Mike Carp was optioned to AAA Tacoma.  There was a 0% chance he made the club out of Spring Training, so no surprise there.  I still like Carp slightly more than most, but he has to add something to his game to become a legitimate starter at first base.

Also, Yusmeiro Petit has been re-signed to a minor league deal.  He was released last week in some sort of procedural move.  I like the idea of having Petit around in AAA .

One more thing worth noting is that the Mariners released Luke Burnett.  I liked Burnett as a potential sleeper out of the 2008 draft, especially as a reliever, but he reportedly showed a whole lot of nothing last season.  Velocity gone, no workable secondary pitches, no control to speak of.  Ba-bye.

Veteran reliever who throws the heat but has little control and doesn’t have a history of missing bats.  He could surprise and make the big club, but I don’t like his chances much considering some of the other arms competing for those final bullpen spots.  He’s serviceable if you keep him away from lefties.

Yusmeiro Petit clears waivers

Picked up on waivers back in November and recently booted from the roster to make room for Erik Bedard.  Petit is a strike thrower that relies on deception and his outfield defense to get outs.  He’s had a big time home run problem in the big leagues, making Safeco Field one place he might succeed.  I’m glad we get to keep him, but he’s no better than the other #5 types on the roster right now.

Gaby Hernandez claimed by Boston Red Sox

I didn’t see this one coming.  Gaby was once a top prospect with the New York Mets and Florida Marlins, but his fastball has lost a few ticks and his curveball lost all bite.  Unreported injury?  Off the juice?  Lost his drive?  Who knows?  He was worth keeping around in the minor leagues just in case he somehow tapped into his former self, but the Gaby Hernandez we saw in Tacoma last season was not someone you worry about losing.  I was very surprised to see him claimed over Petit.

Tommy Everidge clears waivers

This is old news by now, but I never mentioned it and, like I said, may as well for archiving purposes.  Everidge was a placeholder for a similar but better and more experienced player.  That player turned out to be Ryan Garko.  Not much is expected from Everidge, but he’s a decent enough hitter that I’m sure Seattle isn’t complaining about trying to find a spot for him in Tacoma.  We could be in store for some entertaining defensive alignments in Tacoma once again this year.

All we have to worry about is the $1.5M at this point.  Assuming the escalators are tied to games, innings pitched and roster time it’s hard to imagine Bedard will max out the contract.  But, if he does or gets close, you have to think he’ll be earning it.

The mutual option is just a formality.  In order for Bedard to return on that option, both he and the Mariners have to agree to exercise it, and that rarely happens.  If Bedard puts together a relatively healthy season he’ll probably be looking to try and secure a multi-year deal via free agency, thus declining when the Mariners accept.  If Bedard has setback after setback or simply doesn’t pitch up to or near his former ability, he’ll accept and Seattle will decline.  At that price a mutual agreement doesn’t seem impossible, but it’s certainly unlikely.

I’ve got to think that Petit will be claimed when he hits the waiver wire.  If so, that’s too bad, but not a big loss considering the dozen other similar arms in-house.  If he clears, cool.

I was interested to see how the roster situation would shake out, assuming the team would find a way to keep that roster spot available.  But, as Dave mentions, Bedard can’t be placed on the 60-day DL until the season starts, so he’ll be using up one of those 40-man roster spots until then.  Ryan Feierabend and Kanekoa Texeira are probably the prime candidates to be cut if another player is brought in.

Bedard!

The Seattle Mariners made a move today, claiming RHP Yusmeiro Petit off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Petit is a nice free pickup, but don’t get too excited.  After all, the Diamondbacks gave up on the 24 year old.  He has lackluster stuff that is aided by a deceptive delivery, but has had a few flashes of brilliance in his young career.  Petit adds to Seattle’s back of the rotation and middle relief depth, but perhaps Seattle’s coaching staff believes he can be groomed into the middle of the rotation arm he was thought to be as one of baseball’s top rated prospects a few years back.  I’m not holding my breath, and chances are the Mariners will be trying to shove him through waivers again right before the regular season.