THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Aaron Laffey’s role was unclear with Cleveland. Maybe he’ll find more clarity in Seattle.
The Indians traded the left-hander to the Mariners on Wednesday for minor league infielder Matt Lawson, who will report to Cleveland’s minor league camp.
Laffey split time between Cleveland and Triple-A Columbus last season, and he bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen. The 25-year-old, who was once considered a rising star in the Indians’ system, was in the mix to be the club’s No. 5 starter this season.
In Seattle, Laffey will be reunited with former Indians manager Eric Wedge and pitching coach Carl Willis. He’s likely to be looked at as a possible No. 5 starter with the Mariners.
"With Aaron, we felt we had the opportunity to acquire a left-handed pitcher with major league experience," Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a statement. "We will bring him to spring training and give him a chance to compete for a position on our pitching staff."
Laffey went 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA in 29 games last year for the Indians, who drafted him in 2003. He was 18-21 in 79 career games with Cleveland.
Lawson, 25, began last season in the Texas organization before he was traded to the Mariners in the deal for ace pitcher Cliff Lee. Lawson batted a combined .293 in 118 games at the Double-A level in 2010.
Last season, Lawson appeared in 99 games at second base, 13 games in left field, two games at shortstop and one game in centre.
D’backs split squad beats Mariners 5-3
Arizona’s Aaron Heilman and Seattle’s Michael Pineda, both trying to crack the opening-day rotations, had strong outings Wednesday as a Diamondbacks split squad beat the Seattle Mariners 5-3.
Heilman, a longtime reliever who re-signed with Arizona with the understanding that he would get a shot at a starting job, struck out two in three perfect innings. He has allowed one hit in five scoreless innings this spring.
"Heilman was awesome," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "He was pounding the zone. He’s certainly going for it. He was very sharp."
So was Pineda. The top pitching prospect in Seattle’s minor league system last season struck out one with no walks in two hitless innings in his first outing of the spring.
Juan Miranda, a leading contender for the first base job, hit a two-run, opposite-field homer for Arizona.
The Mariners had just one hit through seven innings before Matt Tuiasosopo drove in two runs with a single in the eighth.
Heilman didn’t want to make too big a deal out of his strong start.
"You can’t always read too much into results, especially in spring training," he said. "The hitters are still getting going, the pitchers are usually ahead of hitters. I try to judge myself more on hitting spots and how I felt than the results. There’s going to be a lot of days when you may feel good and may hit your spots and you don’t get the results that you want. Then there are other days when you are all over the place and you do. The biggest thing for me is consistency."
Heilman said he tried to talk Gibson into letting him pitch another inning.
"I was able to work on a lot of stuff," Heilman said. "I felt like I did a good job of staying ahead of hitters. I feel like the work that I put in in the off-season has got me where I need to be. The arm feels good, the body feels good."
Pineda, a six-foot-five, 22-year-old right-hander, had thrown a scoreless inning in an intrasquad game last Friday but this was his first Cactus League appearance. He went 11-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 25 starts for double-A West Tenn and triple-A Tacoma last season.
Seattle manager Eric Wedge said he considers Pineda "in the middle of this from everything I saw today."
"He threw comfortably," Wedge said. "He controlled his fastball and also his secondary pitches."
Justin Upton had two doubles for Arizona. The first one came off Yoervis Medina. Miranda followed with his first home run of the spring.
Miranda, who defected from Cuba in 2004, was acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees in the off-season. Competing with Brandon Allen and Russell Branyan for the first base job vacated when Adam LaRoche departed, Miranda is 2 for 8 this spring with four RBIs, two walks and one strikeout.
"He’s impressive," Gibson said. "He got on top of that fastball. He’s got power. He’s played well."
The first base competition is expected to be close throughout the spring.
"That’s good," Gibson said. "That’s what we want."
