Remember a time not so long ago when shortstop Carlos Triunfel was the Seattle Mariners’ minor league prospect getting most of the hype?
Things like a broken leg last year and the arrival of Dustin Ackley and Nick Franklin, among other prospects, to the system have pulled a lot of attention from Triunfel.
He’s playing winter ball for Licey in the Dominican Republic, although he has just one hit in only 18 at-bats (a .056 average). This year at Class AA West Tennessee, Triunfel batted .257 in his first season since missing most of 2009 because of the broken leg.
Once lauded as one of the Mariners’ top prospects since his first pro season in 2007, the expectations for Triunfel seem to have waned significantly and the Mariners are fine with that. They remain high on him, but minor league director Pedro Grifol says it’s a good thing that so much attention has drifted away from Triunfel.
“Let’s let him get ready without any timetable, let him continue to develop,” Grifol said. “He missed a whole year and that’s hard for a young kid, especially going from A-ball to Double-A. We’re just now recouping that year. He’s going to be good. He has a knack for hitting.”
Triunfel isn’t doing much of it this winter in the Dominican Republic, where his playing time has been limited.
“He got there late, and when young players aren’t there from the beginning, the veteran players show up and their playing time diminishes,” Grifol said.
A few other notes going into the weekend:
• The Colorado Rockies, whose pursuit of Mariners closer David Aarsma was reported last night by Troy Renck of The Denver Post, see Aardsma filling a setup role for closer Huston Street.
• The Washington Nationals are targeting Derrek Lee to play first base next year, and if that doesn’t work out they plan to go after Adam LaRoche, according to MLB.com.
Why would that interest Mariners fans? Well, because third in line for the Nats would be Casey Kotchman, who bat was so miserable this year for the Mariners that it offset his great defense.
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