Mariners Designate Alex Liddi For Assignment

The Mariners have designated infielder Alex Liddi for assignment, tweets Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle. The move was made in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for the promotion of shortstop Brad Miller. (Carlos Triunfel was optioned to make room on the active roster.)

Liddi, 24, has been underwhelming in limited big league experience, with a .208/.266/.370 line in 188 plate appearances. His minor league performance has been much stronger, with a .263/.322/.454 slash over his 262 plate appearances in Triple-A this year (including 11 home runs) to go with a similar .270/.325/.456 line last year. 

Liddi is the first born-and-bred Italian to play in Major League Baseball. The designation of Liddi was somewhat unexpected given his young age and power potential, as well as Seattle's other options for clearing a roster spot. As Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports noted on Twitter, Liddi figures to draw some interest from other clubs given his upside.