At the major league level, the Seattle Mariners defeated the Athletics 9-1 on Wednesday afternoon to complete a vital three-game sweep and vault back into first place in the American League West.

At 28-29, the Mariners are not perfect, but they do have some much-needed momentum heading into this weekend's showdown with the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks, who are 31-24 and have won 10 of 11.

But Wednesday was also a good day on the minor league front as the M's saw the return of utility player Miles Mastrobuoni at Triple-A Tacoma. Mastrobuoni was hitting third and playing designated hitter for the Rainiers on his rehab assignment.

He went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk, but despite the solid performance, there are real questions about Mastrobuoni's fit with the Mariners moving forward.

Now 30 years old, Mastrobuoni is a four-year veteran of the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs and Mariners.

A valuable utility piece who can play all over the field, he's a career .231 hitter who found success with the Mariners in 2025.

In a career-high 76 games, he hit .250 with a homer, 12 RBIs and six stolen bases.

He has yet to play in the majors this season because of a calf injured suffered in the World Baseball Classic. He played six games between April 8-18 before getting sidelined again.

He returned on Monday for two at-bats for the Arizona Complex League Mariners before playing with Tacoma on Wednesday.

It's hard to see one, honestly.

Mastrobuoni is out of options, meaning he has to be activated to the big league squad when healthy. If the Mariners don't want to do that, then they can designate him for assignment and re-sign him to a minor league deal, stashing him in Triple-A, but if they DFA him, it's likely he's picked up by someone else.

At the moment, the Mariners don't have room for him in the big leagues.

They are currently operating with Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone, Rob Refsynder, and Victor Robles as platoon/utility outfielders, negating the need for Mastrobuoni in the outfield. 

The Mariners are currently using Colt Emerson, JP Crawford, Josh Naylor and Cole Young as the starting infield, with Patrick Wisdom serving as the backup infielder.

Of course, Mastrobuoni could take Wisdom's spot on the 26-man roster, but that would mean the M's have no right-handed hitting infielders on the bench, which would be a problem for a team with the worst production against lefties for most of the year.

Donovan will end up back on the roster when he's healthy, but that won't be a for a few weeks. And when he's healthy, the M's will have the same left-handed issue as we just described. 

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