Mariners Bring Jon Garland To Camp

The Mariners have reportedly come to terms with former major league starting pitcher Jon Garland. The deal is supposed to be a minor league contract, so we can add Garland to the list of potential Rainiers starting pitchers.

Garland has not pitched since the summer of 2011, when he suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery. He’s 33 years old and has a career major league record of 132-119, with a 4.32 ERA. His best year was 2005, when he went 18-10, 3.50 and won a World Series championship with the White Sox.

Check out the link below from Ken Rosenthal, who talked to Garland and produced a glowing report. That’s a pretty positive story.

One thing we don’t know right now is if Garland is willing to put in some Triple-A time with the Rainiers as he tries to come back from the injury. Yes, he is supposedly signing a minor league deal – but often these types of deals include a clause in which the player can become a free agent if he doesn’t make the big league roster out of spring training. Garland is exactly the type of player who has earned the right to have that clause in his contract.

Unfortunately, it usually is not reported if a player has that contract option – so we probably won’t ever find out, unless one of the beat writers in spring training tracks down the info. Regardless, it will be interesting to track Garland’s progress during the Cactus League.

Speaking of spring training, it starts tomorrow. Woo!

Links:

• From the Seattle Times, we have Geoff Baker’s report on the Jon Garland signing.
• Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes that the Garland signing might work out well for the Mariners.
• Enrique Rojas reported that Felix Hernandez will skip the World Baseball Classic while he continues to finalize his huge contract extension. Felix confirmed and explained his decision on Twitter in a series of Spanish language messages to his Venezuelan fans.
• Felix’s on-going long-term contract extension is apparently being held up due to language regarding the health of his elbow. Any contract of this magnitude is going to have a lot of complexity to it. John McGrath tells us not to worry about it – yet.
• Here is a look at some of the bigger health-related contract stipulations in recent MLB history – a well-done piece by Larry Stone.
• Geoff Baker is down in Arizona and he thinks the Felix deal will be announced “in a day or two.”
• The News Tribune pre-spring series continued over the weekend with a look at the Mariners catching situation, and then a look at all of the outfielders. Today, they moved on to the starting rotation.
• Interesting piece from Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs: a recent history of teams moving in the fences. The Mariners, as you know, are moving in the fences.
• The webiste Bill James Online picked the Mariners as a surprise team for 2013. The article was not written by Bill James (although it is, in fact, online).
• Larry Stone has an all-of-baseball look at some of the interesting stories going into spring training.
• You know you want it: Jayson Stark’s spring training preview.
• ESPN’s Jim Caple opened his first pack of baseball cards of the year, and wrote about it. He got two ex-Rainiers, so thus the link.
• The last active member of the Tacoma Tigers is still going: Jason Giambi signed with the Cleveland Indians.
• In case you haven’t seen it yet, the San Francisco newspaper caught up with the new, short-haired Tim Lincecum (with photos). He looks like an internet poker whiz-kid.

Coming up Wednesday, we look at the Tacoma catching situation. I haven’t started writing it yet, but I can already tell the word “if” is going to be used a lot.

Minor League Depth

The Mariners added some minor league depth by signing free agents Eric Niesen and Kurt Fleming. One of them may surface in Tacoma this year.

Niesen is a 27-year-old left-handed pitcher who was a 3rd round draft pick by the Mets out of Wake Forest in 2007. He topped out at the Double-A level in the Mets system, was released, and ended up pitching for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League last year. His track record indicates that the Mariners signed him to help out the Double-A squad, but I suppose we could possibly see him in Tacoma.

Fleming is a 21-year-old outfielder recently released by the Atlanta Braves. He has not advanced out of the low minor leagues yet.

Links:

• Geoff Baker writes that the Mariners need to add an experienced starting pitcher. He also has a blog post on the Mariners payroll.
• Over at USS Mariner, Dave Cameron writes about the Mariners front office overhaul.
• Several former Rainiers have signed late-in-the-game free agent contracts, according to Baseball America. Matt Mangini to the Reds, Manny Delcarmen to Baltimore, Charlie Haeger to Boston, Nate Robertson to Texas, and Tug Hulett signed with the Marlins.
• For Baseball America subscribers, we have a brief piece on reliever Carter Capps.
• John Sickels wrote a “prospect retrospective” on former Rainiers pitcher Doug Fister. Fister was not expected to develop the way he did, so Sickels tried to figure out why.

Have a super weekend!

Mariners Pre-Spring Media Event – Triple-A Trickle-Down

Due to some nifty schedule-shifting help from a co-worker I was able to attend the Seattle Mariners “Pre-Spring Training Media Luncheon” yesterday at Safeco Field.

This annual event is a two-hour press conference in which numerous members of the organization speak about the upcoming season. You can really get a feel for what the team thinks its outlook is for the upcoming season, based on what they say and also by reading between the lines.

For 2013, I think that the permeating feel of the organization is this: “we’ve made small improvements the last two years by breaking in a bunch of rookies, and now we are trying to make a move over .500 by adding a few veterans to the mix. “

On the whole, it was a tone of cautious optimism.

For coverage of the major league side of the event, please check out the links below. All of the media outlets were there, and the coverage is top-notch.

Now, let’s get to the Tacoma side of the equation.

I hauled it up to Safeco specifically to talk to Mariners Director of Player Development Chris Gwynn, to get some scoop on what the 2013 Rainiers are going to look like. I have lots of details, so let’s do it bullet-point style.

• On the starting pitching prospects Brandon Maurer, Danny Hultzen, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker, Gwynn said “a lot of them could end up in Tacoma, probably all of them at some point” this season. Personally, I do think it is a reach for all four to break camp in the Triple-A rotation, but three of them plus Andrew Carraway and DJ Mitchell seems like a reasonable season-opening rotation.
• Infield prospects Stefen Romero and Brad Miller had similar seasons last year, putting up big numbers before and after mid-season promotions to Double-A Jackson. Gwynn thinks that one of the pair could open the season in Tacoma, but probably not both – and possibly neither. We’ll talk about this in the position-by-position outlook (starting next week!), but much of it will come down to who the Mariners send down at Tacoma at the end of spring training, and what openings remain on the Tacoma roster after that happens.
• Romero is a man without a position. Gwynn indicated that he’s about to become a man of many positions – it sounds like the Mariners are going to play him a lot of different spots, to increase his value via versatility.
• Carlos Triunfel (still pronounced “tru-en-fel” by people on the baseball side of the Mariners operation) and Nick Franklin will, in all likelihood, continue to flip-flop between second base and shortstop for Tacoma. However, I noticed that more people in the organization are willing to verbalize the fact that Triunfel is the superior defensive player at shortstop; it will be interesting to see if Franklin starts logging more time at second base.
• Gwynn was very cautious when talking about catching prospect Mike Zunino, reminding us that he has only 160 professional at-bats and has played in just 15 games at Double-A. He told me not to count on him opening the season in Tacoma; he suggested that Jesus Sucre and Brandon Bantz will be in the Tacoma catching mix. Also, it was noted that the Mariners still plan to sign a free agent catcher – maybe two.
• I heard even more strong reviews on Jesus Sucre’s defense behind the plate. I’m actually looking forward to seeing this.
• Gwynn – a veteran of the Triple-A Wars from his playing days – recognizes the value of a veteran rubber-armed guy like Brian Sweeney, who can be a real “pitching staff savior.” I can hear Daren Brown and Dwight Bernard releasing a sigh of relief from here.
• Center field is a potential problem area for the Rainiers. Gwynn lauded the defensive ability of Denny Almonte, who played all of 2012 at Double-A Jackson. Almonte seems primed for the promotion. Hopefully he won’t get hurt, because there doesn’t appear to be another true center fielder in the upper levels of the minor league system.
• With regards to the lack of Triple-A veterans signed this off-season (only first baseman Mike Jacobs has been acquired), Gwynn pointed to guys already in the organization as the veterans. Examples would be DJ Mitchell, Alex Liddi, Carlos Peguero, Brian Sweeney, Danny Farquhar, etc.

On the whole, the event succeeded in getting me excited about the season. Opening Day 2013, coming up on April 4 in lovely Fresno, California! The home opener is April 12 and you should mark that on your calendar right now.

Links:

• At The News Tribune, Ryan Divish wrote a recap of the event for the morning edition. For a longer recap with a few more details, check out Divish’s blog post.
• Also at the TNT, John McGrath wrote about Raul Ibanez and the leadership he is expected to provide.
• If you prefer your Mariners news to come from the Seattle Times, here is Larry Stone’s story on the event.
• Stone – who is a professional typist – typed entire transcripts of the media sessions for Eric Wedge (here) and Jack Zduriencik (here).
• Jeff Sullivan attended the event, which led to this happy result: he wrote about it.
• With rumblings that the Mariners and Felix Hernandez might work out a long-term contract extension, Rob Neyer reminds us that multiple-year contracts for pitchers rarely have a happy ending.
• Former Tacoma Rainiers owner Nick Lachey is coming back to town with his boys.
• Former Tacoma Rainiers manager and current Gig Harbor resident Dave Myers was officially announced as the returning Durham Bulls hitting coach – he’s had this position for several years now.
• In case you haven’t heard, the Arizona Diamondbacks traded Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves for a bushel of prospects. You can always rely on Baseball America to give you the lowdown on the prospects.
• I enjoyed this Fangraphs Q&A with 1970s relief pitcher Tom Burgmeier, in which he talks about bullpen usage in his day.
• I’m happy to read that the Tucson Padres have a radio deal for 2013. I was concerned that they might go silent in their “lame duck” season.

Next week we begin looking at the 2013 Rainiers position-by-position battles. I think we’ll start on the mound this year. First up: starting pitching candidates.

Mariners Reportedly Add Catcher

There were reports online yesterday that veteran backup catcher Ronny Paulino agreed to terms with the Mariners. We are still awaiting details of the contract – is it a major league deal and a spot on the 40-man roster, or a minor league deal with an invite to spring training?

Either way, Paulino has a real shot at winning the Mariners backup job. The team has only one catcher on the 40-man roster right now, and that is Jesus Montero. Prior to Paulino, the No. 2 catcher in the organization appeared to be Jesus Sucre, who I have penciled in as Tacoma’s everyday receiver to start the season.*

Paulino, 31, has roughly seven years of major league experience, including two seasons as the Pittsburgh Pirates starting catcher.

One interesting note for Rainiers fans: Paulino spent time in Triple-A Norfolk last year, logging 40 games there. It was his first minor league time since 2008. If he does sign a minor league contract, and somebody beats him out for the big league backup job, Paulino could be with the Rainiers this season.

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On a totally different note, I learned today I will be able to attend the Mariners media event Wednesday and still make it back to town in time for a speaking engagement which I previously thought was at the same time. It’s not. So, I’ll have a full report on the Mariners event for you on Thursday – a report that will look at the Tacoma-related news of the day.

Links:

• We start with Larry Stone’s report from the Seattle Times on the Ronny Paulino acquisition.
• Jeff Sullivan analyzed Paulino’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Here is Paulino’s MLB statistics page.
• After what must have been a long internal debate (sarcasm alert!), the Mariners decided to induct Ken Griffey Jr into their Hall of Fame.
• Huh. The Astros signed Erik Bedard to a minor league deal. He could be an Oklahoma Redhawk!
• Speaking of the Astros, their former broadcaster Dave Raymond has a free guest piece in Baseball Prospectus. The section titled “Lots of Exposure, Not Enough Underwear” contains some sad truths about the current state of this business.
• Thinking of going to Arizona for spring training? Get some tips from Dave Cameron’s guide.

* I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I just plain don’t believe that Mike Zunino is ready for Triple-A after only six weeks of professional baseball. Of course, he could prove me wrong in spring training.

Mariners Get More Morse

The Mariners reacquired former Rainiers slugger Mike Morse yesterday, sending John Jaso to Oakland as a part of a three-team trade. The A’s sent some prospects to Washington, who flipped Morse to the Mariners.

This trade caused some rather extreme reactions in the land of social media.

Morse is popular. Not just in Tacoma, where he played parts of four seasons and was a fan favorite. Morse won over the fans in Washington, where he had an incredible season at the plate in 2011.

However, the Mariners gave up Jaso, who built his own fan club by being the best hitter on a poor-hitting Mariners team last year.

The two drawbacks in the eyes of most analysts are big ones: Jaso has three years left on his contract while Morse has just one, and Jaso plays a position the Mariners now need help with while Morse is yet another in a long list of Mariners first basemen/DHs.

In addition to sorting out the 1B/DH/LF logjam, the Mariners will need to acquire a stop-gap catcher to share duties with Jesus Montero.

This leads me to some thoughts on catching prospect Mike Zunino, the Mariners first round draft pick last year.

Fans are going to place large expectations on Zunino, who now has a crystal-clear path to the majors. I think we all need to show some patience here.

Zunino has played in only 44 career minor league games. Buster Posey – the last college catching star to be drafted high in the first round and reach the majors in a hurry – needed 172 minor league games before he was ready. On top of that, it is unfair to compare Zunino to Posey; Posey is already a two-time championship player who has won an MVP award.

If Zunino develops into half the player Posey is, that would be a huge benefit for the Mariners. Considering catching loads in the minor leagues, Zunino is still slightly more than one year away from reaching the majors if he progresses as quickly as Posey did.

Just some food for thought on that one.

Links:

• We start with the news story on the trade from The News Tribune.
• On the TNT Mariners blog, Ryan Divish talked about the trade and has several links.
• Larry Stone of the Seattle Times is cautiously optimistic about the trade.
• Bloggers, however, have a different opinion. Dave Cameron thinks it’s a disaster, while Jeff Sullivan did a Q&A with himself about the trade.
• Rob Neyer isn’t convinced that this is a bad trade for the M’s, but he is concerned that it could be the deal that gets Jack Z fired.
• ESPN analyst Keith Law says the trade makes no sense for the Mariners.
• Three former Rainiers players are on the US Team in the World Baseball Classic: Adam Jones, R.A. Dickey, and Willie Bloomquist. The full roster is right here.
• According to an industry website, the Mariners hired a new broadcast partner to work with Rick Rizzs, and it’s Aaron Goldsmith. Goldsmith moved through the minors faster than anyone I have ever seen: he spent one year with Triple-A Pawtucket last year and has just two seasons of lead broadcast experience in the minors. This kid must be some sort of prodigy!

M’s Sign Potential Rainiers Reliever

The Mariners announced their list of non-roster spring training invitees late on Friday. This is of note for the Rainiers, as it is usually with this announcement that we learn of any minor league free agents that the team has signed.

This year, the list is almost all prospects who are not yet required to be protected on the 40-man roster. Then there are the two veterans signed to minor league deals that we already know about: first baseman Mike Jacobs and pitcher Jeremy Bonderman.

There was one surprise on the list: relief pitcher Jhonny Nunez was signed as a minor league free agent, and we can add him to the list of potential Rainiers.

Nunez is a 27-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic. He pitched in seven major league games with the White Sox in 2009, and has spent the last three seasons in the Triple-A International League, with Charlotte and Durham.

Last year with Durham, Nunez appeared in 22 games (three starts) and went 2-2 with a 6.57 ERA. He pitched only 37 innings, giving up 45 hits including eight home runs. He walked 26 and struck out 29.

Obviously, that is not a very strong season statistically. He was released by the Durham Bulls shortly after the all-star break.

It certainly appears that Nunez will have to look impressive in spring training in order to make the Rainiers roster.

Links:

• From Larry Stone at the Seattle Times, here is the complete list of non-roster invitees to major league spring training.
• Clint Hulsey has a thorough report on new (possible) Rainiers reliever Jhonny Nunez. I’ve had a personal contact tell me that Nunez, when healthy and at full strength, tops out at 92 miler per hour.
• No surprise here: former Rainiers outfielder Michael Saunders is going to play for Canada in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
• Baseball America reports that the Mariners have signed a teenage Dominican outfielder with the wonderful name of Luis Liberato.

Tough one for the Seahawks yesterday. The good news is that they are a very young team and this should be just the beginning for them.

Upton Says “No,” Rainiers Stay Intact

According to multiple reliable sources, yesterday Seattle worked out a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks to acquire young slugger Justin Upton – only to have Upton invoke a “no-trade clause” in his contract and veto the trade.

Just like that, no trade.

When I heard the rumored details, I thought to myself, “It’s too bad that didn’t go through, because the Mariners could really use Upton. But that trade would have destroyed the 2013 Rainiers!”

According to published reports, the Mariners would have given up:

• one of the three top pitching prospects, probably Taijuan Walker
• infielder Nick Franklin
• major league relievers Charlie Furbush and Steven Pryor

Purely from a big-league perspective, I like the deal. The Mariners would have traded two major league relief pitchers and two guys who might, someday, reach the majors for an established star. Upton can’t become a free agent until after the 2015 season so it’s not a “player rental” or anything like that.

(I know a lot of fans don’t want to trade the minor league prospects that the team has been hyping recently. Yes, the Mariners have been burned by doing this in the past – see Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera and Adam Jones – but all of those guys were traded for players who did not have a long-term purpose for the Mariners, whereas Upton would be here for a while. As a high-ranking baseball official I know likes to say, “You know what a prospect is? A minor leaguer.”).

Once I let the nixed deal settle into my brain a bit, I realized something: it would have crushed the 2013 Rainiers roster.

Think about it:

• we lose one Tacoma starting pitcher
• we lose one Rainiers starting infielder, probably forcing team to rush-promote one of the AA guys
• we lose two Tacoma relievers to the big leagues

The last problem appears that it would have been the biggest right now. Unless the Mariners sign one or two Triple-A/MLB vets to minor league deals before spring training (think Josh Kinney/Oliver Perez/Sean Henn from last year), the Rainiers are going to be very young and inexperienced in the bullpen. This trade would have really thinned it out!

The other thought I had: “I can’t wait to see the crazy numbers Nick Franklin would post in that launching pad at Reno.” Glad we don’t have to worry about that now.

OK, wow, that was a lot of wasted words on something that didn’t happen. Moving along now.

Links:

• We start with The News Tribune’s story on the vetoed trade.
• Over at the Seattle Times, Larry Stone has a similar story on the Upton-nixed deal.
• On his blog, Stone analyzed the would-have-been trade.
• This is the original report of Upton’s decision from Fox Sports.
• At USS Mariner, Dave Cameron explains about no-trade clauses and how teams can work around them.
• Using a lot of math and logic on his national site Fangraphs, Cameron comes to essentially the same conclusion that I did (minus the Rainiers aspects).
• Larry Stone caught up with Edgar Martinez in the aftermath of the Hall Of Fame vote. Edgar knows its going to be a long process.
• It’s not Mariners-related, but it’s an enlightening story anyway. Old buddy Corey Brock has an excellent piece on Padres minor leaguers, what they get paid, and what they do during the off-season. One Tucson Padres player spent an off-season hosting a Trivia Night & Burlesque show.
• No Mariners made Keith Law’s ESPN list of the top 25 players under the age of 25, but it’s still fun to read.
• In the PCL, Las Vegas 51s radio guy Russ Langer won the Nevada Sportscaster of the Year… for the sixth year in a row. Dynasty!

This will be a fun football weekend. As many of you know, I grew up in the SF Bay Area and I am a Niners fan. That being said, I am rooting for both SF and Seattle to win this weekend. I think that 49ers-Seahawks, Round Three to see who goes to the Super Bowl would be the most fun game for next weekend. Go Niners and Seahawks!

New Rainiers, Volume One: Mike Jacobs

Today the Mariners announced that they have signed veteran first baseman Mike Jacobs to a minor league contract, with an invitation to major league spring training. Jacobs is the first new player the Mariners have signed this winter who is highly likely to start the season with Tacoma.

A former major leaguer of some regard, Jacobs has spent the past two seasons in the PCL, with very different outcomes.

In 2011, Jacobs was blasting home runs for Colorado Springs, hitting .298 with 23 homers and 97 RBI when suddenly on August 11 he was suspended 50 games for failing a drug test – for human growth hormone. He was the first American professional athlete to fail an HGH test. He was immediately released by the Rockies.

As Larry Stone writes in the first link down below, Jacobs was very forthcoming and honest about the situation at the time.

The Arizona Diamondbacks appreciated his honesty and decided to give him a shot in 2012. Once he served the suspension, Jacobs joined the soon-to-be PCL champion Reno Aces and hit .279 with 18 homers and 60 RBI in 101 games. He was eventually called up by the Diamondbacks in September, logging his first big league time since 2010.

Jacobs biggest claim to fame on the field is his membership in the 2008 Florida Marlins infield: the first ever MLB infield in which all four players hit 25 or more home runs. Jacobs played first base and hit 32 bombs, Dan Uggla was at second and he hit 32 homers, Hanley Ramirez was at shortstop and he blasted 33 dingers, and Jorge Cantu handled third base while ripping 29 taters.

Jacobs has hit exactly 100 career major league home runs.

What can the Rainiers expect from Jacobs in 2013? A good question, because there is a big red flag waving in the sky: Jacobs last two seasons in the PCL were played in launching pads.

Reno is now the best hitter’s park in the PCL, and last year Jacobs had a slash line of 329/391/569 in home games. On the road, he hit a rather soft 229/335/404.

On the other hand, during 2011 in pre-humidor Colorado Springs he hit 302/386/502 at home and 294/365/565 on the road. That year he knocked 14 of his 23 home runs away from high-elevation Colorado Springs. Yes, this was the HGH season, but that shouldn’t matter in terms of home/road, right?

Hopefully Jacobs will provide some punch in the middle of the Tacoma lineup. He’ll fit in the Luis Jimenez role, but with better defensive skills. The fact that he bats left-handed is a plus, too – as far as I can see right now, the only other left-handed power hitter Tacoma will possibly have is Carlos Peguero (and switch-hitting Nick Franklin if you want to count him – I suppose we should, since his power comes from the left side).

A few Links:

• Larry Stone has a post on the Mike Jacobs signing, in which he notes that Jacobs handled the HGH situation with honesty and candor.
• At The News Tribune’s Mariners Blog, Ryan Divish rang in the new year with his resolutions about covering the Mariners in 2013. Among them he resolves to watch the Rainiers when possible – because the team should be loaded with highly-regarded prospects. More on this later…
• The No. 1 minor league free agent I wanted the Mariners to sign for Tacoma was outfielder Andrew Brown – but the Mets grabbed him, and he’ll probably play for Triple-A Las Vegas this year. Look for him to put up huge numbers.
• Two recent Rainiers pitchers who are veteran minor leaguers signed with other teams: Jeff Marquez went to the Cincinnati Reds (Louisville), and Fabio Castro went to the Dodgers (Albuquerque).
• In advance of his upcoming Mariners top prospects list, prospect analyst John Sickels started a Seattle Mariners organization discussion. Join in if you would like.

Three Months To Opening Day

Happy New Year, and all of that!

We have hung a new calendar on the wall here at the Tacoma Rainiers North End Satellite Office (code for “my house”) and it reveals that opening day is just three months away. Tacoma opens on the road on April 4 at Fresno, and the home opener at Cheney Stadium will be on Friday, April 12 when the Sacramento River Cats come to town.

It’s time to start looking forward to 2013, although the heavy work here on the blog won’t start until February. That’s when we’ll begin our position-by-position rundown of the spring training battles for spots on the Mariners MLB and Triple-A rosters.

In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye on late Mariners moves. Rumors continued to spread over the holiday break that the M’s have been active in trade discussions, and the team is not done trying to improve for 2013. Could we have a blockbuster before spring training? It certainly seems possible.

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One thing that did happen over the break: the Mariners officially signed Raul Ibanez, and made room for him on the 40-man roster by designating Tacoma pitcher DJ Mitchell for assignment. We do not know yet if Mitchell cleared waivers (not enough time has passed).

Mitchell pitched very well for Tacoma last year after being acquired in the Ichiro trade, putting up  2.96 ERA in eight starts. While not possessing overpowering stuff, Mitchell showed good poise and intelligence on the hill – he’s a guy who, as the cliché goes, “knows how to pitch.” Tacoma could certainly use him in 2013 if he clears waivers.

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I hope you had good holidays, and are ready for the new year. We’re back to the regular off-season schedule here on the blog: I’ll be posting 2-3 times a week as needed until spring training starts.

Links:

• Jack Z says that the Mariners aren’t done making moves, Geoff Baker writes.
• Greg Johns has ten questions for the Mariners entering the new year.
• Former Rainiers pitcher John “Perfect Game” Halama is now a pitching coach.
• This is my favorite story of 2013 so far: New Mexico head basketball coach Steve Alford drew two technical fouls and was ejected from a game by former Albuquerque Isotopes manager (and ex-major leaguer) Tracy Woodson. Woodson is now a college basketball official. Isotopes Park is directly across the street from New Mexico’s home basketball arena, “The Pit.”

Mariners Bring Back Raul

Former Tacoma Rainiers slugger Raul Ibanez has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners, according to multiple reports. This will be his third go-around with the Mariners.

The 40-year-old Ibanez played for Tacoma from 1996 through 2000, and he came back on an injury rehabilitation assignment in 2004. He ranks in the top-20 on the Tacoma all-time career leaderboards in hits (17th), runs (16th), total bases (16th), doubles (16th), and runs batted in (18th).

When he was in Tacoma initially as a young up-and-comer, he spent a lot of time here – mostly because Mariners skipper Lou Piniella was unsure if Ibanez could hit major league pitching. It wasn’t until Ibanez became a minor league free agent and signed with Kansas City that he finally got a true big league opportunity, and he made the most of it.

For his career, Ibanez has 1,883 hits and 271 home runs – not including an additional six home runs in the playoffs, half of which came just three months ago for the Yankees.

The general reaction among many Mariners fans seems to be, “I like Raul, but his career is just about over. Why did they sign him?”

That’s a good question, and I think I know why.

Eric Wedge has spoken in the past about the team needing a veteran influence on the roster. Ibanez fits the profile perfectly – he is extremely popular in the clubhouse, one of the most respected players in the game for his work ethic and how he handles himself. The Mariners are hoping this rubs off on the young position players surrounding him.

As for playing time, I would be surprised if Ibanez is more than a pinch-hitter and occasional spot-starter in favorable match-ups. Maybe he’ll get hot at some point and play regularly for a week or two, but in the big picture I would not expect him to take meaningful playing time away from any of the young players.

Raul is truly one of the nice human beings in the game. It’s thrown about all the time that such-and-such player is “a good guy,” but the reality is that almost all baseball players are good people – just like regular people everywhere. That being said, Raul stands out above the crowd in terms of how he handles himself around the team, both publicly and privately.

It will  be good to have him in a Seattle uniform this season, and I suspect that the club would be proud to have him retire as a Mariner.

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The Mariners also signed former major league starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman to a minor league contract, and I suppose we must consider him as a potential Rainiers player – although it is a little early for that, because of this: Bonderman has not pitched since 2010 due to arm problems that eventually led to elbow surgery.

The Mariners are bringing the Pasco native in to spring training on a no-risk gamble. In fact, there are reports that the Mariners didn’t even scout him in-person; they just said “come to spring training and we’ll take a look.”

So that’s exactly what they will do: keep an eye on Bonderman. He had Tommy John surgery in April and recently began throwing again. Even if he looks promising in March, don’t be surprised if he has to stay back in extended spring training before joining a team, building up arm strength.

Links:

• Stories on Raul Ibanez signing with the Mariners: one from Ryan Divish of The News Tribune, and one from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.
• In this blog post, Baker talked to Ibanez to get his thoughts on coming back. Not surprisingly, Raul is already talking about helping the young kids.
• As I post this, the Mariners have not made a complimentary move to fit Ibanez on the 40-man roster. They have reached a point where it is hard to find a player on the roster who has a good chance of getting through waivers (the last player removed, Mauricio Robles, was claimed by the Phillies). Don’t be surprised if they make a small trade instead, moving a 40-man roster player to another club in exchange for a prospect who is not on the 40-man.
• Here is more on the Mariners signing pitcher Jeremy Bonderman.
• Former Rainiers in the latest round of Baseball America’s minor league transactions: Brad Nelson signed with his home-state Iowa Cubs, and Ryan Langerhans inked a deal with Toronto.
• USA Today did a slideshow of 50 Strangest Sports Team Names. I was highly entertained – there is a little blurb on the origin of each name. As you might expect, Minor League Baseball is well-represented – but not so much as the colleges. Scottsdale Community College might have the best mascot. High schools are covered, too.
• In the PCL, the New Orleans Zephyrs are going to host their parent club the Miami Marlins in an exhibition game at Zephyr Field at the end of spring training. It will be the first major league exhibition in New Orleans since 1999.
• Looking for a last-second Christmas gift for a loved one? How about this 23,000 square foot mansion being sold by Chipper Jones?

Have a great holiday!