The Seattle Mariners have brought back catcher Chris Gimenez for another year. Gimenez had been non-tendered by the team earlier in the week, but was probably re-signed at the league minimum. The exact parameters of the deal haven’t been announced, but it is a Major League deal that places him on the 40-man roster right away.

The announcement of the signing is a little surprising, because it doesn’t seem like the Mariners actually have room on the roster for him. The team still has Miguel Olivo as the starter heading into the 2012 season, but they also traded for left-handed hitting catcher John Jaso from the Tampa Bay Rays. In that trade the Mariners dealt away pitcher Josh Lueke, this made it a serious investment towards Jaso becoming the heir-parent to Olivo.

The intent her could become that Gimenez will go to Triple-A Tacoma and get a call-up if the team has an injury to deal with in 2012. It’s an expensive option though, because he will make Major League money to do it. The team also has Adam Moore to battle for that role though, so the Mariners actually have four catchers set to make Major League salaries in the 2012 season.

In limited action for the Mariners in 2011, Gimenez hit .203 in 59 at-bats, playing in 24 games when the Mariners needed another catcher. He spent some time down in Tacoma as well, hitting .265 during a 13-game stint. He likely will get a chance to make the Major League roster in Spring Training, even though the deck is really stacked against him at this point. Realistically, it is probably more of a contest to see whether Gimenez or Moore will get the starting job at Tacoma to start the year.

It’s good to have a familiar player come back to the 40-man roster, but again, this still isn’t the signing that most fans are hoping to see during the offseason. At least Gimenez is a good option should Olivo or Jaso get injured, and it’s a positive that he is also familiar with the pitching staff.

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References:

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*Ryan is a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan who never misses an opportunity to attend a game at Safeco Field. He has been attending games since 1985, and has fond memories of The Kingdome, Edgar Martinez, and the historic 1995 team. Sodo Mojo!

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

ROTTERDAM (Reuters) – Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death in Rotterdam Monday and his brother has been arrested in connection with the incident.

“A 24-year-old died this morning in a stabbing and we have arrested the 22-year-old brother of the victim,” a Rotterdam police spokesman said.

Dutch television station NOS-TV said Halman’s family had been informed.

Dutch-born Halman was signed as a free agent by Seattle in 2004 and after a long spell in the minor leagues he was called up to the majors last year.

“Greg was a part of our organization since he was 16, and we saw him grow into a passionate young man and talented baseball player,” the Mariners said in a statement by chairman Howard Lincoln, President Chuck Armstrong and General Manager Jack Zduriencik.

“He had an infectious smile that would greet you in the clubhouse, and he was a tremendous teammate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Greg’s family.”

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig called Halman’s death tragic and painful.

“The loss of a talented 24-year-old young man like Greg, amid such tragic circumstances, is painful for all of us throughout the game,” Selig said.

Halman’s biggest impact may have been in Europe, said Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“Greg was passionate about the game of baseball and generously gave of himself to share his passion with others in an attempt to help grow the sport’s popularity across Europe. He will be sorely missed,” Weiner said.

“Greg’s lasting legacy is sure to be the trail he helped blaze for European youth to follow in his footsteps.”

The Dutchman helped Netherlands win the 2007 European Baseball Championship, played in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and participated in coaching clinics with youngsters in Europe as recently this month.

He is one of nine players who were born in the Netherlands to have reached the Major Leagues.

He had featured in 35 games for the Mariners last season, scoring seven runs and holding a batting average of .230.

“He seemed hpy all the time and was just a fun guy to be around,” Mariners infielder Adam Kennedy, now a free agent, said. “This is just devastating news.”

(Additional reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina) (Editing by Mark Meadows and Julian Linden)

The Oakland Athletics and Seattle
Mariners will open the 2012 Major League Baseball season on
March 28-29 in Tokyo, the first season-opener in Jan since
2008.

The two-game series, which will take place at the Tokyo
Dome, was announced today in a release from MLB and the Major
League Baseball Players Association.

It will be the fourth time the season has opened in Tokyo.
The last time was when the Athletics and Boston Red Sox opened
the 2008 season there.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rob Gloster at
rgloster@bloomberg.net

This rundown has been accused of painting too rosy a picture when it comes to the Seattle Mariners.

But in a 162-game season with a team coming off a 101-loss year, one must take advantage of as many opportunities to be positive as possible or run the risk of negativity overkill.

So, in light of the Mariners’ 4-3 victory over Texas last night at Safeco Field it only seems pertinent to point out Seattle is two games back in the AL West with 132-games to go.

How could this be?

Well, it has as much to do with the Mariners winning six of seven as it does with the rest of the division falling on its collective face.

Texas (16-14) has lost seven of their last nine thanks in part to a shoddy defense that this season has committed 26 errors, third most in the Major Leagues.

The Los Angeles Angels (16-14) have been relatively solid across the board but the offense has fallen off a bit and they’ve lost eight of their last 12.

As for the Mariners, well, they simply aren’t as gawd awful on offense as they were last season. Seattle ranks 23rd in runs scored (122) and 26th in batting average (.234).  Last season they ranked last in both categories, and several others.

Seattle’s pitching staff ranks 17th in ERA (3.89) and runs scored (128) thanks in large part to rookie Michael Pineda, who is 4-1 and was named rils’ AL rookie of the month.   

Links to Mariners’ news:

  SEATTLE
MARINERS
  Record: 14-16
  Next up: 7 p.m., tonight vs. Texas (16-14).
  Pitching: Michael Pineda (2-1, 2.01) vs. C.J. Wilson (3-1, 3.35).
  Team statistics: Seattle’s stats
 

Seattle Times

 
The News Tribune

SeattlePI.com

SeattleMariners.com
Tacoma Rainiers

–Aaron Fentress  

By Brian Floyd – Editor

Read More: Michael Pineda (P – SEA), Seattle Mariners

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r 5, 2011 - Michael Pineda had been slowly building a buzz as he worked his way up through the Seattle Mariners farm system and on Tuesday night, fans will finally get to see what all the fuss is about. Pineda, a hard-throwing 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic, earned the fifth spot in the Mariners’ rotation despite his age and concerns about burning a year of service time. He may not be fully polished yet, but Pineda has the kind of stuff to be successful at the major league level, and is another reason for fans to be excited, both now and in the future.

For a quick look at Pineda and what to expect, we head over to USS Mariner, where Dave Cameron gathered his thoughts together a few weeks ago.

He throws a legitimate mid-90s fastball, and at 6′7, he’s got enough arm extension where it probably gets on the hitter like a high-90s heater
snip
Once you get past fastballs in the strike zone, there’s not a whole lot else there right now. His slider has some promise, but he throws it in the low-to-mid-80s and it doesn’t have a hard bite, so it’s not a classic knockout breaking ball. It’s also inconsistent, and he flattens out it at times, turning it into more of a cut-fastball.

The goal with Pineda doesn’t come in the form of results right now, but instead is all about development. How Pineda develops his secondary pitches at the big-league level will determine how he progresses in the coming years and whether or not he succeeds right away. He has the fastball — there’s no question about that — but a starter cannot rely solely on one pitch.

Pineda assumes the role of stopper on Tuesday night after the Mariners opened the season with back-to-back wins before dropping their next two — a 7-1 loss to Oakland on Sunday and a 6-4 series opening loss to Texas on Monday. In a tough pitching environment against a lineup that possesses plenty of pop, Pineda has his work cut out for him as he makes his major league debut.

The Mariners and Rangers take the field at 5:05 p.m. on FSN. For more on the Mariners and Pineda’s debut, check out SB Nation’s Lookout Landing. For the other side of the game, check out SB Nation’s Texas Rangers blog, Lonestar Ball.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Erik Bedard made his first start in 20 months and the Seattle Mariners’ left-hander didn’t show much rust.

Bedard got his latest comeback under way with five solid innings in a 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Bedard (0-1) allowed five runs — three earned — and four hits. He gave up homers to Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus, but struck out three and walked two in a positive step as he tries to bounce back from a series of shoulder injuries.

“I didn’t forget how it was,” Bedard said. “I didn’t have too many butterflies. I tried to throw strikes and get people out.”

His previous start was July 25, 2009, before undergoing his third season-ending left shoulder surgery in a three-year span in August 2009. He missed all of last season.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge liked what he saw from Bedard.

“He threw the ball well and hadn’t been out there in a long time,” Wedge said. “I thought he did a good job of controlling the ballgame, mixed his pitches well. … I was really pleased with his performance.”

The 31-year-old Bedard went 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA in six starts during spring training, so Wedge wasn’t surprised that he was able to perform as well as he did.

“He’s a veteran guy with a great mindset,” Wedge said. “He had a great proach every time he was out there all spring. He took it into tonight and it was good to see. I was hpy for him. He gave us a chance to win the ballgame and that’s all you can do.”

Milton Bradley had three hits for the Mariners (2-2).

Homers have become a regular thing for Cruz, the third player in major league history to open a season by going deep in four straight games. Andrus, however, hadn’t hit one in 705 at-bats.

“We’ve got a solid offense,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Anybody in the lineup can get you. Tonight Elvis got us going. And Cruz came back and got another one. … Anytime you’ve got that lineup, that’s what it’s all about.”

Cruz went to the plate in the fourth guessing he’d get a first-pitch curve from Bedard. Instead, the lefty threw a changeup and Cruz adjusted with a drive over the center-field wall to give him four of Texas’ 13 homers this season.

“In that at-bat I was thinking, hit the ball through the hole (at) second base hard, because he was throwing that curveball,” Cruz said. “I was hoping he would throw that so I could hit it the other way, but he threw me a changeup and I turned on it.”

Cruz joined Willie Mays (1971) and Mark McGwire (1998) as the only players to go deep in each of their first four games of a season.

The Rangers (4-0) are one of four unbeaten teams in the big leagues.

Gusty 20 mph wind made fly balls and popups a challenge for fielders. With two outs in the first, Rangers first baseman Mike Noli was in foul territory lining up Bradley’s popup. But the ball sailed fair and dropped between Noli and second baseman Ian Kinsler, with Bradley being credited with a single.

The Rangers citalized on Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki’s error to make it 3-0 in the second. After Noli drew a two-out walk, Yorvit Torrealba’s line drive to right kicked off the heel of Suzuki’s glove.

Julio Borbon, the No. 9 hitter, followed with his two-run triple to right-center.

The Mariners rallied in the fourth on ex-Ranger Justin Smoak’s RBI double and Miguel Olivo’s run-scoring groundout, but Cruz’s solo shot on a changeup in the bottom half made it 4-2.

Chone Figgins’ RBI groundout in the fifth pulled Seattle within 4-3, but Josh Hamilton’s two-out RBI double in the fifth restored Texas’ two-run pad.

Michael Young hit a leadoff double in the sixth and scored on Torrealba’s double-play grounder, making it 6-3.

Bradley doubled in the eighth against Arthur Rhodes and scored when Olivo singled with two outs.

The Mariners were able to somewhat limit a Rangers offense that scored 26 runs while sweeping a three-game weekend series from Boston.

“We’re not looking for moral victories,” Wedge said. “They’re a strong-hitting ballclub and I felt like we gave ourselves a chance. But we didn’t finish innings off, a mistake or two hurt us — but we were right there in it.”

NOTES: Bradley improved his batting average to .353. … Texas RHP Alexi Ogando is scheduled to make his major league starting debut Tuesday night against the Mariners. Ogando went 4-1 with a 1.30 ERA in 44 relief pearances for the Rangers last season. … Mariners RHP Michael Pineda will start in his major league debut Tuesday night. … Smoak extended his hitting streak to 14 games dating to last season with a second-inning single.