Looking for a place to sign a big free-agent contract this offseason? Go West, young man!

The Mariners must feel left out after seeing division rivals the Angels and Rangers make big free-agent splashes, so they may be trying to join in on the fun.

Seattle has reportedly made an offer to first baseman Prince Fielder, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.

According to Heyman, the Mariners have told Fielder what they’d be willing to pay him, and although it might not be an official offer, it certainly sounds like one.

“Seattle people love him but are said to have money limits,” he tweeted.

If Fielder were to agree to the offer from the offensively challenged Mariners, he would join Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson and potentially Yu Darvish the latest big-name free agent to sign in the AL West this offseason. So much for that East Coast bias you hear so much about.

Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Charlie Furbush throws to the plate during the first inning of their baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, in Anaheim.

Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning, rewarding Jerome Williams for pitching eight innings of one-hit ball in the Los Angeles Angels’ 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
Peter Bourjos added a run-scoring single in the eighth as Los Angeles trimmed the Texas Rangers’ AL West lead to 2½ games with a dramatic rally for its 10th win in 12 home games.
Williams (3-0) narrowly outdueled Seattle rookie left-hander Charlie Furbush (3-8), who held the Angels scoreless until the eighth.
Trayvon Robinson’s sixth-inning leadoff homer was the Mariners’ only hit off Williams, a journeyman right-hander who has made three strong starts for Los Angeles down the playoff stretch.
All-Star closer Jordan Walden pitched a hitless ninth for his 29th save as the Angels again gained ground on the defending AL champion Rangers, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays earlier Wednesday.
Williams struck out five and walked one in the latest step of his improbable comeback. He hadn’t won in the majors since Sept. 25, 2005, before beating Baltimore on Aug. 21, and he has filled a ging hole in the Angels’ top-heavy roster since Joel Pineiro and Tyler Chatwood both struggled in recent weeks.
Williams retired 15 of the Mariners’ first 16 hitters, yielding only Mike Carp’s leadoff walk in the second inning until Robinson connected. The Los Angeles native’s drive to right field was caught on the fly by a fan in the front row of the short porch in right field.
Both starters worked quickly and smoothly in the series finale on another uncomfortably warm night in Orange County until the big finish.
Furbush yielded five hits and one walk, throwing 100 pitches in the longest start of his career. The rookie has lost four straight starts with the club that acquired him from Detroit in late July, but he thoroughly dominated the Angels until his final inning.
The Angels finally rallied when Erick Aybar reached on a one-out infield single in the eighth, advancing to second on a wild pitch. After pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo walked, Izturis put a drive into the left-center g, easily scoring Aybar and pinch-runner Jeremy Moore.
Bourjos then connected against reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, scoring Aybar. The speedy Bourjos motored to third base when Wilhelmsen’s pickoff throw went past Justin Smoak, but Ichiro Suzuki bounced off the wall to make a leing catch on Torii Hunter’s inning-ending drive to right.
One night after Felix Hernandez limited the Angels’ surging offense to four hits and one unearned run in the Mariners’ skid-snping win, Furbush got agonizingly close to an impressive win. Despite his pedestrian record, Furbush has showed signs of dominance this season, notably pitching seven innings of one-run ball against the mighty Boston Red Sox last month.
The Mariners backed him with exceptional infield defense, including third baseman Alex Liddi’s difficult stop and throw to nip Hunter in the seventh.
NOTES: Liddi went 0 for 2 in his major league debut. The Italian-born infielder is the first graduate of the MLB European Academy to reach the majors. … The Angels have Thursday off before opening a weekend series against the New York Yankees, while the Mariners return home Thursday to face Kansas City in a four-game series. … Los Angeles has just one homestand left after facing New York. The Angels finish the regular season against AL West rivals Oakland and Texas.

Read More: Felix Hernandez (P – SEA), Ervin Santana (P – ANA), Gil Velazquez (SS – ANA), Alexi Amarista (2B – ANA), Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels, Sep 6, 2011 7:05 PM PDT

The Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners are set to battle Tuesday night in Anaheim in the second game of a three-game series. Ervin Santana and Felix Hernandez face off in what should be a great pitchers’ duel. Before the game, the Angels added a pair of infielders to the active roster, recalling Alexi Amarista and Gil Velazquez.

Amarista is in his third stint with the Angels this year. He has seven hits in 48 at-bats in 20 games with the Angels earlier this season. The 31-year old Velasquez hit .328 with 25 doubles and 17 stolen bases with Triple A Salt Lake this season. His last game in the majors came on May 16, 2009, while with the Boston Red Sox.

Here are Tuesday’s starting lineups:

Mariners (58-82)

Ichiro RF
Ryan SS
Ackley 2B
Carp DH
Smoak 1B
Olivo C
Seager 3B
Robinson LF
Saunders CF

Angels (77-64)

Izturis 2B
Aybar SS
Abreu DH
Hunter RF
Trumbo 1B
Callaspo 3B
Wells LF
Bourjos CF
Wilson C

Tuesday’s 7:05 p.m. PDT game will be televised by Fox Sports West. For more news and information on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.

(Sports Network) – Dan Haren hopes to sn a two-start losing streak this
evening when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim begin a three-game series with
the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium.

Haren’s most recent loss came at the hands of the Mariners on Wednesday when
he allowed two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 2-1 loss. He struck
out seven in the hard-luck decision, but fell to 13-8 on the year to go along
with a 3.16 ERA.

“I go out there and do what I can. I haven’t had the best of luck lately, but
it was a tough loss for the team,” Haren said after the game.

Haren has faced the Mariners 18 times and is 9-5 against them with a 2.51 ERA.

On Sunday, Bobby Abreu homered and scored twice as the Angels took a 4-1
victory over the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game set.

Joel Pineiro (6-6) earned his first win since July 9, going seven innings and
allowing one run on five hits and a walk.

“It feels nice. I was able to keep the ball down and I mixed my pitches,”
Pineiro said.

Jordan Walden pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 28th save of the year.

The Angels still sit 3 1/2 games behind Texas for first place in the AL West.

Seattle, meanwhile, has been relegated to the role of spoiler and comes into
tonight’s opener having lost four in a row following an 8-5 setback to Oakland
on Sunday. Dustin Ackley hit a two-run homer and Luis Rodriguez added two RBI
for the Mariners, who have lost eight of 10 overall.

Blake Beavan (3-5) allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings to take
the loss. The right-hander is 0-3 over his last five starts.

To make things worse for the 58-81 Mariners, outfielders Casper Wells and
Franklin Gutierrez left the game with injuries. Both are questionable for
tonight’s affair.

Hoping to turn things around tonight will be rookie Anthony Vazquez, who is
1-1 with a 11.57 ERA. After winning his big league debut, Vasquez was banged
around by the Angels on Tuesday for eight runs (seven earned) and seven hits
in just four innings.

“A little bit of it is nerves, but you can’t make excuses,” Vasquez said.
“First time up here you’re trying to get out of the gate the right way and it
just hasn’t hpened.”

The Angels have won 10 of their 16 matchups with the Mariners this season,
including six of the seven meetings at the Big A.

The Sports Network

The loss prevented the Angels from gaining ground on first-place Texas in the AL West. The Rangers, who earlier lost to Tampa Bay 5-1, maintained a 3½-game lead.

Hernandez, who allowed five hits, issued one walk and struck out nine, held the one-run lead with a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth complete game of the season and the 18th of his career.

Hernandez won last year’s Cy Young Award with a record-low 13 wins. He has received one run of support or fewer in 23 of his 62 starts dating to the beginning of the 2010 season, despite the seventh-lowest ERA (3.54) among AL starters.

“I was real excited about sending Felix out there in the ninth,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “He’s had some tough losses in low-scoring games in his career and this year, too.

“It’s a big deal. He’s our guy, a true ace, not just a No. 1, a true ace. When he’s out there he gives us a very good chance to win the ball game. Having said that, you’ve got to score some runs. Our guys stepped up and that means a great deal.”

Hernandez dueled with Angels starter Dan Haren (13-8), who gave up five hits in his 7 2-3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

At one point, Haren retired 15 consecutive batters. After a one-out double by Kyle Seager in the second, he didn’t allow another baserunner until Franklin Gutierrez’s one-out single in the seventh.

For eight-plus innings, it was a typical Hernandez-Haren matchup. The right-handers had opposed each other three times previously. Coming in, Hernandez was 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 26 strikeouts in his three starts. Haren was 1-1 with a 0.83 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

“I go out there and do what I can. I haven’t had the best of luck lately but it was a tough loss for the team,” Haren said. “He’s (Hernandez) got so many different pitches and different looks. He’s young … he’s terrific.”

Haren could not esce the eighth. With the Angels leading 1-0, the Mariners rallied with two outs. Gutierrez and Dustin Ackley singled, chasing Haren.

Left-hander Scott Downs entered and on a 2-1 pitch, Carp drilled his double to the base of the wall in left-center. That gave him 25 RBIs in August, tying Danny Tartabull for the most by a rookie in any month.

Carp, a left-handed hitter, is hitting .349 with five home runs and 15 RBIs against lefties this season.

“They still got to throw it over plate,” Carp said. “I got a pitch I could hit. I had to do my job and get at least one run in. I got two.”

Carp had a game-winning two-run homer Monday to beat the Angels 5-3.

Downs entered the game with 20 straight holds.

“He just got behind in the count and missed with a 2-1 sinker,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He left it up and more in the middle.

Felix Hernandez pitched a five-hitter and Mike Carp hit a two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 2-1 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

The loss prevented the Angels from gaining ground on first-place Texas in the AL West. The Rangers, who earlier lost to Tampa Bay 5-1, maintain a 3½-game lead.

Hernandez (13-11), who dueled with Angels starter Dan Haren all night, gave up five hits, walked one and struck out nine in his fifth complete game of the season.

At one point, Haren (13-8) retired 15 batters in a row. After a one-out double to Kyle Seager, he didn’t allow another baserunner until Franklin Gutierrez’s one-out single in the seventh.

Haren allowed two earned runs, walked one and struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings.

The Mariners built a rally in the seventh. With two outs, Seager singled to left and Casper Wells reached on an error by third baseman Alberto Callaspo. That brought up Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded. Haren induced Ryan to hit a one-hopper back to the mound for an easy putout.

But Haren could not esce the eighth. With two outs, the Mariners rallied again. Gutierrez singled and Dustin Ackley singled, moving Gutierrez to third and chasing Haren.

Scott Downs entered and on a 1-2 pitch, Carp drilled his double against the left-center-field wall. That gave him 25 RBI in August, tying Danny Tartabull for the most for a rookie in any month.

Carp also had a game-winning two-run home run Monday to beat the Angels.

The Angels’ run came in the third. Mike Trout opened with a single to center. Expecting a low-scoring game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia chose to manufacture a run. He had Jeff Mathis sacrifice Trout to second with bunt.

Erick Aybar struck out, giving Hernandez 1,240 career strikeouts. That moved him ahead of Jamie Moyer for second place on the franchise strikeout list. Randy Johnson leads with 2,162.

Howie Kendrick followed with a two-out single through the left side. Trout scored without a throw.

This was a typical Hernandez-Haren matchup. The right-handers had opposed each other three times previously. Coming in, Hernandez was 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 26 strikeouts in his three starts. Haren was 1-1 with a 0.83 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

Aybar had a bunt single in the eighth — the team’s major league-leading 34th — to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Ichiro Suzuki went hitless in his four at-bats to end his 13-game hitting streak.

Notes: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch threw out the first pitch. … Scioscia said that RH Jerome Williams, who has had two strong starts, “definitely has pitched well enough to continue to start.” He said the club will adjust the rotation over the final months to rest or move up starters. … The Mariners will bring up two and possibly three players Thursday when rosters expand. All three are likely to be pitchers. Mariners manager Eric Wedge said two more players will be promoted when the minor league seasons end. … RHP Ervin Santana (10-9, 3.24 ERA) takes the mound in the final game of the four-game series Thursday. He has worked at least seven innings in his last eight starts, going 6-1. He is 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 24 career starts against Seattle. … Seattle will start LHP Charlie Furbush, who is 2-3 with a 6.48 ERA in his six pearances since arriving in a July 30 trade with Detroit. In his first big-league start July 4 when he was with the Tigers, he lost to the Angels, 5-1.