This has nothing to do with the major league team right now. But it could have plenty of impact on the team in the not-so-distant future. The Mariners have abandonned, for now, any plans to have former No. 1 draft pick Phillippe Aumont continue in a starting role. As was the case with Brandon Morrow, a first-rounder from 2006 now serving as a full-time reliever, Aumont has made a swtich to the bullpen.
He'll begin the year in Class AA (actually check that, he's likely to start in High Class A ball first), working out of the bullpen. I asked GM Jack Zduriencik about it earlier today and he confirmed that the plan is to convert Aumont to a relief role full-time.
"We felt that this was a guy, who, if used in a relief role, could be on a real fast-track to the major leagues,'' he said. "And we're talking a real fast track.''
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/index.html#040174
So, we've done well to use our last few high draft picks [Aumont, Morrow, Fields] to create a dynamic bullpen. Too bad our starting pitching will such such violent ass when all three of them are with the Mariners that they'll never see the light of day.
