The Willie Bloomquist era is over in Seattle
On Thursday, the Seattle Mariners officially cut ties with infielder Willie Bloomquist.
The rumors began last night when word broke that the Mariners were going to promote shortstop Chris Taylor from Triple-A Tacoma. Considering Seattle's roster issues, Bloomquist's continued presence did seem a bit odd in the context of what he offered the club as a bench player.
Bloomquist, in the second year of a two-year, $5.8 million deal with Seattle, just wasn't hitting. So far in 2015, he had a slash line of .159/.194/.174 in limited playing time (72 plate appearances).
Lookout Landing opines that this may be the end of Bloomquist's career, considering his injury issues and seeming inability to be a consistent offensive player at the age of 37. If it is, it's worth noting that he managed to play in parts of 14 seasons in the big leagues, mostly with Seattle but also as a member of the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Always a class act, Bloomquist took to Twitter to thank fans for their support over the years: