Perhaps lost in all of the hullabaloo of yesterday was the fact that Ichiro Suzuki wasn't the only player to be cast off from the Mariners. As of yesterday evening, Justin Smoak was sent down to the Tacoma Rainiers. Mike Carp was activated off of the DL and Trayvon Robinson was called up to fill out the 25 man roster.
This shouldn't really surprise anyone. In fact the only surprise possible is that it took the Mariners this long to send the struggling first baseman back to the minor leagues in hopes he can re-find his swing that Smoak has occasionally shown promises of hiding somewhere. July has been especially cruel to Smoak as his average was lowered to .189 after going 0-3 last night to extend his hitless streak to 16 at bats.
Mike Carp has struggled with injuries this year and has only appeared in 32 games. He is hitting .157 on the year with four home runs, and the Mariners are hoping he can revert back to the second half of 2011 where he showed a reason to believe he was a piece of the rebuilding project.
Trayvon Robinson has spent all year with the Rainiers where he is hitting.265/.331/.409 with nine homeruns. With the departure of Ichiro, Trayvon figures to be the fourth outfielder in the mix and should see steady playing time.