Seattle Mariners

Over the last couple of days, I have read every rumor I can find about the Mariners: which free agents are they interested in, which players are they looking at in trades, etc...etc...etc...and about the only logical conclusion at this point is that the Mariners, especially GM Z, are seriously looking at every big-name free agent on the market. 

What that means is that the front office is in a position to spend, and if ownership agrees, the M's could have a very different look in 2010. 

Let's take a look at the players that the M's have been linked to so far.

According to mlbtraderumors.com , the Seattle Mariners signed SS Jack Wilson to a two-year, $10 million contract. Wilson is known as best defensive shortstop in the MLB as he posted best UZR among all shortstops, but his 2010 option was bit expensive($8.4 million) so the Mariners were trying to rework his contract.

This deal gives the Mariners a decent everyday shortstop as they played Yuniesky Betancourt on the opening day last year. The Mariners' already impressive defence looks even better with this move.

Jason Bay. Lyle Overbay. No, they don't play for Tampa Bay. But they may be playing for the city on the (Puget) "Sound," if the Seattle Mariners, or at least Mariners writers like Andy Augur, have their way.

In 2009, the Mariners were something like No. 7 in the American League playoff sweepstakes. That was despite American League-leading team pitching.

Remember 1997? Spice Girls. Titanic. The Simpsons (back when it was still good). And Ken Griffey Jr.

Ok, so maybe Griffey wasn’t a pop culture icon like Baby Spice, Leo, or Homer J(ay), but he was the unquestioned king of baseball.

He hit home runs. He made great plays. He smiled. He had fun playing. We had fun watching.

Griffey was the type of superstar professional sports yearn for. Yes, he was a little cocky with his home run strut, but what star athlete isn’t?

Griffey had a presence.

Some months ago, I found some old news articles on John Wetteland's playing days and assembled them into a post on his personality during his teens, as well as his time with the Dodgers and Yankees, in 1989 and 1990, then again in 1995.

Today's news about him calls for a need to understand something about his past and how it likely relates to his hospitalization in Texas.

Some weeks back I had a spare hour on my hands, and wanting to not get swallowed up by fond nostalgia for the 1995 Mariners, I put together a starting lineup and roster of the best ex-Mariners. These are guys who played however briefly at the Kingdome or Safeco, were traded, signed with other teams, or were simply released, and went on to star elsewhere.

It’s official.  Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to the Seattle Mariners in 2010.  This can only be good news for a team looking to carry over the momentum from 2009, when they rebounded from their first 100-loss season in 25 years and finished 85-77.

Griffey’s statistics in 2009 may not look particularly impressive (.214 batting average, 19 home runs, and 57 RBIs), but there’s no doubting the impact the living legend had on the Mariners last season.

There were very few things that Seattle Mariners centerfielder Franklin Gutierrez couldn’t catch in 2009; so few things that he earned the nickname “Death To Flying Things.”

A Rawlings Gold Glove award, baseball’s highest accolade for defensive prowess, however, was one of those things Gutierrez just couldn’t snag.