- Xavier Nady signed with Chicago, Jerry Hairston Jr. signed with San Diego, and Fernando Tatis is back with New York. I'm not saying the Mariners are running out of options, but they're definitely running out of what seemed like the obvious ones. Ken Rosenthal suggests they could get in the mix for Melvin Mora, another guy who would make some sense as a righty who can maybe kind of play a lot of positions, but I'm pretty sure that as soon as someone links the Mariners to a free agent the front office crosses him off the list, so who knows. Just in case there's any truth to this theory, I hear the M's are talking to Livan Hernandez.
- There is one free agent that Jon Paul Morosi says we won't have to worry about:
Good work, Jon.Mariners aren't in on free agent catcher Jose Molina, source says.
- If you're curious about the status of Erik Bedard, Ryan Divish has got you covered. Per Rick Griffin, Bedard's still at least three months away, and if he pushes his recovery window to the max, he may not return until June. And even then you're just talking about having him back on a mound, but not having him at 100%. All along, people have been cautioning that Bedard probably won't be back in game shape until the second half, and that's looking more and more likely, which would explain why he's been treated the way a pet dog treat your shoes when you get home from work. He'll eventually sign a contract, but whoever gives it to him will be doing so with the understanding that they'll be lucky to get 15 good starts.
I still want him, though. Can't help myself. - If you're curious about the status of Ken Griffey Jr., he's old and chubby.
- By the way, with articles coming out talking about how the Mariners have been working closely with Bedard through his rehab, some people have said that, hey, that's really cool, helping out a former player and all. Funny story: turns out they don't have a choice.
I'm not saying the Mariners aren't happy to do it, but when you're talking about an obligation, motives become kind of irrelevant.As with Bedard, Chavez's rehab and recovery is being done under the Mariners' watch since both were injured while playing for Seattle last year, even though neither remains on the team's roster.
Once they sign with another club, their care will shift to that team's training staff.
- So Johnny Damon's market crashed rather famously. Now it's coming out that there are a lot of teams who have interest in adding Damon at a lower cost. Which means Johnny Damon has a market again.
GM A: Well, we like him, but we don't like him at eight million.
Boras: Anybody?
GM B: Four million!
Boras: Please.
GM A: Five million!
GM B: Six million!
GM C: Seven million!
GM A: Eight million!
Boras: Sold.
GM A: Yes!
Damon's not going to get what he initially wanted, but there are enough teams sniffing around now that he may yet be able to avoid the full Abreu.
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