Shortstop Rich Aurilia, a washout with the Mariners before they designated him for assignment July 10, is back in the more comfortable confines of the National League.
The Mariners traded Aurilia to the San Diego Padres on Monday in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Aurilia is making $3.150 million this season and the Mariners will continue to pay all but the pro-rated minimum, which puts them on the hook for about $1.2 million. The Mariners are expected to get another player, or cash, back from the Padres next month.
The Mariners signed Aurilia during the offseason in their quest to improve offensively. He had spent his entire major league career in the NL with San Francisco, where he had a .278 career batting average.
In 73 games with the Mariners, Aurilia batted just .241 with four home runs and 28 RBI. The Mariners, having decided to look at their top minor league prospects, designated Aurilia for assignment, meaning they had 10 days to trade, release or re-assign him to the minor leagues if he accepted and cleared waivers.
“I think he’s going to help San Diego,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s a guy who relies a lot on preparation, and he had some of his better games playing against National League teams or pitchers who came to the American League from the National League.”
Soriano’s next step: Relief pitcher Rafael Soriano, on the disabled list since May 12 because of a sprained right elbow, will throw batting practice Wednesday and possibly a simulated game this weekend.
“We’ve been focused on how he’s feeling,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. “We’ve had no setbacks and we don’t anticipate any, but we will be cautious.”
When the roof fell in: During Dan Wilson’s first season as a Mariner in 1994, he would stretch on the Kingdome turf and stare at the massive ceiling above.
“I remember looking up at the ceiling and wondering what would happen if a speaker ever fell,” Wilson said.
Ten years ago Monday, he found out.
It wasn’t a speaker, but several ceiling tiles that fell into the Kingdome seats on July 19, 1994, while the Mariners stretched in the afternoon before their scheduled game against the Baltimore Orioles.
That game was called off, and the Mariners played the rest of their games on the road before the major league players strike Aug. 12 wiped out the rest of the season.
“When it happened, you didn’t realize it was that bad,” Wilson said. “Then they told us, ‘We’re canceling the game tonight,’ then, ‘We’re not going to play tomorrow,’ and then, ‘We’re going to go back on the road.’”
The Mariners finished with 10 straight victories before the strike, and Wilson said the 20-game road trip helped bring the team together and served as a catalyst for 1995 when the Mariners won their division.
“Who knows what kind of effect being on the road would have had long-term, had we not had the labor situation, but I think it definitely brought us together,” Wilson said.
Ibanez ill: Left fielder Raul Ibanez was sick Monday and wasn’t in the Mariners’ starting lineup. Melvin started Hiram Bocachica in center field and moved Randy Winn to left.
“It’s good to get Boca in the lineup,” Melvin said. “He hasn’t been in there offensively too much. I bring him in defensively, but he needs some playing time.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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