Jerry Crasnick reports:

Aaron Heilman has reached agreement with the #Mariners on minor league deal with an invite to big league camp.

You might remember Aaron Heilman from his first turn as a Mariner, when he was acquired in the JJ Putz megadeal and shortly thereafter dealt for Ronny Cedeno and Garrett Olson.  See that picture on the right?  That’s from three years ago!

Heilman was inordinately unlucky with his HR/FB rate in 2011.  The league average tends to hover around 11-12 percent, and opposing hitters turned flyballs into dingers against the righty a whopping 20 percent of the time.  For reference, xFIP is basically FIP adjusted for luck on flyballs, and Heilman’s 2011 xFIP was more than a run and a half lower than his FIP.

I like Heilman as a bounce-back candidate.  He’d be hard-pressed to be unluckier, as he suffered from a .360 BABIP, and when hitters weren’t making contact against him, they were faring poorly; Heilman struck out 33 hitters and walked only 11 in 35 innings.

This boils down to a low risk move for a reliever with some upside, though it’s possible the M’s are looking at Heilman as a possible fifth starter.  Heilman actually began his major league as a starting pitcher, but he pitched terribly and was quickly sent to the bullpen.  The right-hander’s biggest problem is his control, and he’s done a better job limiting walks in the bullpen, so I personally hope the M’s resist the temptation to try and reconvert Heilman into a starter.