Despite interest from at least one other team, the Seattle Mariners are holding on to catcher Miguel Olivo for the 2012 MLB season. It seems that the franchise feels that there is nobody to replace him from within the system, and that Olivo has just about become an untouchable player as the franchise continues the rebuilding process.

The team showing interest in Olivo is the Minnesota Twins, obviously hoping that they can bring in someone to help give All-Star Joe Mauer a bit of rest. Mauer could then play some time at first base and designated hitter during the long season, taking some of the wear-and-tear off of his body. It is thought that Mauer’s career will not last as long if he remains behind the plate, and this move would have brought in a suitable replacement.

Last season for the Mariners, Olivo had 19 home runs and 62 RBIs to lead the team in both categories. He played in 130 games for the team, but he didn’t post a very good batting average. His .224 mark wasn’t all that good, and it caused a number of fans to get frustrated throughout the season. He also had 140 strikeouts, but did put up some of the best power numbers in baseball for a catcher. That and his veteran abilities behind the plate must have perked the ears of people in the Twins organization.

One of the big problems that the Mariners have is no depth at catcher, relying on a number of guys to step in when Olivo wasn’t able to go. Josh Bard was the last man to get that role, but it is possible that Adam Moore or Chris Gimenez will get healthy enough to be the backup catcher in 2012. Olivo has one more year left on his current deal, which gives the Mariners a little more time to figure out who the catcher of the future will become, but time is running out to grow one within the system.

Maybe the offer from Minnesota wasn’t that good, or maybe the Mariners wanted too much in return for Olivo, but parently the front office enjoys having him around much more than they did the first time. This clearly means that Olivo is the catcher for 2012 whether fans like it or not.

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*Ryan is a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan who never misses an opportunity to attend a game at Safeco Field. He has been attending games since 1985, and has fond memories of The Kingdome, Edgar Martinez, and the historic 1995 team. Sodo Mojo!

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MINNEOLIS ()—Most of the current Minnesota Twins weren’t alive the
last time the team struggled this badly. Kevin Slowey(notes) even dipped into Greek
mythology to describe the frustration.

Ichiro Suzuki(notes) stopped Slowey’s no-hitter with a two-out infield single in
the sixth inning and added an RBI double in the seventh, spurring the Seattle
Mariners to a 5-4 victory Wednesday night in Minnesota, the 11th straight defeat
for the Twins.

“At this point in this clubhouse, it’s like we’re watching the fate of
Sisyphus himself. Get to the top of that hill and just can’t seem to figure it
out, so it’s been pretty tough,” Slowey said, referencing the mythical king
who, the story went, was punished for eternity by pushing a boulder up a steep
hill only to watch it roll back down to the bottom each time.

This is the third-longest losing streak in Minnesota’s 51-season history,
behind a 14-game skid in 1982 and the 13 in a row they dropped in 1961, the
first year here after the franchise moved west from Washington.

The Twins (59-95) still need two more wins to top their worst finish in
Minnesota, 60-102 in 1982, and they’ve already secured the third-worst record
the club has ever had.

With dozens of millions of dollars in high-salaried players long done for
the season due to a variety of injuries, this pieced-together bunch of middling
prospects, former first-round draft picks and the few veterans healthy enough to
play has been figuratively banging their heads against the wall trying to end
this September slide and finish on a less-dour note.

“I’d much rather win than get three or four hits,” said rookie first
baseman Chris Parmelee(notes), who had three more hits, including an RBI single. He’s
batting .413 with nine RBIs in 13 games since being brought up from Double-A New
Britain.

Mariners closer Brandon League(notes), who esced a ninth-inning, no-out,
bases-loaded situation to preserve the win the night before, gave up a two-out
RBI single to Trevor Plouffe(notes) before retiring Brian Dinkelman(notes) on a roller in
front of the plate with two runners on.

League has 36 saves in 41 attempts this season. This was the first run he’s
allowed against the Twins in 16 innings.

Trayvon Robinson’s(notes) two-run, two-out single in the seventh inning gave the
Mariners the lead and sent Slowey (0-7) off the mound. He has lost all seven
starts since he was recalled from Triple-A and reinserted in the rotation he
helped anchor the past three-plus years. The right-hander began the season in
the bullpen, got hurt and was sent to the minors to rehabilitate until returning
a month ago.

Suzuki was the only baserunner to reach over the first five innings, when
the shortstop Plouffe dropped the ball for an error while taking it out of his
glove to start his throw. Kyle Seager(notes) and Dustin Ackley(notes) followed Suzuki’s single
in the sixth with consecutive sharply hit doubles, and Slowey’s lead was
suddenly gone.

Slowey hasn’t walked a batter in his last 22 innings, and he struck out six,
but this was another familiar start—breezing through the early innings and
hitting a big bump.

“I’m going to look at the first five innings and try to repeat that. We’re
running out of time. I’m running out of time,” he said.

Plouffe grounded into a 1-2-3 double play with no outs and the bases loaded
in the fifth against reliever Jeff Gray(notes), and Dinkelman grounded out to end that
inning. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was upset that Plouffe wasn’t more patient.

“That guy was in trouble, and we took him right out of trouble,”
Gardenhire said.

The Twins went 4 for 18 with runners in scoring position, and they’re 24 for
151—a .159 batting average—while losing 16 of their last 17 games.

Mariners starter Michael Pineda(notes), in his final pearance of what has been a
fine rookie season, gave up six hits, two walks and two runs while striking out
two over four innings. He threw 81 pitches.

This was Pineda’s 28th start, and the 22-year-old Dominican finished with
173 strikeouts in 171 innings with a 3.74 ERA.

“I’m very, very proud of me, because I finished strong,” Pineda said.

The Twins won’t be able to say that about this season.

NOTES: The Twins passed the 3 million mark in paid attendance for the second
straight season and the third in franchise history. Their first was 1988. … Of
the 29 players suited up for this series for the Mariners, 17 of them weren’t
with the team when they visited Minnesota in May. … RH Anthony Swarzak(notes) (3-7)
pitches for the Twins in the series finale, the last day game of the season at
Target Field, against Mariners RH Blake Beaven (5-5). Beaven is coming off an
eight-inning shutout victory over division-leading Texas. Swarzak hasn’t won
since Aug. 3.

Read More: twins baseball, minnesota twins baseball, mariners baseball, seattle mariners baseball, mariners at twins, mariners vs twins, twins mariners rec, twins mariners score, Michael Cuddyer (RF – MIN), Kevin Slowey (P – MIN), Adam Kennedy (DH – SEA), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Mike Carp (LF – SEA), Trevor Plouffe (SS – MIN), Danny Valencia (3B – MIN), Alex Liddi (3B – SEA), Rene Tosoni (RF – MIN), Chris Parmelee (1B – MIN), Ben Revere (CF – MIN), Kyle Seager (3B – SEA), Michael Pineda (P – SEA), Liam Hendriks (P – MIN), Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins, Sep 20, 2011 7:10 PM CDT

The Minnesota Twins accomplished something on Tuesday night that they had not accomplished in 13 years, as their 5-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Target Field was their tenth consecutive defeat. Prior to now, the last time the Twins had lost ten games in a row was from September 9 to September 19, 1998.

Both teams started the game off with a two-spot in the first inning, as the Mariners scored a pair thanks to an RBI single by shortstop Kyle Seager and a double by left fielder Mike Carp. The Twins answered back in the bottom half of the frame with RBI doubles by Trevor Plouffe and Chris Parmelee to even the score at two. Ben Revere’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth put Minnesota ahead by a score of 3-2, and Parmelee followed up with another RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead to 4-2.

The Mariners got it back in the top of the sixth, however, as Twins’ starter Liam Hendriks served up a two-run homer to Seattle shortstop Alex Liddi to tie the score at four runs each. Hendriks was then lifted for Brian Duensing. In the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, Mariners’ first baseman Adam Kennedy executed a sort of swinging bunt that managed to get past a diving Duensing and bring home Seager for a 5-4 Seattle lead.

That would be all of the scoring for the evening, but the Twins had a chance in the bottom of the ninth against Seattle reliever Brandon League. Pinch-hitter Rene Tosoni led off the inning with a single, and Revere followed that with a single of his own to put runners on first and second. Trevor Plouffe then attempted to sacrifice the runners over, but wound up being safe at first on a throwing error by League, loading the bases with nobody out.

However, in typical 2011 Twins fashion, nothing came from it. Michael Cuddyer struck out for the first out, Parmelee grounded one back to League to force Tosoni out at the plate, and Danny Valencia grounded out to third to end the threat and give the victory to the Mariners.

Seattle starter Jason Vargas picked up the victory for the Mariners, moving his record on the year to 9-13. The save for League was his 35th on the season. Duensing took the loss for Minnesota, dropping his mark on the year to 9-14.

The second game of this three-game set will take place on Wednesday night at Target Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM. The Mariners will send right-hander Michael Pineda (9-10, 3.72 ERA) to the hill, and the Twins will turn to right-hander Kevin Slowey (0-6, 6.51 ERA) to try to halt their losing streak.

CLEVELAND () — Former major league general manager Joe McIlvaine was hired as a special assistant to Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik on Monday.

The Mariners announced the move in Seattle, shortly after beating the Cleveland Indians 12-6 in a game shortened to seven innings by rain.

The 64-year-old McIlvaine served as general manager of the San Diego Padres and New York Mets during the 1990s. He has been with the Minnesota Twins since 1998, the last 11 years as a special assistant.

“Joe has had success as a general manager, a scouting director (including internationally), a front office executive and in the role of special assistant,” Zduriencik said in a release issued by the team. “He is a very versatile talent evaluator, and adding him to our staff in Seattle makes us a stronger organization. I am looking forward to working closely with him.”

Before joining the Twins, McIlvaine was director of baseball operations for the Padres (October 1990 to July 1993) and Mets (July 1993 to July 1997). He also served as GM for both teams.

He previously served in a variety of roles with the Mets for 10 years starting in 1980.

McIlvaine began his career as a territorial scout for Baltimore from 1974-76. He then scouted for the California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.

Copyright 2011 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Sports Network) – Dan Haren hopes to sn a two-start losing streak this
evening when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim begin a three-game series with
the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium.

Haren’s most recent loss came at the hands of the Mariners on Wednesday when
he allowed two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 2-1 loss. He struck
out seven in the hard-luck decision, but fell to 13-8 on the year to go along
with a 3.16 ERA.

“I go out there and do what I can. I haven’t had the best of luck lately, but
it was a tough loss for the team,” Haren said after the game.

Haren has faced the Mariners 18 times and is 9-5 against them with a 2.51 ERA.

On Sunday, Bobby Abreu homered and scored twice as the Angels took a 4-1
victory over the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game set.

Joel Pineiro (6-6) earned his first win since July 9, going seven innings and
allowing one run on five hits and a walk.

“It feels nice. I was able to keep the ball down and I mixed my pitches,”
Pineiro said.

Jordan Walden pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 28th save of the year.

The Angels still sit 3 1/2 games behind Texas for first place in the AL West.

Seattle, meanwhile, has been relegated to the role of spoiler and comes into
tonight’s opener having lost four in a row following an 8-5 setback to Oakland
on Sunday. Dustin Ackley hit a two-run homer and Luis Rodriguez added two RBI
for the Mariners, who have lost eight of 10 overall.

Blake Beavan (3-5) allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings to take
the loss. The right-hander is 0-3 over his last five starts.

To make things worse for the 58-81 Mariners, outfielders Casper Wells and
Franklin Gutierrez left the game with injuries. Both are questionable for
tonight’s affair.

Hoping to turn things around tonight will be rookie Anthony Vazquez, who is
1-1 with a 11.57 ERA. After winning his big league debut, Vasquez was banged
around by the Angels on Tuesday for eight runs (seven earned) and seven hits
in just four innings.

“A little bit of it is nerves, but you can’t make excuses,” Vasquez said.
“First time up here you’re trying to get out of the gate the right way and it
just hasn’t hpened.”

The Angels have won 10 of their 16 matchups with the Mariners this season,
including six of the seven meetings at the Big A.

The Sports Network