Seattle Mariners News

Spring Training is just around the corner and the Mariners will open camp with high hopes, expectations and a few question marks.

Marcus Thames #33 of the Detroit Tigers runs to first during the game against the Seattle Mariners on April 18, 2009 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington.

Newly acquired starting pitcher Cliff Lee will miss the start of the Seattle Mariners spring training after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur on his left foot Friday, the team announced Monday.

Casey Kotchman and the Mariners agreed Wednesday to a one-year contract worth $3,517,500, settling Seattle's last salary arbitration case this year.

The Mariners are adding another right-handed bat to the mix -- first baseman Ryan Garko, who has agreed to a $550,000, one-year contract.

The key to everything these days is value how far can you make your dollar go? For $10, Mariners Fan Fest has an awful lot to offer.

Now is the time for Seattle to be a top contender in the AL West and American League.

This is the fourth in a 10-part series that will break down the storylines at each position in advance of spring training.

Ken Griffey Jr. is 'ripped' and ready to go for spring training. Baseball's active home run leader had his second arthroscopic knee surgery in 12 months in October, to remove a bone spur.

Free-agent pitcher Erik Bedard said he has agreed to contract with Mariners, was in Seattle for physical exam on Friday.

The Mets needed a good setup man to go with their closer, and seem to have found one in the amusingly named J.J. Putz , formerly of the Mariners, obtained in a complicated deal in which the Mets also got outfielder Jeremy Reed and another middle reliever, Sean Green, from the Mariners.

Tim Lincecum is prepared to hear some harsh criticism in an arbitration hearing with the San Francisco Giants - perhaps even delving into his offseason marijuana case.

Left-hander Erik Bedard was on the disabled list four times in his two injury-shortened seasons in Seattle, but at a base salary of less than $2 million, he could be a low-risk, high-reward acquisition for the Mariners.

In mid-1995, baseball seemed to be finished as the nation's pastime. A devastating strike ended the 1994 season in mid-August, and no one wanted anything to do with the replacement players that were trotted out for the following Spring Training.

PEORIA, Ariz. _ About 31/2 hours northwest of here, an Elvis tribute artist swivels his hips and melts the hearts of 70-year-old women during a two-hour show in Laughlin.

In 2004, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus, regarded as one of the leading expert on baseball injuries -- at least among non-doctors -- wrote an oft-cited article for Slate Magazine on the dire nature of labrum injuries.

They've all been locked up in long-term contracts by their current teams, that's where.

We all have our favorite Mariner memories. All of us that were alive in 1995 obviously have that playoff game against New York ranked high up there, and the 116-win season was a thing of beauty.

Suggested motto for the AL West: If you can't beat 'em, raid 'em. After watching the Angels win three consecutive division titles, the Rangers and Mariners went roster poaching and landed three players who had been vital to the Angels' success.

Tigers ace Justin Verlander has reportedly agreed to a five-year, $80 million deal with the Tigers.