A couple news items trickled in today with regards to Mariner relievers.  First, Shawn Kelley had a “partial Tommy John procedure” performed and will be set to throw in about four months, as reported by Kirby Arnold.  I don’t know what a “partial Tommy John procedure” is exactly, but I would guess that it means the surgeons repaired elements from Kelley’s previous Tommy John surgery rather than doing the entire thing over again, as is sometimes required.

Also, as mentioned yesterday, Dan Cortes will not be going to the Arizona Fall League as originally planned.  Since yesterday’s post focused on the man who will be taking his place, we didn’t really talk about the reasons why Cortes may have been bumped.  Perhaps the Mariners decided he had thrown too many innings this year, or that they were planning on giving him a September callup which wouldn’t allow for much of a break between the end of his season and the start of the Arizona Fall League.  But today we found out, again via Arnold, that Cortes is instead going to be pitching in the Venezuelan winter league to “better prepare him — or at least let the organization gauge how ready he’ll be — for what they hope will be a key bullpen role on the big-league team next season.”

“We want to get Cortes to Latin America in winter ball and get him in front of pressure situations and the fans down there,” [Pedro] Grifol said. “Maybe we can expedite his development down there.”

This makes some sense.  While the Arizona Fall League offers good competition for its pitchers, Venezuela should feature some more experienced hitters, including current big leaguers.  Perhaps more importantly, the atmosphere down there should differ significantly from what he’d find in Arizona.  My understanding is that the players take it very seriously down there, in some cases even more than they do playing in the States.  Perhaps it will be more beneficial for Cortes to get into the 8th or 9th inning down there surrounded by a more rabid crowd with seemingly more on the line than to pitch in the same situation stateside.  At least, that’s the read I get from this decision.

I don’t know how long Kelley will be out, but if he’s slated to start throwing in January it seems like he could be ready to go by the start of the 2011 season.  Meanwhile, Cortes definitely figures into the plans.  Might these two contribute to a successful bullpen unit next season?

Coming into this season we thought the Mariners would have a pretty solid bullpen closing out games.  Kelley would lead into Mark Lowe, Brandon League and David Aardsma which, while occasionally scary, should have allowed the Mariners to shorten games more often than not.  But things didn’t all go to plan.  Kelley and Lowe suffered major injuries, League didn’t feature the death split/change that made him an exciting addition while Aardsma struggled through May and June.  The 2010 Mariner bullpen featured much more Sean White than any of us would like, while no one could have predicted the amount of innings racked up by guys like Brian Sweeney, Jesus Colome, Jamey Wright, Chris Seddon and Garrett Olson, none of whom have been very good.

It’s hard to tell if the Mariners will be better off this year, simply because it’s impossible to know who will be around.  But with the way things sit now there are reasons to be optimistic.

Of those currently at the big league level, Aardsma and League appear to be the only two you would want to carry over.  That may or may not happen, as Aardsma and to a lesser extent League figure to be involved in trade rumors this offseason, but we can probably pencil in at least one of them as the closer.  Behind those two the Mariners have two more stud relief prospects who figure to make the Opening Day roster in Cortes and Josh Lueke, both of whom have been called future closers this season.  There is no reason to think these guys can’t handle 6th or even 7th inning duties right off the bat.  Additionally, Anthony Varvaro could be deemed ready to go and could serve as a suitable option for the middle innings.  If Josh Fields has a strong fall league and Spring Training he could be in the mix as well.  Of course, Kelley figures into the mix as well if he’s healthy.

Not all of those guys will make the squad, of course, but that’s a nice base to draw from.

Aardsma
League
Kelley
Cortes
Lueke
Varvaro
Fields

And there will be plenty of others, as always, competing for jobs, and we know how uncommon it is for someone to come out of nowhere to win a spot.  Just about all the current bullpen guys will be in the mix and have a shot with decent spring performances.  Sweeney and Wright won’t fill the Mariners journeyman quota however, and there’s no telling who will end up in Mariners camp.  And beyond some of the youngins listed above, there are other young talents who could surprise and win a big league spot.  Someone like 2010 draft pick Stephen Pryor, who has 50 strikeouts to 13 walks in 32.1 innings between Everett and Clinton so far this year thanks to a near-100 mph heater; control lefty and 2009 pick Brian Moran, who has 77 strikeouts to just 8 walks over 65.2 impressive innings between Clinton and High Desert; or countless others.

It can always come crashing down, but as for now I don’t hate the way the Mariners are set up in the ‘pen for next season.