The Los Angeles Angels may not have gotten Mark Teixeira and they may not be interested in Manny Ramirez, but they did manage to shore up the space vacated by Francisco Rodriquez. The Halos signed free agent closer Brian Fuentes to a two-year, 17.5 million dollar deal. Here’s the story from the Associated Press.

Some of you may remember that Fuentes was actually Mariners property – drafted in the 25th round of the 1995 draft – but he was traded to the Rockies along with Denny Stark and Jose

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It looks as though since the Baltimore Orioles didn’t get Mark Teixeira, they are looking at the next best thing.

BAM!

Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck offers this blog post about the Orioles and their interest in one Mr. Richmond Lockwood Sexson. I really have no words. None that are relevant or nice or civil. Just read some of the comments from the Orioles fans. They’re pretty hilarious.

Greetings from balmy Havre, MT, where the temperature finally got over 0 degrees for the first time in four days.

It seems as though our good buddy Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald must have gotten his Christmas shopping done and didn’t wait till Christmas Eve like the rest of us. Why? Well, because he broke the story today that knuckleballer R.A. Dickey spurned a chance to re-sign with the Mariners along with free agent offers from the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers to sign with the Minnesota

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The Mariners announced today they have re-signed catcher Jamie Burke.

He was cut loose by the Mariners on Dec. 12 when he was not offered a contract, becoming a free agent. He has agreed to a minor-league contract for 2009.

His career stats are here from baseball-reference.com

Burke played in 48 games last year with the Mariners, hitting .261. The 37-year-old originally signed with Seattle as a minor-league free agent in Nov. of 2006, and has played in 98 games with the team over the past two seasons.

Last season Burke made his major-league pitching

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On a free agent market where big names like Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, Ben Sheets and Derek Lowe remain available, William Paul Bloomquist has no illusions about his status.

"Teams are waiting to see how the bigger dogs shake out," Bloomquist said. "I’ve had some interest shown, teams have called and talked, but no one has made an offer."

For a 31-year-old utility player whose career has been made as much on his intensity as his talent, Bloomquist’s first run a free agency has been trying. The Seattle Mariners are among

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When the Seattle Mariners traded J.J. Putz last week, the immediate hole at closer became a matter of debate – who would work the ninth inning for them in 2009?

Turns out, pitchers now on the Mariners roster have a combined 68 career saves divided among nine men.

And you thought you didn’t have options.

Carlos Silva, for instance, has two career saves. Both came when he was breaking in with Philadelphia. Jarrod Washburn was a perfect one-for-one in save opportunities last season, nailing down the only save of his career.

Randy Messenger had both his

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If you haven’t heard, Jamie Moyer has agreed to a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, one that will pay him $16 million and take him to age 48.

Considering teams were interested in Moyer – as a pitching coach – 16 years ago, what he continues to do is amazing. He won 16 games last season, pitching 196 innings over 33 starts.

"The thing about Jamie is, if he starts to lose his stuff he’ll figure out another way to get hitters outs," Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

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The Japanese team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic has named two players to its team – Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima – that the Seattle Mariners probably wish weren’t participating.

No, the Mariners won’t ask their All-Star outfielder or their slumping catcher to say ‘no’ to their national team. That doesn’t mean they endorse the choice, either.

It will be a surprise if Japan, the defending champion, doesn’t go deep into the games, and that means Ichiro and Joh will miss considerable time away from spring training.

Given that manager Don Wakamatsu and his coaching staff

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