M’s sign Josh Bard and Chad Cordero to minor league deals with Spring Training invites

Apparently the Seattle Mariners aren’t confident in Eliezer Alfonzo being their “veteran presence” behind the plate, and have brought in Bard.  I figure Cordero is being brought back as a courtesy more than anything.  He showed very little last season while attempting to return from a torn labrum.  Hopefully he will continue to get stronger and his fastball will gain a few ticks.  He was sitting in the low 80s the one time I saw him last season.

For more on Bard, Lookout Landing has a good writeup.

The bullpen

As things stand now, the Seattle Mariners have a pretty solid (and cheap) bullpen.  Brandon League, David Aardsma and Mark Lowe would all compete for the role of stopper, with Sean White and Shawn Kelley shutting down opponents in the middle innings.  If the team were to go with a 11-man pitching staff the last spot might go to someone like Garrett Olson, who could pitch in long relief and be a late inning LOOGY depending on the day.  If they went with a 12-man staff, another young gun like Joshua Fields, Anthony Varvaro or Ricky Orta could nab the last spot.  That’s about as solid a bullpen as you’re going to get on the cheap.

But I have a hard time believing the Mariners will enter the 2010 season with all of those top five relievers.  Although it’s tough to know how Zduriencik wants to go about building a bullpen– we watched the “spaghetti on the wall” last year when resources were scarce– but does he want more stability or was he happy with the way things went last season?

The post-Brandon League trade quotes point to the latter, but early in the offseason I had a quote from an M’s scout (if I remember correctly–  someone in the know, at least) forwarded to me: “apparently [Zduriencik] wants to trade his entire bullpen.”  Hyperbole, sure, but with that in mind it seems like the League trade precludes another one that would send out Aardsma or Lowe.

But it doesn’t seem like there are many teams looking for relievers on the trade market.  Big free agent deals to so-so relievers Brandon Lyons and Fernando Rodney and to a lesser extent JJ Putz, Bobby Howry and Matt Capps suggest that teams would rather spend dollars than prospects to fill out their bullpen.  I still think Zduriencik will be trying to move a reliever, but if he can’t he won’t force a move.  I’m sure he’s got to be happy with being able to role out Kelley, Lowe, Aardsma and League to close out games after the 5th or 6th.

Mariners trying to extend Franklin Gutierrez 3-4 more seasons

This bit of news came out a while ago but was buried by the Milton Bradley talk.  Death to Flying Things is one of Seattle’s best players, and it’s always good to know your team is trying to keep its best players.  Gutierrez produced Seattle’s second highest WAR last season behind Felix Hernandez.  In 2010 he’ll again try to outdo the likes of Ichiro and Chone Figgins for top position player.

As I remember the report, the Mariners are trying to sign Gutierrez for 3 seasons with an option for a 4th year.  That means the Mariners are trying to buy out his arbitration years with an option on his first year of free agency.  That may not sound all that exciting, but it’s still a good move.

For one, the Mariners protect themselves from the arbitration process.  If Gutierrez continues to progress with the bat and arbitrators start putting an emphasis on defense like the rest of baseball has, he could be in line for some very substantial year-to-year raises.  Giving him guaranteed money will allow them to get a potential bargain.  Some teams get burned for buying out players, but Guti shouldn’t get enough to really tie Seattle up if things go south.

There are obvious reasons why the Mariners wouldn’t want to go more than three guaranteed years.  For one, health.  Gutierrez battled with a bum knee all season, and as one of those run-into-walls-on-a-regular-basis center fielders, his health is far from guaranteed.  Another Detroit situation could happen at any moment, and the next time the outcome may not be as favorable to the Mariners.

For another, last season was obviously a breakout year for him offensively.  While we all hope he builds on 2009, there is no guarantee that he continues to progress or even match it.  Next season there will be more of a book on him than in years past, and he’ll have to make some adjustments.

But giving him a guaranteed contract– even one that doesn’t keep him around much longer than he would have without– is the type of good faith move that can help keep him the next time extension talks roll around.

Milton Bradley’s effect on the 4th outfielder

As stated by the club after the trade, Milton Bradley should see time at both DH and in left field.

Let’s assume they mean that despite saying the same thing for Ken Griffey last year, and he barely saw any time in the field.  Of course, the situation is a little different.  Not only was Junior an injury risk, but he was a terrible defender as well.  Bradley can at least hold his own.

What kind of time split are we talking?  Who knows, but it makes for an interesting situation.  On days where Bradley is DHing, the Mariners will have to rely on their fourth outfielder.  Depending on how much time Bradley sees at DH– if we had our way that would be more often than not– that’s potentially a lot of playing time for that spare outfielder. Maybe 200-300+ plate appearances or more.  Do you feel comfortable giving that many at bats to one of the defensive minded fourth outfielders on staff (Ryan Langerhans, Corey Patterson)?

Langerhans is so good defensively that he doesn’t have to hit much to be an asset, but it would be nice to not have to sacrifice an offensive lineup spot to keep Bradley in the lineup.  That said, Langerhans in left and Bradley at DH has to be a better combo than Bradley in left and Griffey at DH, so maybe it’s not worth talking about anyway.  Should Seattle look for an upgrade over Langerhans?  (All assuming Mike Saunders starts the year in AAA.)