A new report has Hisashi Iwakuma favoring the Seattle Mariners in the ongoing wooing that is taking place. More than just the Mariners have interest in signing Iwakuma, but MLB.com is reporting that he is leaning towards signing with the Mariners. This confirms earlier reports that I had heard about Iwakuma getting close to signing a contract with the team.

The obvious reaction from some Mariners fans is that signing another starting pitcher does not fix the offensive issues, but that is a really short-sighted way to look at things. The franchise needs to fill out the starting rotation for the 2012 season to not rush the prospects, and if somehow the Mariners can bring in a talented pitcher it could help them compete sooner in the improved American League West.

Sure, it would help the team a lot if Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, Erasmo Ramirez and Taijuan Walker were ready to make their debuts, but the truth is that they could all use a bit more seasoning before getting tossed into the fire. I can’t wait to see Hultzen pitch in Spring Training and while it would make for a great story if he could join the major league roster right away, the team needs to have a good back-up plan. The answer is not Kevin Millwood or Jeff Francis and if Iwakuma comes at the right price, maybe he could even become trade bait if the Mariners aren’t competitive by June.

Iwakuma is a right-handed pitcher who has played for the Tokoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Jan Pacific League. In the last four years for the Golden Eagles, Iwakuma has posted a 55-31 record, with a 2.67 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. His high-water mark was in 2008 when he went 21-4 with a 1.87 ERA and 159 strikeouts over 201 2/3 innings. Last year, Iwakuma started just 17 games, going 6-7 with a 2.42 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 119 innings.

The arm troubles that he had last year have sent up warning flags for some fans, but we have to believe that someone in the front office was paying attention to him pitching over the last few years. Hopefully he isn’t someone that will get injured again, but if he can return to form, Iwakuma could really eat up innings during his starts. Getting a starting pitcher that can go deep into ballgames isn’t as easy as it seems, and it will allow the bullpen to stay fresh.

The other item that people don’t talk much about is how the Oakland Athletics tried to sign him and failed last year after putting up $19.1 million in a bid. There is a small part of me that would love the Mariners to swoop in and sign him only to out-do the Athletics in the process. If the team cannot find the right offensive pieces to get brought in and Prince Fielder doesn’t want to take the deal on the table, then it makes a lot of sense to try to improve the starting rotation. It’s good that the Mariners are making an active move to supplement the No. 4 or No. 5 slot in the rotation and hopefully if Iwakuma signs with the team he finds a lot of success in 2012 and beyond.

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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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Carlos Peguero(notes) is putting up big numbers during his stint in the Dominican Republic this winter. The Seattle Mariners sent Peguero to the Dominican League this winter to hone his skills at the plate, and so far it has yielded some very nice results for the young outfielder.

In a new report from the Dominican League, Peguero is hitting very well for Cibao Gigantes. He now leads the Dominican League in home runs, doubles and runs scored and is among the league leaders in batting average and RBIs. Through 31 games down there, Peguero has a .310 batting average, 9 home runs and 24 RBIs so far. That has his team in playoff contention and it is creating a lot of buzz around him as a hitter.

The 24-year-old Peguero was given a lot of time to show what he could do during the 2011 season for the Mariners, but he just couldn’t find a consistent proach at the plate. He got sent down to Triple-A Tacoma in mid-July when the Mariners were really struggling, and didn’t see action during the September call-ups for the team. He finished the year with a .196 batting average and on on-base-percentage of .252. He saw action in 46 games, registering 143 at-bats and 54 strikeouts during that time. He also had 6 home runs, 19 RBIs and did a good job playing left field for the Mariners.

It was clear that Peguero was trying to put up impressive power numbers while with the Mariners last year, and it cost him quite a few at-bats. His strikeout ratio was far too high, and that is one of the main reasons he got sent back down to the minors to get more seasoning. Now he has taken the Dominican League by storm, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come for Peguero in the 2012 MLB season. The Mariners (and the fans) would certainly enjoy it if Peguero could make the club out of Spring Training and take a full-time slot in left field. If he earns it then he definitely deserves the slot, provided the Mariners don’t make a huge acquisition this offseason.

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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.

The Seattle Mariners have signed another outfielder to try to compete for that open slot in left field. The Mariners gave outfielder Darren Ford(notes) a Minor League contract and an invitation to Spring Training 2012 to try to make the roster coming out of camp. It potentially gives the Mariners another quick option at the top of the lineup heading into next year.

Ford got designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants two weeks ago in order for the team to open up a slot on their 40-man roster. Ford played in 26 games for the Giants in 2011, hitting .286 while posting 7 stolen bases in 12 attempts. This was after hitting .211 with 10 stolen bases at Triple-A Fresno for the Giants. It seems clear that the Mariners would like to add some speed to the roster, and that Ford could serve as a really good stolen base threat in the later innings of games. He certainly won’t get to start out in the outfield, but could use that speed to enter in the eighth or ninth innings of close games.

This isn’t exactly the free agent signing that many Mariners fans have hoped to see, and it is yet another player with a sub-par batting average brought in to plug holes that the Mariners have in the roster. Ford could certainly give the team value in the 2012 season, but it’s really hard to see how he is going to become a difference maker that the team needs to sign this offseason.

If this signing is to hold on to Ford and give him something like the last slot on the roster, then that might not turn out so bad. He adds value as someone on the bench that could serve as a good sub for the Mariners, but this doesn’t seem like a player that is going to come up to the plate with the game on the line. Hopefully this is just another free agent signing to help the overall roster, and that he isn’t considered a solution to what the Mariners have suffered through these past few years. The Mariners still need someone who can really hit brought into this lineup, and hopefully there is something under the radar that general manager Jack Zduriencik still has planned.

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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.

The Seattle Mariners have decided that the broadcasting plan from 2011 will also carry over to the 2012 season. The franchise is still having trouble (understandably so) moving on after the death of Dave Niehaus. Niehaus is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for a reason, and he is someone who true Mariners fans are going to miss for the rest of their lives. He was truly the voice of the franchise and it isn’t simply as easy as putting someone new in his seat to help broadcast the games for the Mariners.

By sticking with the same format, it means that the Mariners will continue to rotate a group of seven broadcasters for the radio broadcasts. This is according to the vice president of communications for the Mariners (Randy Adamack), as reported on MLB.com. Those seven names are familiar to fans of the team and are Ken Wilson, Ken Levine, Ron Fairly, Dave Valle, Dave Henderson, Dan Wilson and Jay Buhner. Most fans have their favorite(s) from that group, and maybe one of them will get the full-time gig in the 2013 season.

Regarding the television broadcasts, it looks like Dave Sims and Mike Blowers will still fill that role for the team. That brings some consistency to the franchises proach to those that just watch games on television, and the group of radio broadcasters gives listeners a different feel almost every night. Each of those seven guys definitely brings a different way of looking at the game and they each add something different to the play-by-play call of Rizzs.

My personal favorite in the booth with Rizzs is Buhner, because he always brings an entertainment value that is hard to measure. He is fun to listen to, is a former player that most Mariners fans enjoyed rooting for through the years and he has an inside knowledge of the game that is unique within the group of broadcasters.

A team like Niehaus and Rizzs is never going to come along again for the Mariners, and there is still a sadness that old game highlights brings up when their voices are making game calls together. Nobody is every going to replace Niehaus, but hopefully the next guy to take his seat on a permanent basis is as energetic and supportive of the team as he was since its inception.

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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.

“I don’t think it’s in our best interest to do that,” Zduriencik said on a conference call Tuesday. “I ologize. I wish I could tell you a little more, but I don’t think it’s fair for us.”

Zduriencik spoke ahead of baseball’s winter meetings, which get started Monday in Dallas. Zduriencik said his priorities remain adding a bat to the lineup, getting a left-hander for the bullpen and trying to find a veteran starter for a young rotation that includes ace Felix Hernandez and promising right-hander Michael Pineda.

But when the topic turned to Fielder, Zduriencik picked his words carefully, saying he did not want to talk specifics. He added that in a situation like Fielder’s, where he is one of the top free agents available and a player Zduriencik has known since he was a teenager, relationships are important but probably become secondary.

“A lot of times these come down to what the player and agent views as the best opportunity for them and they have to gauge that on many fronts,” Zduriencik said. “I’ve known Prince since he was a young kid in high school, but in the end, Prince or any other player has to do what’s best for their best interest.”

Among the many issues for Zduriencik’s young team, Seattle’s offense had a serious lack of power in 2011. The Mariners hit just .233 as a team and finished last in the American League in batting average, runs, hits, total bases, RBIs, slugging and on-base percentage.

Only three Seattle hitters reached double figures in home runs — none had more than Miguel Olivo’s 19 — and the Mariners hit 109 for the season. Fielder wouldn’t solve all of Seattle’s offensive woes, but he fits the profile of the left-handed slugger the team has lacked in the past.

“There are a few options out there that would fill some needs that we have. But on any of these things you’re going to have to figure out where it ends up at. Often times the years of the contract are factors, the dollars tied in are factors and where you currently stand is a factor as well,” Zduriencik said. “There is a point with any player that you can go down a road a certain distance and find out it’s not exactly as far as you want to go. I think a lot of that ends up in the air. I think we will explore several options, even via trade if possible.”

Zduriencik said the team doesn’t have an offer out to any free agents right now. Seattle did complete a trade last weekend, sending right-handed reliever Josh Lueke to Tampa Bay for backup catcher John Jaso. He added that getting an experienced starting pitcher to complement Hernandez, Pineda and a handful of other options may need to come via trade.

“We have a couple of very nice pieces,” Zduriencik said. “It would be good to add a veteran guy to this. How we get there, I don’t know.”

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