The Mariners  have officially announced the signing of Raul Ibanez. To make room for Ibanez, the team has designated right-hander pitcher D.J. Mitchell for assignment. The team has 10 days to either trade, release or outright Mitchell to the minor leagues if he hasn’t been claimed by another team.

Ibanez signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract.  He will likely be a sometime starter at DH and a bat off the bench.

Ibañez, 40, is a familiar name to Mariners fans having appeared in a Seattle uniform from 1996-2000 and 2004-2008. Amongst all-time Mariners leaders he ranks in the top …

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After more reports leaked this afternoon that an agreement has been reached, a source within the Mariners confirmed that the team has signed Raul Ibanez to a one-year contract for the 2013 season. It’s reportedly for about $2.75 million, which basically the money saved in the Kendrys Morales-Jason Vargas trade.

Now age 40, the Mariners are bringing in Ibanez to be a bat off the bench, a sometime starter and a veteran presence in the clubhouse for the host of young players on the Mariners roster.

Obviously, there is some skepticism surrounding the signing of Ibanez, particularly what his role …

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The Seattle Mariners are far from done in trying to fill out their roster for the upcoming season. They are still looking for an offense  at the corner position.

At this point, they are no longer trying to go after Nick Swisher or Michael Bourn. Swisher has never really been interested in Seattle, while Bourn’s projected price tag is going to be too high for what the minimal production he  would bring to the power-starved Mariners.

They were actively pursuing free agent outfielder Cody Ross.  But that appears to be done …

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In the endless search for starting pitching depth, the Seattle Mariners have decided to give a Northwest guy a chance to resurrect his baseball career.

On Friday, the team announced the signing of Pasco’s Jeremy Bonderman to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

Bonderman, now 30 years old, had his once-promising career derailed by arm troubles. He last pitched in the major leagues in 2010. He went 8-10 with a 5.53 earned run average.

The arm troubles began early in the 2008 season. After making 12 starts, doctors discovered a blood clot in Bonderman’s …

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Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik did a lengthy interview with Mitch in the Morning. He talked about the Kendrys Morales trade, but also talked extensively about the Josh Hamilton negotiations, giving a few more details, including the fact that Hamilton never called back the Mariners to let them know he was going to Angels. He also said that Hamilton asked for more from the Mariners then he got from the Angels.

When people asked me who got the better deal in this trade, I can’t really say with any certainty either side came out better. Both sides seemed to have addressed a need. The Mariners filled a need for a middle of the order hitter, while the Angels got a starting pitcher that eats up innings. Maybe that’s the definition of a good trade.

But there are other questions I can answer, sort of.

How does Morales fit into the lineup? Well, he’s going to obviously be a middle of the order hitter. He said he’s comfortable hitting cleanup.

The bigger …

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Figured I would wrap up some of the coverage of the trade first, and then post a few thoughts later. Above is a commercial for MLB 2K10 for the PS 3. There’s another commercial with a few funny lines from them at the bottom of the blog post.  It features Felix Hernandez and Kendrys Morales. When asked about being teammates with Felix, Morales pointed out the obvious benefit …. not having to face him.

First of all here is my extended story from the trade, including comments from Morales

From the story …

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The Seattle Mariners made another move to bolster the offense for the 2013 season. On Wednesday, the Mariners announced they’ve traded to left-hander Jason Vargas to the Angels in exchange for switch-hitting 1B/DH  Kendrys Morales.

“We have been focused on adding offense this off-season, and feel that Kendrys will be a middle-of-the-order bat for us. He’s a switch-hitter with power who has played, and hit, in the AL West,” GM Jack Zduriencik said in a press release. “He’s familiar with the teams and parks and is a proven run-producer. We hate to part with Jason, and really appreciate everything …

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