The 2008 Seattle Mariners season was the 32nd Major League Baseball season in the team's history. Coming off the heels of the previous 2007 season, in which the M's finished with their first winning record since 2003, the team was widely expected to once again compete for the American League West division championship. The team was bolstered by some major roster additions during the previous offseason, most notably starting pitchers Érik Bédard and Carlos Silva. However, by the end of May, it became apparent that the team had gone back to its losing ways of the 2004–06 seasons. Despite their losing ways, they won their first and last game of the season. Their longest winning-streak of the season is 4 games after a Cleveland sweep at the end of August and a 12-6 win against the Texas Rangers on the first day of September. However, standing at 57-87, their longest losing-streak of the season is 12 games, 11 on the road, 1 at home, after being swept by the L.A. Angels, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, and suffering a loss at the last homestand opener against the L.A. Angels. On September 23, the Mariners became the first club to spend $100 million in payroll and lose 100 games. The team finished the season with a 61-101 (.377) record, last in the West for the 4th time in 5 years, and second worst in the Majors.
With the team underperforming and underachieving, a number of people who had become scapegoats for the team's underperformance were dismissed during the season, most notably general manager Bill Bavasi, field manager John McLaren, first baseman Richie Sexson, and designated hitter José Vidro.
December 20, 2007 Signed free agent RHP Carlos Silva
January 8, 2008 Signed free agent INF Miguel Cairo
January 31, 2008 Signed free agent OF Brad Wilkerson
February 8, 2008 Traded OF Adam Jones, LHP George Sherrill, and minor league pitchers Tony Butler, Chris Tillman and Kam Mickolio to the Baltimore Orioles for LHP Érik Bédard
Dismissed all coaches hired under Mike Hargrove except hitting coach Jeff Pentland and hired former MLB managers Jim Riggleman (bench coach), Sam Perlozzo (third base coach), and Lee Elia (special assistant to the manager), as well as Mel Stottlemyre (pitching coach), Norm Charlton (bullpen coach), and Eddie Rodriguez (first base coach).
April 2, 2008 Placed pitcher J. J. Putz on the 15-day disabled list, and purchased the contract of pitcher Roy Corcoran from Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League (AAA).
April 11, 2008 Recalled IF Greg Norton from Triple-A Tacoma; designated OF Charlton Jimerson for assignment.
April 14, 2008 Selected the contract of LHP Arthur Rhodes from Double-A West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx; Recalled RHP R.A. Dickey from Triple-A Tacoma; Placed OF Mike Morse on 15-day disabled list with a dislocated left shoulder; Optioned LHP Eric O'Flaherty to Double-A West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.
April 15, 2008 Placed LHP Érik Bédard on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 9, with inflammation in his left hip.
April 16, 2008 Recalled RHP Brandon Morrow from Double-A West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx; Re-signed OF Charlton Jimerson to a Minor League contract, he had been designated for assignment on April 10.
April 22, 2008 Activated RHP J. J. Putz from the 15-day disabled list; optioned RHP R.A. Dickey to Triple-A Tacoma.
April 25, 2008 Signed C Kenji Johjima to a 3-year, $24 million contract extension through 2011.
April 26, 2008 Activated LHP Érik Bédard from the 15-day disabled list; optioned RHP Roy Corcoran to Triple-A Tacoma.
April 30, 2008 Recalled C Jeff Clement and OF Wladimir Balentien from Triple-A Tacoma; Designated INF Greg Norton and OF Brad Wilkerson for assignment.
May 5, 2008 Traded Greg Norton to the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named or cash considerations; Released nonroster OF Bronson Sardinha.
May 7, 2008 Released OF Brad Wilkerson, he had been designated for assignment on April 30.
May 18, 2008 Optioned C Jeff Clement to Triple-A Tacoma.
May 19, 2008 Recalled OF Jeremy Reed from Triple-A Tacoma; claimed RHP Tracy Thorpe off waivers from Toronto.
May 21, 2008 Designated RHP Cha Seung Baek for assignment.
May 22, 2008 Recalled RHP R.A. Dickey from Triple-A Tacoma.
May 27, 2008 Acquired RHP Jared Wells from the San Diego Padres for RHP Cha Seung Baek.
May 28, 2008 Optioned RHP Jared Wells to Triple-A Tacoma; Activated RHP Anderson Garcia from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Single-A High Desert.
June 13, 2008 Placed RHP J. J. Putz on the 15-day disabled list with a hyper-extended right elbow; Recalled RHP Roy Corcoran from Triple-A Tacoma.
June 16, 2008 Recalled C Jeff Clement from Triple-A Tacoma; Optioned OF Wladimir Balentien to Triple-A Tacoma.
June 24, 2008 Acquired LHP Nelson Payano from the Atlanta Braves to complete the May 5 trade.
July 1, 2008 Placed RHP Félix Hernández on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle retroactive to June 24; Recalled LHP Cesar Jimenez from Triple-A Tacoma.
July 7, 2008 Released RHP Anderson Garcia.
July 10, 2008 Recalled RHP Jared Wells from Triple-A Tacoma; Selected the contract of INF Tug Hulett from Triple-A Tacoma; Placed LHP Érik Bédard on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 5, with stiffness in his left shoulder; Released INF Richie Sexson.
July 11, 2008 Activated RHP Félix Hernández from the 15-day disabled list; Optioned RHP Jared Wells to Triple-A Tacoma.
July 17, 2008 Optioned INF Tug Hulett to Triple-A Tacoma; Signed OF Julio Morban and RHP Francisco Valdivia.
July 18, 2008 Recalled 1B Bryan LaHair from Triple-A Tacoma.
July 20, 2008 Activated RHP J. J. Putz from the 15-day disabled list; Optioned LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith to Triple-A Tacoma.
July 25, 2008 Signed RHP Jorge Sosa to a Minor League contract.
July 30, 2008 Claimed RHP Luis Munoz off waivers from Pittsburgh and optioned him to Double-A West Tennessee.
July 31, 2008 Acquired RHP Gaby Hernandez from the Florida Marlins in exchange for LHP Arthur Rhodes.
August 13, 2008 Released DH/INF José Vidro (Designated for assignment on August 5)
June 9, 2008 Dismissed hitting coach Jeff Pentland and named special assistant Lee Elia as his replacement
June 16, 2008 Dismissed general manager Bill Bavasi and named vice president/assistant GM Lee Pelekoudas as interim GM
June 19, 2008 Dismissed field manager John McLaren and named bench coach Jim Riggleman as interim manager. Elia promoted to bench coach and minor league hitting instructor Jose Castro promoted to hitting coach.
May 18 OF Ichiro Suzuki breaks the franchise stolen base record of 290 previously held by Julio Cruz in a game against the San Diego Padres
June 17 RHP Félix Hernández throws an immaculate inning (retiring all three batters via strikeout using the minimum nine pitches needed to do so) against the Florida Marlins, becoming the thirteenth American League pitcher to do so
June 23 Félix Hernández hits a grand slam off New York Mets pitcher (and fellow Venezuelan) Johan Santana, becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to hit a home run, as well as the first American League pitcher to hit a grand slam in modern Interleague play
July 6 C Jamie Burke pitched in the 15th inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers after catching the previous six innings. Burke, who had made four relief appearances in the minor leagues, was saddled with a loss and became the first position player to receive a decision as a pitcher since 2000.
July 15 Ichiro Suzuki plays in his eighth consecutive Major League Baseball All-Star Game
July 29 Ichiro Suzuki records his 3,000th major-league hit (1,278 in Nippon Professional Baseball and 1,722 in MLB) in a game against the Texas Rangers
September 1 3B Adrián Beltré hit for the cycle against the Texas Rangers, becoming the fourth Mariner to accomplish the feat. Beltre's cycle came hours after Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew hit for the cycle in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, marking the first time two players hit for the cycle in the same day since 1920.
September 18 Ichiro Suzuki completes his 200th hit of the season, completing 8 straight seasons of accomplishing the feat, tying the record for number of 200+ hit consecutive seasons. Hall of Famer Willie Keeler is the only other person to have achieved this milestone, from 1894 through 1901.
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In. Min. games 40., listed by average.
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; SV = Saves; W = Wins; L = Losses; H = Holds; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Below is a complete list of the Seattle Mariners draft picks from the two 2008 Major League Baseball drafts.
The Seattle Mariners took part in both the Major League Baseball Rule 4 draft and the Rule 5 draft in 2008.
The 2008 Major League Baseball Draft was held on June 5 and June 6, 2008. He Mariners made the 20th selection in the draft, selecting Joshua Fields. The Mariners selected a total of 50 players and signed 36 of those selected players.
In the 2008 Rule 5 draft the Mariners selected two players, one in the Major League phase and one in the Triple-A phase. They also had three players selected by other teams, two in the Triple-A phase and one in the Double-A phase.
