Mariners Land Wilson, Snell From Pittsburgh; Send Clement, Cedeno

According to ESPN, the Mariners have just traded catcher Jeff Clement and shortstop Ronny Cedeno along with three minor league prospects to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for shortstop Jack Wilson and starting pitcher Ian Snell. Wilson will immediately assume the role of starting shortstop in place of Cedeno, while Snell should shore up the back end of the Mariners’ thin starting rotation. Clement, the third overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft, had fallen out of favor with the team’s front office and had spent all of the 2009 season with Triple-A Tacoma. Cedeno, acquired in the offseason from the Chicago Cubs, had become the Mariners’ de facto starter at shortstop over the past two months. He replaced incumbent Yuniesky Betancourt, who struggled in the early going with the M’s and was ultimately traded to Kansas City just a few weeks ago. Though Cedeno was warranting everyday playing time, he had been hitting under .200 for most of the season and provided ...