Major moves unlikely for Mariners

SEATTLE – If the Seattle Mariners, sitting at 33-40, are to pull themselves back into postseason contention, they are likely to do so with the personnel already on hand.

“Our thought is the club is pretty much in place,” general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “We need to get them to produce. We’ll see what happens. Nobody would ever say no.

“But we brought in (Mark) Trumbo. So now, you look at the lineup, and it’s a formidable lineup.”

That lineup just hasn’t produced.

The Mariners enter a three-game series today in Anaheim, California, averaging just 3.40 runs per game. Only the Chicago White Sox, at 3.39, rank lower among American League teams.

“If we’re going to have a successful season,” manager Lloyd McClendon said, “and be the type of club we think we can be, then our stars have got to hit. They’ve got to be consistent. It’s just that simple.”

By acquiring Trumbo in a June 3 deal with Arizona, club officials contend they took a proactive approach to the annual frenzy – real and speculative – that surrounds the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.

“We tried to jump the market with the move that we did a few weeks ago (to acquire Trumbo and pitcher Vidal Nuno),” Zduriencik said. “We were active. We went and got a catcher (Welington Castillo from the Cubs).

“Then we flipped the catcher to bring in Trumbo and Nuno. So, there’s a trade deadline, but we’ve already been ahead of it.”

Club officials are monitoring a resurgent Chris Taylor at Triple-A Tacoma. He entered Thursday with a 12-game hitting streak and a .352 average over that span. Outfielder Stefen Romero and first baseman Jesus Montero are also promotion possibilities, though less likely because the roster is crowded at their positions.

But a major trade before the deadline?

That seems unlikely – in part, at least according to some club officials from rival organizations, because the Mariners lack the impact prospects to offer as the centerpiece to make a deal.

McClendon continues to preach a stay-the-course approach in a belief that, eventually, the Mariners will play to their potential.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “I find myself sitting in bed at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning and trying to figure out what the (heck) is going on. At some point, we’ve got to get it going.”