Mariners hire Edgar Martinez as hitting coach, reassign HoJo (The Associated Press)

SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners have hired Edgar Martinez as their hitting coach and reassigned Howard Johnson to the minor league system.

Seattle made the announcement on Saturday before the second game of a weekend series against first-place Houston.

Martinez spent his entire 18-year major league career with the Mariners and is regarded as one of the best right-handed hitters of his generation. Popular with his teammates and fans, he joins a team that has the worst batting average in the majors at .233 and ranks 28th in runs scored.

The 52-year-old Martinez played 2,055 career games with Seattle and hit .312 with a .418 on-base percentage for his career, and won two AL batting titles.…