Forget Richie Sexson, Erik Bedard, Bill Bavasi and Jose Vidro – the most disappointing season by a Seattle Mariner last season had to belong to Carlos Silva.

The right-handed free agent took a four-year, $48 million deal, and was signed not as an ace or even as a No. 2 pitcher. What the team wanted, and over spent for, was an innings-eating middle of the rotation starter who could serve as an example to ace Felix Hernandez.

Silva showed up overweight and then ate himself through the worst season of his career – 4-15 with a 6.46 earned …

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A few things worth catching up on:

- The most sought after free agent hitter on the market this winter, in terms of how many teams are in pursuit, is 37-year-old Raul Ibanez. ESPN has listed 10 teams, including Seattle, that have strong interest.

- Don Wakamatsu has been mum on candidates for his coaching staff, but one of the intriguing names he’s been linked to is former Athletics and Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson.

Before the Mariners press conference ended, there were reports out of the Bay area that Oakland hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo had

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They’re not crying poverty or looking for a bailout, but the Seattle Mariners are reporting financial losses for 2008 – the first time since moving into Safeco Field that the team hasn’t made money.

No, the Mariners ownership isn’t complaining, just preparing it’s audited numbers for release next year.

You can read a Business Journal story here, talking about the Mariners and other teams and the current economy in sports.

Greetings from a windy, cold and rainy Pullman, Washington, the site of the 101st Apple Cup, or as people have been referring it over here (mostly me) the Crapple Cup.

Anyway, we’ll get some more linkage posts up in the near future, but I wanted to post something from Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski.

I know we’ve posted stuff on here from him here before and we will again. Personally, I think he’s one of the best general sports columnists in the business today. You can check out his columns from the Star

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The retooling of the Seattle Mariners continued as the team added four minor leaguers to its 40-man roster, took two others off and lost left-handed reliever Eric O’Flaherty on waivers to the Atlanta Braves

Right-handed pitchers Stephen Kahn, Marwin Vegas and Gabby Hernandez and outfielder Greg Halman were added to the Mariners roster, and right-handers Luis Munoz and Tracy Thorpe cleared waivers and were reassigned to the minors.

In O’Flaherty, the team lost a 23-year-old who lost most of the 2008 season to a back injury after pitching for the Mariners much of 2007. Last year, he was

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A few months after the 1965 season, Sandy Koufax was visiting with Dr. Robert Kerlan in his office, talking about the pitchers ailing left elbow.

"If it were you, how much longer would you pitch?" Koufax said he asked Kerlan.

"If it were me, one more year," Kerlan said.

Koufax – 29 years old at the time – nodded.

On his way out of the office, Koufax ran into the Dodgers general manager, Buzzie Bavasi, who was waiting for Kerlan because the two men were going to play bridge later that evening.

"Next year will

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This is not a political blog and isn’t about to become one, not when some of us – we won’t name names here – hadn’t voted in a presidential election since 1972.

And baseball, a sport that produces passion and angst on a daily basis almost year-round these days, isn’t quite as important as what goes on in the real world.

Still, it’s fascinating to look at the parallels between new administrations in Washington and Seattle.

Barrack Obama had the audacity to campaign on a platform anchored by change and hope – the kinds of things we

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Don Wakamatsu became the 14th fulltime manager in Seattle Mariners history and the first Asian-Amerian ever to hold such a job.

Once it was made official, both he and new general manager Jack Zduriencik talked about ‘page one’ of a new era for Seattle baseball.

“I can’t change anything about last season,” Wakamatsu said, “but I promise this team and it’s players will be accountable for what we do.”

Zduriencik, who has all but rebuilt the Mariners front office, from scouting to player development, promised now to begin work on Wakamatsu’s coaching staff and team.

“Don …

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