Early-season sparkplug Jeremy Hazelbaker, who hit three homers and batted .481 in the first two weeks of the 2016 season, and lefthanded reliever Dean Kiekhefer were lost by the Cardinals through waiver claims Friday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks plucked lefthanded-hitting outfielder Hazelbaker and the Seattle Mariners claimed Kiekhefer. Hazelbaker, 29, was one of nine Cardinals to hit 10 or more homers in 2016. He finished with 12 homers and 28 runs batted in while batting .235 in 200 at-bats.
Kiekhefer, 27. was 0-0 with a 5.32 earned run average in 26 innings.
The Cardinals had placed both on waivers, hoping to outright them to the minors when they removed pitchers Tyler Lyons, Seth Maness and Lance Lynn from the 60-day disabled list, running their total of players on the big-league roster to the maximum of 40.