11:44am: Bloomquist's deal is expected to be a two-year pact in the $5-6MM range, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).
10:49am: The Mariners are nearing a deal with free agent utility player Willie Bloomquist, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
Bloomquist, a client of Scott Boras, batted .317/.360/.367 without a homer or stolen base in 139 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks in 2013. Bloomquist has spent the past three seasons in Arizona, batting a combined .289/.328/.368 with four homers — all of which came back in 2011. The 36-year-old served as a Swiss army knife for manager Kirk Gibson, playing shortstop, second base, third base, left field and right field in his time with the D-Backs.
A deal with Seattle would be a homecoming for Bloomquist in multiple ways. Bloomquist is a Washington native and also spent the first seven seasons of his big league career in Seattle after being selected by the M's in the third round of the 1999 draft.
This post was originally published on Dec. 2, 2013.
