Last update: 11:20 pm, Sunday

As mentioned in the last post, Seattle Mariners Assistant GM Jeff Kingston has been speaking of the team’s intentions to bring in a right handed hitter for the bench as well as a pitcher the last couple of days at Mariners Fan Fest.

Saturday:

“We’re still looking at a couple more pieces here we  feel we’re pretty close on.  Still looking at another right handed bat, maybe help out at DH and first, and then add another pitcher.  Hopefully we’ll have some more of those items checked off our list here the next week.”

Sunday:

“We are still talking to some right handed bats that are out there on the market right now; we hope to land one here in the next week or so. I think our vision is someone who can help Ken Griffey in the DH spot, maybe spell Casey Kotchman at first base at times against left handed pitching; that’s where we see this player fitting in.  I’m not sure he’s going to be an impact type bat, but someone who can really help out against left handed pitching and give Grif and Kotchman days off at times. As far as the pitching, we are still trying to land a pitcher as well… we do anticipate landing a pitcher sometime in the next week.”

Some interesting stuff.  Two things I take from this with regards to the 1B/DH:

• “out there on the market right now” seems to imply free agents.  Obviously, there is the “trade market,” but I think it would have been worded differently if they were negotiating with other teams for said bat.
• Notice in both quotes that the focus seems to be on getting help for Griffey rather than Kotchman.  You could take this to mean that this bat isn’t necessarily a true first baseman, and also that Milton Bradley could see more time in the field that we’d all like (which is great for the batting lineup, but not for the defense and Bradley’s health).

Two guys jump to mind.  One is Ryan Garko, who I’ve brought up in previous posts, and the other is Jermaine Dye.

Garko is a not-terrible defensive first baseman who has some home run power to all fields, hits lefties well and is a pretty solid hitter overall.    His upside is limited, but I think he’s a known quantity and wouldn’t be much of a risk.

Dye is a little risky considering his age, but the guy still has some big time thunder in his bat (406 average home run distance last year) and mashes lefties (.894 OPS in 2009, .871 career).  He’s only played one game at first base in his big league career and a few more in the minors years ago, but he has stated this offseason that he is willing to play there if it helps him get a contract, and you’ve got to think he may be working out at first base this offseason if that is what he’s telling teams.  That second quote seems to describe Dye better than any available free agent– with the focus on DH rather than first base– and it’s no big surprise that there are some rumblings making their way across the interwebs that Dye is in Seattle for a physical.  I have no idea where this rumor first came from so I’m certainly skeptical, but it seems to match up with Kingston’s quotes.  Keep an eye on that (but please curb your enthusiasm until then).  Dye recently turned down an offer worth about $3.3M from the Chicago Cubs, according to reports.

More on how Dye would effect (handcuff?) the roster and what could be expected from him if he should sign.  Same with Garko or anyone else.