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Quick Hits: Cain, Garland, Guillen, Flores, Chen

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Spring Training complexes in Florida and Arizona are starting to come alive with baseball activity, but there are meaningful games already being played all across the country. Stanford right-hander Mark Appel – the current favorite to go first overall in this year's draft – allowed just two hits and one run in seven innings against Vanderbilt yesterday, kicking off the NCAA baseball season. Here's the latest from around the big leagues…

  • “We’d all like something resolved by the end of spring training,” said Matt Cain to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com when asked about a contract extension. “I don’t think either side wants that to linger into the season.” Cain has already indicated that he will not give the Giants a hometown discount after already signing one team friendly contract.
  • Jon Garland will take his physical on Monday, reports Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland-Plain Dealer (on Twitter). Garland agreed to a minor league deal with the Indians earlier this week, but the physical is far from routine after shoulder surgery.
  • Carlos Guillen told MLB.com's Greg Johns that he had other opportunities, but chose to return to the Mariners on a minor league contract. "I decided to come here because this is my first house," he said. "I know the city, and I'm happy to be back."
  • Jesus Flores told Amanda Comak of The Washington Times that he hadn't planned on being a backup catcher at this point of his career, but asking the Nationals for a trade is "not on [his] mind." The 27-year-old Flores will backup Wilson Ramos this season.
  • Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen hasn't even thrown a pitch since signing a three-year, sub-$12MM deal with Orioles earlier this offseason, but he's already told Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun that he hopes to stay in MLB for the next ten years (Twitter link).
  • Rod Barajas told MLB.com's Tom Singer that he's excited to be reunited with A.J. Burnett. Barajas and Burnett played together with the Blue Jays before both landing with the Pirates this offseason.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Mike Wilson

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Let's keep track of the day's outright assignments right here…

  • Mike Wilson accepted his outright assignment and is back in camp with the Mariners, reports MLB.com's Greg Johns (on Twitter). Wilson had been designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Shawn Camp earlier this month. The 28-year-old outfielder hit .331/.418/.555 with 16 home runs in 388 plate appearances in his third pass at the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Mariners Sign Shawn Camp

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FEBRUARY 16: Camp's deal is worth $750K, MLBTR has learned.

FEBRUARY 6: The Mariners signed reliever Shawn Camp to a Major League deal, tweets Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle.  The Mariners announced the signings of Camp and Hong-Chih Kuo, noting they've designated catcher Chris Gimenez and outfielder Mike Wilson to open spots on the 40-man roster for the new relievers.

Camp, 36, posted a 4.21 ERA, 4.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.41 HR/9, and 53.5% groundball rate in 66 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays last year.  His agent Dave Meier did well in scoring a Major League deal this late in the offseason.  Camp was a Type B free agent this winter, but the Blue Jays did not offer arbitration and will not receive draft pick compensation.  The Mariners have added to their bullpen on the cheap this winter with Camp, Kuo, George Sherrill, and Aaron Heilman.

Gimenez, 29, was non-tendered in December but then quickly re-signed to a big league deal.  Wilson, 28, hit .331/.418/.555 with 16 home runs in 388 plate appearances in his third pass at the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Chris Gimenez Elects Free Agency

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The Mariners announced that catcher Chris Gimenez has declined an outright assignment and elected free agency. The Mariners had designated him for assignment last week to create 40-man roster space for Shawn Camp and Hong-Chih Kuo.

The Mariners non-tendered Gimenez in December, re-signing him to a Major League deal soon afterwards. The 29-year-old has a .171/.279/.272 line in 267 career plate appearances from 2009-11. He also has experience at first base and the corner outfield positions.

West Notes: Villalona, Darvish, Mariners

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A few notes to pass along out of baseball's West divisions …

  • Former Giants top prospect Angel Villalona is expected to report to Spring Training after missing the entirety of the past two seasons while dealing with legal issues in his native Dominican Republic, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Villalona, a first baseman, has been on the Giants' 40-man roster since last fall. He's 21 now, so he's hardly beyond old, but he'll have plenty of catching up to do.
  • The Rangers have a plan in place to ease Yu Darvish's transition from NPB to MLB, writes Tom Verducci of SI.com. Essential to their strategy is to ween Darvish off the high-pitch-count outings he frequently posted in Japan in favor of more efficient pitch counts. As well, the Rangers will limit Darvish's exposure to AL West opponents during Spring Training, and they could skip a couple of his starts in the second half.
  • Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has a look at how the Rangers and Angels positioned themselves shrewdly for their recent TV contracts, and cautions that it won't necessarily play out the same way for the Mariners — or other teams, for that matter.

Mariners Sign Hong-Chih Kuo

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TUESDAY: Kuo's $500K guarantee increases to $1MM on the active roster, and he can earn another $2.25MM in incentives, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

MONDAY: The Mariners signed lefty reliever Hong-Chih Kuo to a one-year, Major League contract, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.  Kuo has passed his physical, notes ESPN's Jayson Stark.  The Mariners will have to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Kuo, who is represented by Octagon.

Kuo, 30, allowed an earned run per inning in a difficult 2011 season with the Dodgers.  With a 1.96 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.37 HR/9, and 5.8 H/9 in 170 innings, Kuo had been one of the game's most dominant relievers over the three prior seasons when healthy.  He had a DL stint for an anxiety disorder last season, and in October endured his fifth career elbow surgery.  

Kuo, a native of Taiwan, will again team up with Mariners offseason acquisition George Sherrill.  They'll presumably be setting up closer Brandon League.

After Kuo was non-tendered by the Dodgers in December, they continued to show interest, as did a few other unknown West Coast teams.  As our free agent tracker shows, Mike Gonzalez and Arthur Rhodes are now the top available lefty relievers.

Quick Hits: Ankiel, Kuo, Oswalt, Reds, Nationals

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On this date in 1983, the Blue Jays traded Leon Roberts to the Royals for a minor leaguer by the name of Cecil Fielder.  Fielder made his Major League debut in 1985 and played for the Blue Jays through 1989 before having his contract sold to the Hanshin Tigers.  Fielder returned to MLB with the Detroit Tigers in 1990 where he made three All-Star appearances in his first four years with the club.  Here's a look at tonight's links..

Mariners Looking Closely At Hong-Chih Kuo

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SUNDAY: Kuo is "close to a decision on a landing place" for the 2012 season, agent Alan Chang told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).  Chang also confirmed that the Mariners are one of the teams that have shown "a lot of interest" in the left-hander (Twitter link).

SATURDAY: The Mariners are "looking closely" at Hong-Chih Kuo, reports Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times (on Twitter). It's unclear if they're close to a deal. Last week we heard that three West Coast teams were eyeing the southpaw, including his former team, the Dodgers.

Kuo, 30, was non-tendered earlier this offseason after allowing 49 baserunners and 29 runs in 27 innings last season. He was arguably the game's best reliever in 2010 though, allowing just 29 hits and eight runs (1.20 ERA) in 60 innings, striking out 73 (11.0 K/9) and walking just 18 (2.7 BB/9). Left-handed batters had no chance against him that season, hitting just .095/.159/.111 with 28 strikeouts in 69 plate appearances. Kuo has had five elbow operations – including two Tommy John surgeries – and battled anxiety problems in 2011.

Seattle has already signed lefty reliever George Sherrill earlier this offseason.

AL West Notes: Rangers, Trumbo, Morales, Mariners

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Here's the latest from the AL West…

  • The Rangers may be trying to trade Koji Uehara to clear payroll space for not necessarily Roy Oswalt, but rather a left-handed reliever like Mike Gonzalez, tweets FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.  We heard last month that Texas was interested in Gonzalez.  Both Uehara and Gonzalez were acquired by Texas in separate trades with the Orioles last summer, but while Gonzalez pitched for the Rangers throughout their playoff run, Uehara struggled in the ALDS and ALCS and was left off the World Series roster.  Uehara, who has a limited no-trade clause, already rejected one deal that would've sent him to the Blue Jays.
  • MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez looks at various scenarios facing the Angels surrounding Mark Trumbo's ability to play third base and Kendrys Morales' health.
  • The Mariners have two players on their 40-man roster who are out of options: Mike Carp and Cesar Jimenez.  As MLB.com's Greg Johns explains, Luis Rodriguez is also out of options but, as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training, he isn't on Seattle's 40-man roster.
  • Also from Johns' mailbag piece, he doesn't think the Mariners need to sign a veteran DH like Johnny Damon or Vladimir Guerrero, arguing that the playing time is better served for young players like Carp, Jesus Montero and Casper Wells.
  • The Mariners inquired about Yankees prospect Mason Williams during the Michael Pineda trade talks, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).  Williams, a 20-year-old center fielder, enjoyed a breakout campaign at low Class-A Staten Island last season, hitting .349/.395/.468 in just his second year of pro ball.  Heyman is "hearing raves" about Williams' potential.

Mariners Sign Carlos Guillen

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8:45pm: The Mariners will pay Guillen $1MM plus incentives based on plate appearances if he makes the team, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times tweets.

1:47pm: The Mariners announced they've signed infielder Carlos Guillen to a minor league contract with a spring training invite.  Guillen made his big league debut with the Mariners in 1998, becoming a regular at shortstop and third base for four years before being traded to the Tigers eight years ago.

Guillen, 36, was limited to 699 plate appearances for the Tigers over the last three seasons.  The Octagon client had knee surgery in September of 2010, delaying his 2011 debut.  Wrist and calf injuries affected the tail end of his campaign.

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