Mariners Rumors

Relievers On Boston’s Radar

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 15, 2010 at 4:23pm CDT

4:23pm: The Red Sox are having ongoing discussions with Dan Wheeler about a possible deal, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. One of Speier's sources is optimistic about the negotiations.

1:16pm: The Red Sox liked Matt Guerrier well enough to offer him a two-year deal, but the Dodgers offered a third guaranteed year and the right-hander has agreed to play for Los Angeles. The Red Sox will have to move on to other targets as they look to round out their 'pen. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has the details on what he says is the biggest challenge of the offseason for GM Theo Epstein.

Two former Twins, right-hander Jesse Crain and left-hander Brian Fuentes are the team’s priorities now. The Red Sox are also considering trades and would “love” to reacquire Justin Masterson, according to Cafardo. The Indians have been reluctant to part with Masterson, whom they acquired in the 2009 Victor Martinez trade.

There are a number of alternatives for Epstein to pursue, including Indians relievers Joe Smith and Rafael Perez, who “could be on Boston’s radar.” The A’s are likely willing to listen on their relievers and the Mariners would listen on David Aardsma, Cafardo writes.

Mariners Sign Langerhans, Bautista, Gimenez, Ring

By Tim Dierkes | December 14, 2010 at 1:34pm CDT

The Mariners announced they've signed four players to minor league deals with spring training invites today: outfielder Ryan Langerhans, reliever Denny Bautista, catcher Chris Gimenez, and reliever Royce Ring.

Langerhans, 31 in February, hit .207/.328/.351 in 254 plate appearances over the last two seasons with the Mariners, playing mostly left field. He was non-tendered by the Mariners a year ago, re-signed shortly thereafter, designated for assignment in April, and outrighted in November.

Bautista, 28, posted a 3.74 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 7.2 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 33.3% groundball rate in 33 2/3 innings for the Giants this year. He averaged almost 95 mph on his fastball, but clearly had control issues. In a 22 2/3 inning Triple-A stint, his walk rate was down at 3.6 per nine.

Gimenez, 28 later this month, has 197 big league plate appearances with the Indians to his name. This year at Triple-A, he hit .276/.341/.464 in 219 plate appearances while spending time at catcher and the outfield corners. He can also handle the infield corners.

Ring, 30 later this month, posted a 1.93 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and 0.4 HR/9 in 42 Triple-A innings for the Yankees' affiliate this year. The southpaw posted a 9.8 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 against lefty batters.

Odds & Ends: Pavano, Red Sox, McCarthy, Lawrie

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 13, 2010 at 8:42pm CDT

More links for Monday night, as we wonder when and where Cliff Lee will sign…

Lee's not the only player nearing a decision. Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com hears that Edgar Renteria is close to a decision and leaning toward retuning to the Giants (Twitter link). The World Series MVP has a $1MM offer to return to San Francisco.
The Brewers have not offered Carl Pavano a formal contract yet, GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Bill James told the Red Sox he expects Carl Crawford to age well, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. James found that players like Crawford, who can play the outfield, get on base and hit for some power, often produce late in their careers.
Brandon McCarthy, who agreed to a deal with the A's today, says the Mariners expressed interest in him until they signed Erik Bedard, according to MLB.com's Greg Johns (on Twitter).
The Royals had interest in infield prospect Brett Lawrie before the Blue Jays acquired him from the Brewers, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun (on Twitter).
MLB executives told Jayson Stark of ESPN.com that the Phillies could trade Joe Blanton if they agree to eat half of the $17MM remaining on his contract through 2012 (Twitter link). The Phillies are considering moving Blanton to create space for Lee.

Mariners Designate Rob Johnson For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 13, 2010 at 3:45pm CDT

The Mariners designated catcher Rob Johnson for assignment to create roster space for new DH Jack Cust, the team announced. The Mariners now have ten days to trade Johnson, release him or outright him to the minors. Adam Moore and Miguel Olivo figure to be the team's primary catchers in 2011, though Johnson could remain in the organization as insurance.

Johnson, 27, has a .200/.282/.302 line in parts of four seasons with the Mariners. Last offseason, he underwent labrum surgery on both hips and had left wrist surgery. Johnson appeared in 61 games in 2010, batting .191/.293/.281 in 209 plate appearances. He threw out 35% of would-be base stealers, a career high (he has a 30% career mark).

Mariners Acquire Brendan Ryan

By Steve Adams | December 12, 2010 at 2:02pm CDT

The Mariners have acquired Brendan Ryan from the Cardinals in exchange for pitching prospect Maikel Cleto, according to a team press release. Because Cleto was on Seattle's 40-man roster, no corresponding roster move will need to be made.

Ryan, 29 in March, is an elite defender at shortstop, as his career UZR/150 mark of 11.4 at the position (in nearly 2400 innings) indicates. While he's not much with the bat (career .259/.314/.344), Ryan has decent speed and base-stealing success (39 SB in 415 games, 75% success) and won't cost the Mariners much. He's arbitration-eligible for the first time after earning just $425K last season. He could serve as a defensively efficient stopgap until top prospect Dustin Ackley is ready at second base.

Cleto, 21, came to the Mariners in the J.J. Putz deal almost exactly two years ago today. The Dominican right-hander throws in the upper-90s, but struggles with his control and secondary pitches, tweets Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus. Last season, pitching for the High Desert Mavericks in High-A, Cleto threw 102 1/3 innings over 23 games (21 starts), striking out 7.3/9 and walking 3.9/9. His 6.16 ERA was a result of allowing 11 hits per nine innings pitched.

The Twins had been linked to Ryan earlier this weekend, but will now likely turn elsewhere in their search for middle infield depth.

Odds & Ends: Guerrier, McCutchen, Blue Jays, Punto

By Mark Polishuk | December 10, 2010 at 9:46pm CDT

As the baseball world says goodbye to Cubs great Ron Santo, here are some news tidbits heading into the weekend…

The Red Sox have made an offer to reliever Matt Guerrier, reports WEEI.com's Alex Speier (as passed along in a tweet from WEEI.com's Rob Bradford).
Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looks at how Jay Bruce's extension might influence a future extension offer from the Pirates to Andrew McCutchen.
Lyle Overbay would be a familiar solution to Toronto's search for a first base/DH partner for Adam Lind, but MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm thinks Overbay "does not appear to be a good fit" since Overbay wants an everyday job. Chisholm's piece also contains several quotes from Alex Anthopoulos from the winter meetings and what the Jays might look to do during the rest of the offseason.
The Indians and Nick Punto had "meaningful negotiations" at the winter meetings, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
Manny Ramirez will receive $15MM in deferred payments from the Dodgers over the next three years and $1.94MM for each of the next 16 years from the Red Sox, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (with a tip of the cap to Cot's Baseball Contracts).
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times looks back at the 11-year contract Dave Stieb signed with the Blue Jays before the 1985 season.
Also from Stone, Jack Zduriencik says the Mariners could be in the market for an extra infielder.

Mariners Sign Jack Cust

By Tim Dierkes | December 10, 2010 at 5:54pm CDT

The Mariners have signed Jack Cust on a one-year deal, according to a team press release. No terms were announced, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets Cust's base salary is around $2.5MM.

Cust, 32 in January, hit .272/.395/.438 in 425 plate appearances for the Athletics before being non-tendered this month. He's spent time at the outfield corners and designated hitter, and will probably stick to the latter for Seattle. He is represented by TWC Sports.

Morosi (Twitter link) first broke the news of the agreement and the terms, with Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times adding that Cust can match last year's $2.65MM salary through incentives. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first tweeted a deal was close.

Mark Polishuk contributed to this post

Mariners Offer Contract To Laynce Nix

By Tim Dierkes | December 9, 2010 at 2:24pm CDT

The Mariners added Jack Cust and Miguel Olivo at the Winter Meetings, but they continue to tinker. The Ms offered a contract to outfielder Laynce Nix, tweets John Hickey of AOL Fanhouse.

Nix, 30, hit .291/.350/.455 in 182 plate appearances across 97 games for the Reds this year, playing mostly left field. He was shielded against lefties by manager Dusty Baker. Nix missed most of September with an ankle injury and was outrighted in November.

Mariners Reach Agreement With Miguel Olivo

By Tim Dierkes | December 9, 2010 at 1:17pm CDT

The Mariners won't be going young at catcher anytime soon. Today they reached an agreement with backstop Miguel Olivo on a two-year, $7MM deal, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes, "Adam Moore's stock with this team appears to have taken a hit." As you might expect, Olivo has been told he's the No. 1 catcher.

Olivo, 32, hit .269/.315/.449 with 14 home runs in 427 plate appearances for the Rockies this year. He caught 935 innings, throwing out 42% of attempted basestealers. Olivo previously played for the Mariners in parts of the '04 and '05 seasons after coming over from the White Sox in the Freddy Garcia trade. This is a nice contract for Olivo, who is represented by Martin Arburua. He's the fifth catcher to score a multiyear deal this winter.

The Rockies shipped Olivo to the Blue Jays in November, who declined his mutual option at the price of $500K and later offered him arbitration. They'll now get a supplementary draft pick for their troubles.

Mariners Offer Olivo Multiyear Deal?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 9, 2010 at 9:12am CDT

THURSDAY, 9:12am: Olivo has told people he expects to get a deal done with somebody today, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Baker notes that Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said he's had "in-depth dialogue" on a catcher.

WEDNESDAY, 8:31pm: The Mariners have not made an official offer, according to Ryan Divish of the Tacoma News Tribune (on Twitter).

8:10pm: The Mariners have offered Miguel Olivo a multiyear deal and are discussing a potential agreement with him, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). In 427 plate appearances for the Rockies last year, the nine-year veteran batted .269/.315/.449 with 14 homers. Olivo spent part of 2004-05 in Seattle.

The catcher declined arbitration from the Blue Jays after earning a $2MM base salary in 2010, so he and agent Martin Arburua presumably believe that there's more than $3MM or so available on the open market. Otherwise, they could have accepted Toronto's offer. If the Mariners complete a major league deal with the 32-year-old, the Blue Jays will obtain a supplementary first round pick.

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