have no respect for Wak, the GM has no respect for Wak, and I as a fan am really losing my patience for this team. We can blame the coaches, we can blame Bavasi, or Z, and we can blame Chuck Armstrong, and Howard Lincoln, but something has to change. We have to start winning and we have to start right away. No one wants to see a ball club like this. We don’t invest so much care, love, time, and money into the Seattle Mariners to see them stumble so much.

Wak will just be another manager sent on his way. So I ask you as readers and fans, Should Don Wakamatsu be fired?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There’s still five more days until the Major League Baseball trade deadline, but the biggest news so far, has been the lack of any blockbuster trades. Cliff Lee-for-Justin Smoak almost qualifies, but aside from that there isn’t really another trade that measures up.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a talented bunch of players on the move. Several of the players dealt have legitimate big league futures.

And there could be even more on the way, if the rumors of Adam Dunn, Roy Oswalt, and any number of Orioles have any truth.

But, since you can only work with what you have, here are the top ten prospects that have been dealt so far, along with ETA’s and the percent chance you’ll see them in the big leagues in a recognizable form.

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The Seattle Mariners already pulled off the one big deal they had planned to make leading up to Major League Baseball’s trading deadline.  The Mariners traded away Cliff Lee for one of the best offensive prospects in the game in Justin Smoak (plus other prospects).

Yet, the Mariners are unlikely finished with their trading deadline work. Seattle is 39-60 and assuredly out of the buyer’s market. Yet there are deals within the current roster the Mariners should consider as they look to the future built around Smoak and Felix Hernandez.  The Mariners have the pieces, it’s a matter of finding the right buyer.

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The Major League Baseball Trade Deadline passes this Saturday, and baseball’s buyers and sellers will be in negotiations all week over potential deadline trades.

The Seattle Mariners are undoubtedly sellers at this year’s trade deadline. At 39-60, the Mariners sit 18.5 games behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers, and have already traded away this year’s most sought after trade target, ace pitcher Cliff Lee.

Having made a clear move towards selling at the trade deadline, the pressure is now on Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik to prepare his team for contention in 2011. Zduriencik must now decide what other players, if any, he can deal at the deadline.

Here is a quick list of five current Mariners who could have new addresses by next week.

2B Jose Lopez

The Mariners seem to have a future built around LF Michael Saunders, C Adam Moore, 1B Justin Smoak, and last year’s first round draft pick, converted 2B Dustin Ackley.

Ackley was recently promoted from Double-A West Tennessee to Triple-A Tacoma, and in his first game in Tacoma, he hit a walk-off sacrifice fly. Ackley is a sure bet to factor into the Mariners’ future, and if they want to get him big-league experience this year , they may try and shop Lopez for additional prospects.

The Phillies are actively searching for a replacement middle infielder, as injuries have plagued regular 2B Chase Utley and 3B Placido Polanco. With Polanco currently filling in at second base, the Phillies have the flexibility of searching for a second baseman or third baseman.

Don’t be surprised if the Phillies make a play for a middle infielder—it might turn out to be Jose Lopez.

Chance of Being Traded: Medium

1B Russell Branyan/1B Casey Kotchman

The Seattle Mariners currently roster first basemen Justin Smoak, Casey Kotchman, and Russell Branyan, and have Mike Sweeney on the Disabled List with back problems. It’s a crowded infield, to say the least.

The simple fix to this situation would be dealing one-time-starter-but-now-ineffective Casey Kotchman to a contender as a late inning defensive replacement and occasional pinch hitter. Unfortunately, his .215/.294/.654 line is uninspiring, and is unlikely to coax a contender into exchanging prospects for his services.

Seattle’s acquisition of Russell Branyan in late June was so uncharacteristic that Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times thought the initial report of the trade was a hoax. At the time, Seattle was 14 games out of first place, and seemingly out of contention in 2010.

Now, if the Mariners want to deal a first baseman, Branyan may be the most attractive trade bait. It would be ironic for the Mariners to acquire and trade Branyan within a month, but the current roster makes him disappointingly expendable, and Jack Zduriencik might make a move that is best for business, and not just fan appeal.

Here’s to hoping that a rival executive wakes up and says, “I need a .200 bat with Gold Glove caliber defense.”

Chance of Being Traded: Low

RP David Aardsma/RP Brandon League

Every year, relief arms are dealt at the Major League Baseball trade deadline. Often, closers become set-up men and specialists are exchanged as teams race to acquire quality arms (a seemingly unending race). Since 2005, notable names such as Eric Gagne, LaTroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth, Arthur Rhodes, and George Sherrill have been moved in deadline deals.

Jack Zduriencik has a malleable bullpen in front of him. Sending 26-year-old RP Mark Lowe to Texas in the Cliff Lee trade was shocking, even though Lowe was injured, because Lowe has a power arm and high potential. Now, Zduriencik must decide if he will also move 27-year-old Brandon League and 28-year-old David Aardsma.

Aardsma seems the most likely to leave Seattle. His 2.52 ERA last season is looking more and more like an exception to his career numbers, and some clubs have shown interest in his services.

League is a more complicated issue, because Zduriencik gave up former first round pick Brandon Morrow to acquire League earlier this year. Morrow’s 4.71 ERA is nothing impressive, but he has fanned 119 batters in 107 innings pitched, and is still in his mid-twenties.

If Zduriencik decides to move League, he could face criticism if he is unable to obtain at least a Morrow-caliber package in return.

Chance of Being Traded: High

It remains to be seen what the Mariners will do in the coming week, but don’t be surprised if any of these names move elsewhere as the Mariners build for 2011.

Do you agree with these potential trade candidates? Comment below with your thoughts!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After a season that disappointed most Mariners fans, it seems as if more disappointment is coming.

Yesterday during the game against the Boston Red Sox, Mike Cameron hit a line-drive against the left field wall. Michael Saunders picked it up threw it in to second where second baseman Chone Figgins didn’t even attempt to pick it up and let it roll by, having Cameron make the double into a triple.

The play seemed like a lackadaisical attempt at anything baseball, so when Figgins came into the dugout manager Don Wakamatsu had a word with him.

Figgins did not take too kindly to it and things got physical.

Third baseman Jose Lopez had to keep Wakamatsu and Figgins apart, then first baseman Russell Branyan got into it. It seemed as if he was angry with Figgins, too and was yelling at him, and then Lopez started yelling back.

Everyone was separated with even starting pitcher Jason Vargas helping, which is never a good thing. It seemed as if this frustration had been building since the beginning of the season and finally exploded.

After a offseason that was filled with great trades and signings, it seemed as if the Mariners might have a chance to win the AL West this season, especially after a surprise season in 2009 where they finished eight games above .500.

Cliff Lee came in as the second man in the rotation behind Felix Hernandez who was Cy Young-worthy last year so the Mariners looked stacked at pitching, but, of course, that didn’t work out very well.

The pitching worked well most of the time but our offense came in struggling more than anything.

The pitching is ninth in the MLB with a 3.90 ERA and a MLB-high 10 complete games, but the offense is last in RBI’s and batting average. No other team in the MLB with a ERA lower than 3.90 has a record lower than .500 and even some teams with a higher ERA are above .500—such as the division-rival Los Angeles Angels with an ERA of 4.42.

So now that our season is over it seems like the worst is here.

Not true.

In the offseason general manager Jack Zduriencik will have a lot to decide with this team. Will Don Wakamatsu be the manager after a season that was full of high hopes, and especially after this later incident, can he control this team? What kind of moves will be made to better this team?

I know the Justin Smoak trade was made recently and will better this team in the future but it more than Smoak will be needed to improve this team.

Zduriencik needs to find bigger and better bats to compliment this pitching, such as maybe Prince Fielder as a DH.

The pitching looks fine with Jason Vargas having a career year and Doug Fister maturing. Of course something will have to be done with Ryan Rowland-Smith and the fifth pitcher of the rotation.

Maybe they can bring up Michael Pineda who has been having tremendous success in the minors. Also the bullpen needs some help but maybe putting Rowland-Smith in there would help.

Overall this team needs another makeover just after a makeover that was supposed to help last season. This team needs a lot of changes and a lot of decisions will be made in the offseason and hopefully these decisions actually work out this time.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A quick review of last week’s least owned top performers in fantasy baseball. Justin Smoak goes yard in back to back games. Paul Maholm wins the Dr. Jeckyll / Mr. Hyde award. Edinson Volquez dominates in his return. Who will continue to dominate and who will disappear like a ninja?

SWINGERS

Chase Headley 47% owned
6 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB, .500
Chase started the season extremely strong, but fizzled around the end of May. The past month though has him been back on track (16 R/3 HR/11 RBI/.311). Padres are still on top…

Gordon Beckham 45% owned
2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .643
Analysts have Beckham on the top of their lists of sleepers for the second half. Everyone is still waiting for the former 1st round pick to turn the corner in his career. Remember it took his teammate Gavin Floyd a few years to really develop so hopefully Gordon is nearing his stride. He’s batting .338 in the past month.

Starlin Castro 16% owned
3 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB, .600
Well, Starlin stole home last Thursday so isn’t that reason enough to pick him up on your team? Ok, maybe not, but he has a six game hitting streak going into tonight and is batting just shy of .300 since the call up. I don’t think we will see anything mind blowing from Castro this year, but he may just prove to a few owners that he is keeper material, especially in a weak SS position.

Matt Diaz, 2% owned
3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .417
Diaz saw a some extra playing time in the past week but Jason Heyward is back and no matter how good Matt play’s he won’t be forcing the Braves future all-star to the bench.

Kevin Kouzmanoff 18% owned
3 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .385
Kouz is right on par with similar numbers to years previous. If he gets a full 600 AB, you may be able to squeeze 20+ homers from him. At least he’s keeping the average above .270.

Justin Smoak 10% owned
3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .333
The Smoak has cleared and the Mariners are hoping they have found their future first baseman. Justin had back to back games with homers against the Angels this week.

Drew Stubbs 28% owned
2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .500
Stubbs has put up very respectable numbers in his 2nd year, considering how ice cold he started the season. He’s already almost at 50 Runs and RBIs and I would be shocked if he doesn’t end up with 30-35 stolen bases by the end of year. The power is a great addition too, having his second multi-homer game of the season against Colorado.

HURLERS

Paul Maholm 17% owned
9 IP, 1 W, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP
Maholm wins the Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde award this month. Against Texas he pitched one inning and gave up 5 runs. In the next game against Chicago he turned it around and pitched eight strong while only giving up one. Then against Philly he imploded in three innings and gave up seven runs. Back comes Dr. Jeckyll against the Brewers and Houston, giving up 6 hits in 16 innings with the later being a CG. I’m scared shirtless (yes shirtless – there may be kids in the room) to pick him up in fear of another bomb.

Edinson Volquez 51% owned
6 IP, 1 W, 9 K, 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP
The long awaited return of Volquez was a nothing less than a gem. Going six strong while only surrendering one earned run and blanking nine. As George Constanza once said “I’m back baby!”

Jeanmar Gomez 0% owned
7 IP, 1 W, 4 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP
Don’t get too excited with the fantastic line Gomez put up this week. Jeanmar was just optioned back to Triple-A today. Don’t really get that one, seeing as how Cleveland is horrible and they should keep any pitcher up who can actually get them a win.

Aaron Cook 2% owned
7 IP, 1 W, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
Nice game against Cincinnati but there are other pitchers out there in the depths of the wire who have a better ERA (4.56), better WHIP (1.45) and more Ks (49).  

Jason Vargas 37% owned
7.2 IP, 1 W, 9 K, 1.17 ERA, 0.65 WHIP
Vargas has been a pleasant surprise all season long and continued to show his dominance against the Angels, striking out nine. His 2.97 ERA puts him seventh in the AL and his 1.15 WHIP is eighth. Owners are slowly realizing what a gem Vargas is for their teams.

Sean Marshall 22% owned
2.2 IP, 1 W, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.38 WHIP
There are few top notch set-up men this year and Marshall is definitely one of them. Sean is averaging more than a K per inning and already has amounted six wins. ERA under two, WHIP at one and batters hitting under .200. Find a spot on your roster for this guy, he’ll help you in categories without you even realizing it.

Alex Sanabia 1% owned
5.1IP, 1 W, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
Sanabia got his first win this week against the Nationals. In the past two games, Sanabia has pitched 8.2 innings and given up zero runs, plus K’d seven. Certainly worth keeping this rookie on your watch list.

Written by Evan Marx. Check back weekly for Evan’s Must or Bust, bad humor and boyish charm.
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Here are some more articles to help you win your fantasy baseball league:

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The Mariners have had their share of All Stars come to town, but a few have been forgotten as Mariners. This is a list to remember the future and past all stars that took the diamond for the Mariners.

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Although cloudless days continue to appear in Seattle’s summer sky, locals are still advised to carry umbrellas… because Jack Zduriencik is quickly plummeting downwards.

Just months after being hailed as a hero in the Emerald City for his roster overhaul filled with top-flight players, the Mariners general manager is now being scrutinized for not meeting his team’s needs in the off-season. Much of the blame is being pointed towards Zduriencik for the lost 2010 season, which carried in high expectations but has completely faltered.

However, the atrocious 35-53 record should be linked to the under-performance of the players, especially those acquired last winter, not the man that signed them.

The All-Star Break is the perfect time to evaluate how the season has gone thus far. Similar to the end of first semester, it’s time to handout report cards and grade the newest Mariners based on their first-half play.

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