While it appears Seattle Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz avoided a major injury, the team will play it safe with their 37-year-old slugger and hold him out of the lineup for the next week by placing him on the 10-day disabled list. In a corresponding move, the team called up infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter.

Cruz first suffered the injury on Saturday when he slipped on a step in the dugout and twisted his ankle. Seattle immediately pulled him from the game and have x-rays revealed no fractures, the team sent him for an MRI on Sunday. While the results took longer than expected, results on Monday indicated Cruz avoided any ligament damage to his ankle and it would just be a day-to-day injury once the soreness and swelling went down.

The move to place Cruz on the disabled list makes a lot of sense from multiple perspectives. First, it opens up a roster spot for a player the team can actually use in its two-game series against the San Francisco 49ers and gives the team more infield and outfield depth for the next week. If Cruz wasn't placed on the disabled list, he only would have been able to serve as a pinch hitter for the team's two-day trip to San Francisco.

Eight days off will also help Cruz give his right quadriceps strain more time to heal. Cruz suffered the injury in early March and while he started as Seattle's designated hitter in its first two games of the season, he couldn't hustle out on ground balls as to not put more stress on the quad strain. Now he will have additional time to let both the ankle return to normal and get his quad strain closer to 100 percent.

For fantasy owners, expect Cruz back when he is first eligible. Even when he played through the quad strain, Cruz showed no negative effects from it as he hit two home runs in his first two games. He'll return to be a fantasy monster once he is healthy.