OAKLAND, Calif. � The Seattle Mariners placed Kenji Johjima on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a broken big toe, an injury that could sideline the Japanese catcher for two months.

The Mariners surprisingly selected catcher Guillermo Quiroz from Double-A West Tennessee to back up Rob Johnson, who started Tuesday night�s game against the Oakland Athletics. Replacing Johjima�s relatively lively bat with Johnson, who�s hitting just .188 with no homers this season, is another blow to one of the majors� least productive offenses.
The 32-year-old Johjima was injured Monday when Oakland�s Adam Kennedy accidentally spiked his left foot on a play at the plate. Johjima, who�s hitting .250 with 10 RBIs this season, stayed in the game and homered one inning later, but postgame X-rays revealed a serious injury.
Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said further tests Tuesday indicated Johjima will be out six to eight weeks � two weeks more than Wakamatsu anticipated Monday.
The Mariners then bypassed veteran Jamie Burke and rising youngsters Adam Moore and Jeff Clement to promote Quiroz, a former top prospect from Venezuela with 95 games of major league experience with four franchises, including 56 games in Baltimore last season.
�I had been with him in Texas, so I know his skill set,� said Wakamatsu, the Rangers� bench coach in 2007 when Quiroz played nine games with Texas. �I�ve seen him enough to know what to expect about his playing ability. The rest is going to be about how he plays when he gets the opportunity.�
To make room for Quiroz on the 40-man roster, left-hander Cesar Jimenez was transferred to the 60-day DL.
Johjima is on the disabled list for the second time this season after missing the second half of April with a strained hamstring. He has a .270 career batting average in four seasons with the Mariners.
Clement, the third overall pick in the 2005 draft, has a knee injury that�s preventing him from catching for Triple-A Tacoma, where he�s playing well as a designated hitter. Moore has been with Tacoma for just two weeks, batting .273 after his promotion from Double-A, and Wakamatsu said he �wasn�t quite ready.�
The Mariners also considered Burke, the 37-year-old veteran who played 98 games with Seattle over the past two seasons. Burke went 1 for 13 in four games with the Mariners during Johjima�s first DL stint this season.
�Jamie has a strong relationship with the pitching staff, but we talk about wanting to move forward with younger players,� said Wakamatsu, who broke the news to Burke in a pregame phone call. �It wasn�t an easy conversation.�