With rotation candidate Luke French dispatched to Triple-A Tacoma, top prospect Michael Pineda grabs role as Mariners' No. 5 starter. Rotowire:
↵↵↵The French move was expected, but now it's official that Pineda has wrapped up a rotation job. Pineda impressed throughout spring, making good progress with his secondary pitches and consistently throwing his fastball in the high 90s. He's slated to start April 5 against the Rangers.
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Pineda's still got some rough edges, but he's quite probably better than Luke French. Still, with the M's slated for another last-place finish this season, you wonder why they didn't let him go to Tacoma, at least for a month or two, just to maybe save a few million bucks down the road.
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