Opening Day is a mere 11 days away, and Eric Wedge appears to have taken a page from Jack Zduriencik’s playbook. In other words, very little regarding definitive roster decisions has slipped from the skipper’s lips these days. Here’s the roster speculation floating around the blogosphere at the moment:

• The battle for rotation spots #3-5 is heating up, with Erasmo Ramirez, Blake Beavan, Brandon Maurer, Jeremy Bonderman, and Jon Garland in the mix. Although no names have been selected so far, Shannon Drayer believes Maurer is making a convincing case for his time in the sun. Following Tuesday’s win over the defending San Francisco Giants, she quoted Eric Wedge: “We feel strongly he is going to be able to get major league outs […] It’s just a matter as we prep everything out decisions we have to make and we have to take everything into consideration. The experience level, what the other guys have done and match that up to what he he done.”
• Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker seems to have other thoughts. In a nutshell, his opinions leave Maurer out in the cold: “If Garland makes it, Maurer has no chance. The team would give the final spot to either Blake Beavan or Erasmo Ramirez. In fact, even if Garland doesn’t make it, I think the team would give the final two remaining spots to Beavan and Ramirez. Not to Maurer.”
• On Tuesday, Dustin Ackley batted eighth. Is this a sign of things to come? According to Greg Johns and Eric Wedge, it very well might be. “Wedge said afterward that Ackley could well wind up down in that area during the regular season given the addition of the middle-of-the-order veterans and improvement of some of the young core players,” Johns writes. He added that Franklin Gutierrez is likely for the leadoff spot, while Kyle Seager could take his place if Guti fails to stay healthy.
• The Mariners roster has been pruned to 37 after another round of cuts.

Players reassigned to minor league camp:
Logan Bawcom
Andrew Carraway
John Hicks
Jhonny Nunez
Ronny Paulino
James Paxton
Stefen Romero
Taijuan Walker
Mike Zunino

Players sent to Triple-A:
Vinnie Catricala
Bobby LaFromboise
Alex Liddi
Danny Hultzen
Yoervis Medina
Hector Noesi
Eric Thames
Carlos Triunfel

Players optioned to Double-A:
Francisco Martinez
Julio Morban

Next game: vs. Padres | February 24 | 12:05pm

Projected pitchers: Erasmo Ramirez receives the nod for starter today, with the following mix of pitchers—James Paxton, Tom Wilhelmsen, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Carter Capps, Josh Kinney, and Lucas Luetge. [h/t Greg Johns]

And you get a home run! And you get a home run! Over two tumultuous match-ups with their Peoria Sports Complex rivals, the San Diego Padres, the Mariners have managed 15 hits, 11 runs and 4 homers. In order of appearance: Casper Wells, Jason Bay, Justin Smoak, and Mike Jacobs.

Catch ‘em all: Wondering when you can catch the next Mariners game on your radio and TV? Check out the official broadcast schedule here.

Best shape of their lives? Well, this isn’t good:

I really hate pushing the news of an imminent(?) Felix extension down by one post, and feel more than welcome to completely skip this and scroll down a bit, but there was another little tidbit of information passed on by one Ken Rosenthal today via Twitter, who tweeted that the “Mariners are in agreement with [Joe] Saunders on one-year contract, pending a physical.”

Many Mariners fans were pleading for the club to add to the pitching rotation before Spring Training got under way, and though nothing is official yet, it looks as if Jack Z. will do just that by bringing in Joe Saunders. Before I proceed, remember that Saunders was the main piece the Anaheim Angels sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Dan Haren, so Saunders must be pretty awesome.

Just kidding. He’s not awesome, but I wouldn’t call him atrocious. Saunders should basically fill the void created in the rotation when Jason Vargas was traded for Kendrys Morales. Matthew over at Lookout Landing wrote a great piece about the similiarities between Jason Vargas and Joe Saunders. He’s a lefty who throws mostly fastballs and changeups and who will probably pitch 180+ not-horrible innings. I would imagine Eric Wedge will slot him into the #3 spot in the rotation behind Hisashi Iwakuma and the probably RECENTLY EXTENDED KING FELIX HERNANDEZ! YEAH!

Sorry.

But the best thing about the possibility of bringing in Joe Saunders: he’s not Hector Noesi. Noesi WAS atrocious last year, and it looked as if he was going to see some time in the rotation this season short of one of the three heads of Cerberus breaking camp with the big club. With Saunders in the fold, the rotation might look like this:

Felix, Iwakuma, Saunders, Ramirez, Beavan

That rotation is probably lacking a legitimate #2 starter that pushes one of Beavan or Ramirez out, but it would look a whole lot worse with Noesi anywhere near it. It lacks something, but also leaves room for growth, which could be another signing, a trade, or one of Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, or James Paxton proving they’re ready.

No, Joe Saunders on a one-year deal certainly shouldn’t hurt.*

*Edit: Especially at the reported $6.5MM price tag. Apparently incentives can make it $7.5MM, but that’s still pretty darn cheap. I like this move.

The Mariners’ 2013 rotation is probably not quite set at this time, with only one ‘proven veteran’ starter in Felix Hernandez. Blake Beavan is the next most experienced with 249 career innings logged in the big leagues, but not much is expected from him. Hector Noesi is, unfortunately for Mariners fans, currently slotted  as the fifth starter but will probably be knocked down for Jeremy Bonderman, one of the Hultzen/Paxton/Walker/Maurer or some unknown veteran. Hisashi Iwakuma has been pegged as the number two starter due to a successful 2012 campaign that saw him crack the rotation about halfway through the year and put up an ERA of 3.16 and an ERA+ of 118 in 125 innings of work. In the middle of the rotation, however, is a pitcher that doesn’t get talked about much. He is the least experienced of the bunch, the youngest, and only has one career win, but he is being penciled in as a sure-thing in the rotation.

Erasmo Ramirez broke camp with the Mariners last year as a long reliever and made his major league debut at 21 years of age on April 9^th, going three innings against the Rangers and striking out three, walking one and giving up just a solo shot to Josh Hamilton. There are worse ways to start off a big-league career.

After seven appearances in the bullpen in which he compiled an ERA of 2.45 and held opponents to a .225 batting average, he was sent down to Tacoma to get stretched out to start again. He went 3-2 with the Rainiers and put up a 3.11 ERA and on June 14^th he was called to join the rotation. In just his third start, he went eight innings against Oakland and struck out 10 while walking only one batter. He lost the game 1-0, but he showed the potential for a bright and promising career. He made four starts in September – all quality starts – going 7, 8, 6 and 6.1 innings. In those four starts he struck out 21 and walked five, putting up an ERA of 2.96 in the process. Opponents only managed a .234 OBP off of him.

Ramirez doesn’t stand out in a single category, but he has a combination of tools that may make him a solid middle-of-the-rotation pitcher for years to come. He isn’t tall, he has a decent fastball in the low 90s, he has good breaking pitches and doesn’t walk a ton of batters. His progress in 2013 is definitely going to be interesting to monitor as he is the least experienced pitcher on the staff but is being counted on as if he were a veteran.

A parting look at John Jaso, via his Twitter account (@johnjaso27). We’ll miss him, but that beard had to go.

Should you need a bit of a breather from Wednesday’s trade news, here are some offseason events to shift your focus to the exciting additions the Mariners have coming their way.

• Yesterday, Ryan Divish broke the news that Boston’s Triple-A broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith will be joining Rick Rizzs in the broadcast booth this season, eliminating the rotating panel of broadcasters that temporarily filled Dave Niehaus’ spot. Goldsmith is 28 years old, with six years of experience scattered across the Cape Cod Baseball League, Frontier League, and minor league systems of the Red Sox and Rangers.
• Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that the Mariners have signed Dominican prospect Luis Liberato to a $140,000 contract. Liberato, a 17-year-old outfielder, is currently projected as a power-hitting center fielder. From the scouting report:

“Liberato is 6-foot-1, 175 pounds and has flashed a mature approach to hitting from the left side with gap power and advanced baseball instincts for his age. Like many young Dominican amateur hitters, he’ll try to sell out for power at times, but when he’s at his best he’s shown a solid swing.”

• Per the Mariners’ official blog, Erasmo Ramirez was invited to speak at a FESA banquet in San Salvador this offseason. FESA is a leadership organization that provides education and baseball training for Nicaraguan youth. During his visit, Erasmo described his journey to the majors, from FESA’s helping hand to his first year with Seattle.

Merry Christmas, Mariner fans.

Yesterday, Jack Zduriencik made his first trade of the offseason, swapping No. 2 starter Jason Vargas for the Angels’ first baseman and designated hitter Kendrys Morales.

Over 33 starts in 2012, Jason maintained a 3.85 ERA over 217.1 IP, his lowest since 2010. Vargas struggled to keep the ball in Safeco Field, accounting for 35 home runs in what was once a pitcher’s park. When he was good, he was very good, finishing the season with a sparkling seven inning performance against Oakland, granting the soon-to-be playoff contenders five hits, a run, and seven strikeouts. When he was bad, things got ugly—for instance, his season-low performance in Arizona, where he sent the Mariners spiraling after giving up nine hits, ten runs, five home runs, and two walks in just 4.1 IP.

In Kendrys Morales, the Mariners find the missing middle-of-the-order hitter they had hoped to secure with the Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade last winter. Morales has somewhat successfully bounced back from two injury-laden seasons, caused in part by his new home team.

“That injury occurred when he landed awkwardly while jumping into a group of teammates at home plate after hitting a walk-off grand slam off Mariners closer Brandon League in Anaheim on May 29, 2010.” — Greg Johns, Mariners.com

Last season, Kendrys batted .273/.320/.467 in 522 PA with 22 home runs and a .339 wOBA. Morales peaked in 2009, with a .306 average, 4.0 bWAR, and fifth place in the MVP award voting. According to Greg Johns’ wrap-up, the 29-year-old has fared well in Seattle so far, managing seven home runs, a .292 average, and .904 OPS over 34 games. One can only hope that the shortened fences will work in his favor, while Jason finds the spacious dimensions of Angel Stadium more to his liking.

By this time next year, both Vargas and Morales will be free agents. Last season, Vargas fed on a $4.85M contract, while Morales topped out at $2.98M.

With a potential power hitter gracing the Mariners’ lineup, the team turns to its rotation once again. Rumors cropped up early in the offseason, hinting that Jack Z put another starter on his Christmas wish list. Today, it is a pressing need, lest we see Eric Wedge throw Hector Noesi back in the mix. Although much remains to be tested and proven in the months to come, Jack and Wedge are looking at a rotation captained by King Felix and followed by a combination of Hisashi Iwakuma, Erasmo Ramirez, Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, or Brandon Maurer.

Jack may still have a few more surprises up his sleeve this winter, but at least through the holiday weekend, Mariner fans can finally sleep peacefully.

Join the conversation: tweet #EdgarHOF and tell us why you think Edgar Martínez deserves a spot in Cooperstown.

With just 11 days until Christmas, Jack Zduriencik is back in the hunt for a pretty free agent signing to give Mariners fans this year. Here’s the latest from the hot stove circuit:

• Yesterday, the Angels swooped into the Hamilton-fest and signed the coveted, controversial outfielder to a 5-year, $125M contract. According to Greg Johns, the Mariners had aggressively, though unsuccessfully, pursued Hamilton:

“Though Jack Zduriencik suggested last month that Seattle wouldn’t likely be in position to pursue Hamilton at his original seven-year, $175 million target, the Mariners indeed were willing to go after him full bore on a shorter deal.

[...] it is interesting that they were in the hunt to the end, which was not the case last year with Prince Fielder when the Tigers went with more years and dollars than anybody else was willing to stomach.”

• Several less-shiny outfielders remain on the table, including Brennan Boesch, who talked with the Mariners on Wednesday. In 2012, Boesch hit .240/.286/.372 over 132 games with the Tigers. Jon Morosi suggests Charlie Furbush, Oliver Perez, and Lucas Luetge as potential trade chips, as Detroit is thought to have interest in left-handed relievers.
• In their second social media sweepstakes of the holiday season, the Mariners are encouraging fans to use Pinterest to win free team gear. To enter, follow the team’s official account on Pinterest, re-pin four of the given images, and fill out this form to get your name in the running.
• Franklin Gutierrez, Erasmo Ramirez, Oliver Perez, and Carlos Peguero are a few Mariners currently performing in MLB’s various offseason leagues. You can find a complete list of players and their respective statistics here.

Final score: Athletics 5, Mariners 2

Today, the Mariners put up a good fight. There’s not much more you can ask from a team who won’t break .500 by season’s end, and who has faced four playoff contenders over the last two weeks.

Erasmo Ramirez skidded on a season-high four walks, but finished with three hits, two earned runs, and six strikeouts over 6.1 IP. In his absence, the ‘pen relinquished three hits and two home runs, giving Oakland just enough of an edge to clinch the sweep. Wondering just how Seattle’s starters and relievers have fared lately? From Joshua Dobner of SeattleClubhouse.com:

@wcoastfangirl SPs have a 2.06 ERA the past two days allowing no home runs in 13.1 innings. Bullpen has a 20.25 ERA & 4 HRs in 4 innings.

— Joshua Dobner (@JPDobner) September 30, 2012

If only games were won on hits amassed, not runs, the Mariners would’ve had this one in the bag. Collectively, they put up 11 hits to the A’s 6, with two doubles from Franklin Gutierrez, a double from Brendan Ryan, and a triple by Casper Wells. Justin Smoak extended his hot streak as well, going 2-for-4 with a pair of base hits, an RBI, and a failed attempt to nab home plate. In September, he’s now batting .340/.421/.580.

While the Mariners gave the A’s a leg up in the quest for the West, their next task is to play spoiler to the Angels’ hopes of grabbing a wild card. They return home for a final three-game homestand beginning tomorrow, with Felix Hernandez on the mound against LHP C.J. Wilson.

Next game: vs. Angels | October 1 | 7:10pm

Final score: Orioles 4, Mariners 2

When the Mariners began this game, I was still 21.

Nine hours ago, I arrived at Safeco for batting practice, eager to soak up the last little bit of baseball the Mariners have to offer this season. If only I had had an inkling of what was to come.

Through the first eight innings—the first game of the night, really—Erasmo Ramirez shut out the Orioles on two hits and six strikeouts. He returned in the ninth to a standing ovation, then surrendered back-to-back singles to Ryan Flaherty and Nate McLouth. Tom Wilhelmsen blew his fourth save of the year on the third single of the inning, an RBI from Chris Davis that tied the game.

I’m not going to lie: there’s little that excites me more than the prospect of extra innings. In 38 games this year, I had yet to see bonus baseball. So, although I probably should’ve been as sad as Steven was when Wilhelmsen allowed the tying run to score, I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat instead.

I still didn’t know what I was in for.

Over the final nine innings of the game, the crowd of 12,608 dwindled to a few hundred (pictured in the above photo). Eric Wedge brought in John Jaso. Buck Showalter countered with lefty reliever Brian Matusz. Wedge then changed his mind, forfeiting the chance to use his best offensive player, and opted for Alex Liddi.

The 14th stretch came and went. By the 15th inning, even the flocks of seagulls had vanished from the outfield. The field became so quiet that, aside from a few raucous cheers by the seven remaining Orioles fans, you could hear the game broadcast echoing on the main concourse.

It finally ended in the 18th. Lucas Luetge opened the inning with a walk, followed by a pair of base hits and an RBI groundout to give the Orioles a two-run lead. The bottom half of the inning went quickly, without so much as a baserunner for the Mariners.

When this game finally, mercifully finished, I was no longer 21. And although a walk-off would’ve made for an even sweeter story, I couldn’t be happier spending the first part of my birthday at the ballpark. See you tonight, Mariners fans.

Next game: vs. Orioles | September 19 | 7:10pm

Final score: Rangers 2, Mariners 1

Something is up with Justin Smoak.

On any other day of the year, the following sentence might look something like this: Smoak is 0-for-17 with five strikeouts in his four games as a Tacoma Rainier. Which, coincidentally, was true on August 11.

Today, however, Smoak is 5-for-8 in two games against the Texas Rangers, with five hits, two home runs, and four RBI. My first instinct is to bury this information with a lot of “temper your expectations” and “flukes, lucky breaks, etc.,” but I’d rather just enjoy these moments as the season winds down.

Aside from Smoak’s solo shot off Matt Harrison, the Mariners managed to reach base five times, stranding their only RISP on a game-ending strikeout from Michael Saunders. Although his efforts were wasted, Jesus Montero provided a big break for the Mariners late in the game, coming up with a line drive to scoot Guti over to third.

Courtesy of a flaky offense (and, to be fair, the Rangers’ superior pitching staff), Blake Beavan received his 10th loss of the season with 7 hits, 2 runs, and a walk in 7 IP and 26 batters. For the first time since his call-up, Carter Capps was selected to close out the game, shutting down the final three Rangers with 10 pitches.

Tomorrow, the Mariners kick off their last multi-game homestand against the Baltimore Orioles. As announced by the team earlier this week, the revised rotation has Hector Noesi on Monday, Erasmo Ramirez on Tuesday, and Felix Hernandez on Wednesday.

Next game: vs. Orioles | September 17 | 7:10pm