[jaa36]

Another middling month leaves the Mariners at 40-41 overall. It's hard to know what I should do at this point, as we're still in wild card contention (just three games back of the Orioles and four back of the Red Sox), but well behind the Angels (the Angels?!?) for the division lead.

The bats were a little better in June, but the offense is just 11th-best in the AL right now. Daniel Vogelbach and Mitch Haniger both hit six home runs on the month. Willie Calhoun hit .348 and is putting together a nice season after returning from injury. Kyle Seager has been unfathomably bat (.152/.231/.266 on the season) but still has $27 million left on his contract.

Craig Kimbrel and Ryne Harper both had good months in the bullpen, with aa 1.15 and 1.56 ERA respectively. Yusei Kikuchi continued to have a mess of a season, with his ERA nearly doubling from his league-leading mark last season.

We made a few more moves in June. Brent Rooker was traded to the Rays for pitcher Brendan McKay, who joined the rotation. McKay is 24, the #4 overall pick in the draft just three years ago, and could make for a mid-rotation starter. Dee Gordon and Lonnie Chisenhall, both of whom had outlived their usefulness to the organization, were traded to Arizona for pitcher Jared Miller, with the M's picking up nearly all of the veterans' salaries. Gordon was hitting just .235, with no home runs and just three walks to his name. I also picked up Maikel Franco in a minor deal to spell Seager against lefties, and I'd love to dump Seager in any way I can. At this point, he, Haniger, Vogelbach and Shawn Armstrong are the only major-league players who had been with the club just two years ago.

Framber Valdez, Justus Sheffield and rookie Justin Dunn should all return from injuries soon, which would finally leave our rotation at essentially full strength. Anthony Rendon remains on track for returning in September and would prove to be a great addition if we were in a playoff race.

We selected high school infielder Erik McDowell with the #19 overall pick in the draft. McDowell has good defensive chops and looks like he could be a solid all-around player. Catcher Jacob Matheny was our second-round pick.