SEATTLE () — The Seattle Mariners have signed left-handed reliever George Sherrill to a one-year contract.

The Mariners announced the move Friday.

Sherrill peared in 51 games with the Atlanta Braves last season and was 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA. He has limited lefty hitters to just a .180 batting average over the span of his eight-year career.

Sherrill was on the 15-day disabled list from Aug. 31 through the end of the season with inflammation in his left elbow.

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SEATTLE —

The Seattle Mariners have signed left-handed reliever George Sherrill to a one-year contract.

The Mariners announced the move Friday.

Sherrill peared in 51 games with the Atlanta Braves last season and was 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA. He has limited lefty hitters to just a .180 batting average over the span of his eight-year career.

Sherrill was on the 15-day disabled list from Aug. 31 through the end of the season with inflammation in his left elbow.

SEATTLE —

The Seattle Mariners have declined to offer 2012 contracts to catcher Chris Gimenez and right-handed reliever Dan Cortes.

The Mariners announced the decision Monday night. Seattle’s 40-man roster now stands at 36. Seattle did tender contracts to right-handed relievers Shawn Kelley and Brandon League and left-handed starter Jason Vargas. All three are eligible for arbitration.

The 24-year-old Cortes peared in 10 games this year, but his season was cut short by ankle and hand injuries. He had surgery in October to repair a partial rotator cuff tear and partial tear of his biceps tendon in his right arm.

Gimenez, 28, peared in 24 games but missed more than two months with a strained oblique.

The American League Rookie of the Year voting came out Monday (Nov. 14), and two Seattle Mariners players received votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Though it was Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays that won the award, it was nice to see recognition for both Michael Pineda and Dustin Ackley.

In the final voting for the award, Pineda placed fifth and Ackley placed sixth. Ackley actually received a first-place vote from one of the writers, showing what an impact he had made in just half a season with the Mariners. That’s pretty impressive, though it never really looked like he had a strong chance to win the award.

After getting called up from Triple-A Tacoma, Ackley played in 90 games for the Mariners in 2011. He almost immediately became a permanent fixture at second base, and continued to prove why the Mariners made a good decision by selecting him second overall in the 2010 MLB Draft. He would finish the season with a .273 batting average in 333 at-bats, posting 29 extra base hits and 36 RBIs in his limited action. He showed great promise, and it is clear that the Mariners have the second baseman of the future in Ackley.

Pineda started the season as the No. 5 pitcher in the rotation after winning a spot in Spring Training. He cooled off a little bit by the end of the year, but still finished with a nice ERA of 3.74 and a record of 9-10. There were several areas where he could improve heading into the 2012 season, but it is clear that Pineda has become a big part of the pitching staff for years to come. His 1.10 WHIP, 173 strikeouts and ability to hold opponents to just a .211 batting average will serve him well.

The future is getting brighter in Seattle, especially if Ackley and Pineda can continue to develop into MLB stars. The franchise still has a long ways to go in the American League West, but at least it looks like the team is now trending in an upwards direction.

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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!

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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