SEATTLE(AP)—Ryan Garko and the Mariners have agreed to a $550,000, one-year contract, as Seattle tries to address its need for a right-handed hitter.
Terms of the contract obtained Monday by The Associated Press show the 29-year-old first baseman and designated hitter could nearly double his salary, to $1,075,000, if he becomes a regular for Seattle with 600 plate appearances.
Garko's a lousy baserunner and he can't really play defense, but he's got a career .313/.392/.495 batting line against lefties, which was good enough to find him an employer. Of course, that batting line has come over just 485 plate appearances and built in is a .336 BABIP, so, y'know, whatever. We'll see how this goes. More later when one of us has a little more time, but at first thought, this has to mean they're going with an 11-man pitching staff, right?