Jon Garland will likely use the opt-out clause in his deal with the Mariners now that GM Jack Zduriencik has said there isn't any room for the veteran right-hander on the team's roster, reports Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle (Twitter links). "At this time we cannot commit a rotation spot to [Garland] or a roster spot," Zduriencik said.
Garland signed a minor league deal with the M's in February that contained an opt-out clause Garland could exercise if he wasn't on Seattle's Major League roster by today. The 33-year-old pitched well during Spring Training but it appears as if the Mariners will instead go with younger arms (Blake Beavan, Erasmo Ramirez, Brandon Maurer) to fill out their rotation behind Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Joe Saunders.
The Rockies have scouted Garland but only have "lukewarm" interest due to concerns about his durability, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. Garland has battled shoulder injuries that have kept him out of action since July 2011 but he averaged 205 IP per season from 2002-2010 and has a 4.32 ERA over 2083 1/3 career innings with the White Sox, Angels, Padres, Diamondbacks and Dodgers.
