Aaron Taylor came to the Seattle Mariners six years ago wearing the label of “closer of the future” before a shoulder injury stalled his progress.
His future will occur elsewhere after the Mariners traded him Monday to the Colorado Rockies.
Taylor, a 27-year-old right-hander, became a victim of the Mariners’ offseason roster rollover as they made room for the additions of three free agents last week, Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre plus pitcher Ron Villone, who accepted salary arbitration.
To open spots on the 40-man roster, the Mariners dealt Taylor to the Rockies for Class AA pitcher Sean Green and decided not to tender contracts to minor league infielder Luis Ugueto and minor league pitcher Rett Johnson. Ugueto and Johnson are now free agents.
Taylor, obtained from Atlanta in the Rule 5 draft before the 2000 season, pitched for the Class A Everett AquaSox in 2000. He made his major league debut with the Mariners as a September callup in 2002.
While on his way to a solid season with Class AAA Tacoma in 2003, when Taylor record 16 saves and had a 2.45 earned run average, he experienced shoulder problems that eventually required surgery.
Taylor rebounded with a strong half-season season at Class AA San Antonio in 2004, when he went 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA and earned another September callup to the Mariners. He appeared in five games and had a 9.82 ERA.
Johnson, a right-hander who also pitched for Everett in 2000, reached Class AAA Tacoma in 2003 and earned an invitation to spring training in 2004. He left the Mariners’ camp for personal reasons, then made seven starts for Class A Inland Empire and went 0-2 with a 7.97 ERA.
Green, 25, is 6 feet, 6 inches and 230 pounds. He went 4-2 with a 3.03 ERA and two saves in 2004 for the Rockies Class AA team in Tulsa. He struck out 50 in 771/3 innings.
The Mariners had designated Ugueto for assignment last week after Sexson signed.
Under contract: As expected, the Mariners secured three of their major leaguers for 2005 by tendering contracts to pitcher Gil Meche and backup position players Jolbert Cabrera and Willie Bloomquist. The deadline to tender contracts was 9 p.m. (PST) Monday.
Meche, after struggling early in the season and spending considerable time at Class AAA Tacoma, went 7-7 with a 5.01 ERA for the Mariners in 2004. He won three of his last four starts in September.
Cabrera was one of the team’s most versatile, and valuable, players when he played seven different positions and finished with a .270 batting average, six home runs and 47 RBI.
Bloomquist started 55 games at five different positions and batted .245 with two homers, 18 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
Offensive support: That heavy sigh of relief after the Sexson and Beltre signings probably came from the Mariners’ pitching staff.
Although the Mariners finished 2004 with an uninspiring 4.76 team ERA, it may have been connected with the team’s weak offense. Knowing each run they gave up could be the one that beat them, the pitchers constantly worked under pressure not to make a mistake, and often that approach compounded into several, pitching coach Bryan Price said.
“From a psychological aspect, feeling confident that we can store some runs early in the game will definitely change the mental approach of a pitching staff,” he said. “It becomes very difficult to constantly pitch in one and two run situations. It’s hard for the starters, hard for the bullpen.”
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