Buddy Kennedy's stay in Seattle lasted about as long as a coffee break. The Mariners designated the infielder for assignment on Tuesday, according to MLB Trade Rumors, ending a stint that started with a cash trade from the Giants on June 29 and ended with him barely getting a foothold on the roster.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news that Seattle had moved on from Kennedy.
The move wasn't really about Kennedy failing so much as Seattle no longer needing him. He was brought in as a righty-bat depth piece the same day Rob Refsnyder landed on the 10-day IL, and now that Refsnyder is healthy and getting reinstated, the roster spot Kennedy was filling simply doesn't exist anymore. It's a corresponding move in the most literal sense — one guy comes back, someone else has to go.
The stat line didn't help his case for sticking around, either. In 5 games with the Mariners, Kennedy went 1-for-10 at the plate, a.100 average that never gave the front office a reason to fight for a spot for him. When you're a depth piece hitting.100, you're not winning any bench battles.
None of this is a huge blow for Kennedy's career — he's a 27-year-old journeyman infielder who's bounced around organizations before, and a DFA at this point in the season usually just means a trip through waivers or outright assignment to Triple-A, not the end of the road. For the Mariners, it's a routine bit of roster math as they juggle health returns and 40-man logistics with the trade deadline bearing down. Nobody's going to remember this move in a month, but it's a small reminder of how thin the margin is for replacement-level infielders trying to hang onto a big league job in the middle of a pennant race.