It's official. The Mariners have acquired switch-hitting infielder Jose Vidro and cash considerations from the Washington Nationals in exchange for right-handed reliever Emiliano Fruto and outfielder Chris Snelling.

“Jose is a professional hitter,” Mariners GM Bill Bavasi said in a press release issued by the team. “We feel we can add him to our batting order anywhere from the second- to the sixth-spot and he will add production to our line-up. With the addition of Vidro and Jose Guillen to our returning players, I think we are a much stronger offensive team.”

Vidro, 32, is a career .301 hitter in 10 big league seasons with 304 doubles, 12 triples, 115 home runs and 550 RBI in 1,186 career games. In his career, Jose has nearly identical numbers from both sides of the plate: As a right-handed batter, he has hit .301, with an on-base percentage of .362 and a slugging percentage of .458; as a left-handed batter, his line is a .301 average, with a .363 OBP while slugging .459.

“I’m excited to add his bat to our line-up,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “One of the problems we had last season was that we didn’t keep enough innings going. Adding a hitter like Jose, who makes contact and hits with runners on base, will help our offense.”

Vidro, a three-time All-Star, hit .289 with 26 doubles in 126 games last season. He posted a .323 average (43x133) vs. left-handed pitching.

Jose, who is signed to a contract that covers the 2007 and 2008 seasons, had spent his entire pro career with the Montreal/Washington franchise. He made his ML debut with Montreal in 1997.

Fruto was 2-2, 5.50 in 23 games with Seattle last season. He allowed 34 hits and 34 walks in 36.0 innings pitched.

Snelling hit .250 (24x96) with 6 doubles and 3 home runs in 36 games with Seattle in 2006. In 59 combined career games in the 2002, 2005 and 2006 seasons, Snelling is a career .237 hitter with 8 doubles and 5 homers.

The Mariners announced Tuesday they will not tender a 2007 contract offer to right-handed pitcher Joel Piñeiro.

Piñeiro is now a free agent and may negotiate with any of the 30 Major League teams.

Piñeiro, 28, appeared in a career-high 40 games, including 25 starts, and posted an 8-13 record. He was 7-12, 6.62 in his starts and 1-1, 4.81 with one save in 15 relief appearances. Since going 14-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 2002, Pineiro's ERA has risen each season and was a career-worst 6.36 in 2006.

Piñeiro was Seattle's 12th round selection in the 1997 June draft and spent his entire career in the Mariners organization. He has a Major League mark of 58-55, 4.48 in 185 games, 148 starts.

Here are a couple of stories on the winter meetings. ESPN.coms's Jayson Stark wraps it all up nicely and The News Tribune's John McGrath writes on how the Mariners may have come up short at the meetings but left with their wallets intact.

And there's this take from the Braves side of the Soriano-Ramirez trade by MLB.com with Atlanta GM John Schuerholz saying he feels good about the deal.

Finally, there's joy in Kansas City despite the Royals overpaying for Gil Meche. Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski tells you why. For some weird reason, the link wouldn't work but here's the URL:

www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/joe_posnanski/16190469.htm

I've combed through the recent comments and will try to answer some of your questions. Here you go:

1. Mark Lowe's status. Don't count on Lowe being ready to pitch on opening day. The News Tribune's Larry LaRue reported that Lowe's elbow surgery uncovered a "bone on bone" situation, which is much more serious than what was expected. Best case scenario is Lowe will be pitching by late April, early May but that's very optimistic. Since he's a young guy and coming off surgery, expect the M's to baby him. If he's ready by the All-Star Break, thank your lucky stars.

2. Who is Horacio Ramirez? He's part of the M's rebuilt rotation, obtained from the Atlanta Braves for setup man Rafael Soriano. Ramirez went 5-5 with a 4.48 ERA last year but owns a lifetime record of 30-22, 4.13 ERA. A main problem for him has been with walks. He averages 3.45 per 9 innings in his career. The Braves, at one time, were high on Ramirez but injuries and the control issue limited him to 14 starts last year. He's been a winner in the past, winning 11 games in 2004 and 12 as a rookie in 2003. The Mariners have to hope a switch to the AL and spacious Safeco Field will help.

3. Jose Guillen's size. A saw a couple of people wondering if Guilen is big enough to be a power hitter. First of all, not that size matters, but Guillen goes about 5-11 and 195 pounds, not 165 as I saw posted. He’s put together, much like Adrian Beltre, who is not quite 6 feet but over 200 pounds. When healthy, Guillen has shown to have plenty of power. Before last year, he hit 31, 27 and 24 homers in his previous three healthy seasons.

4. Who is Sean White? White was obtained from Pittsburgh (via Atlanta) in Thursday’s Rule V draft. He’s a former UW pitcher who must make the team out of spring training or be offered back to Atlanta for $50,000 if he doesn’t. White, who is from Mercer Island, was 5-6 with a 4.40 ERA in Double-A last year. He’s reported to have a good, live fastball.

The Gil Meche sweepstakes are over, and the Kansas City Royals are the winners.

ESPN's Steve Phillips reports Thursday the Royals and Meche have agreed to terms on a 5-year deal, pending a physical. Financial details were not immediately available.

Meche, a six-year veteran, has a career record of 55-44 and a 4.65 earned-run average, all with the Seattle Mariners. He was 11-8 for the Mariners last season with a 4.48 ERA.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs also were in the running for Meche.

Various sources late Wednesday have indicated that the Mariners have traded setup man Rafael Soriano to the Atlanta Braves for starting pitcher Horacio Ramirez.

The News Tribune's Larry LaRue said the Braves as well as other teams talked about the trade, which is being held up pending physicals of both players. The Mariners had no comment.

Ramirez would fill the Mariners need for a starter but at a high cost. Soriano, who can throw in the mid-90s, was a valuable performer in the late innings and was once thought to be the closer-in-training. An elbow injury sidelined him almost the entire 2004 and 2005 seasons and he was passed by J.J. Putz, who has since nailed down the closer's job.

Ramirez, a left-hander, has a career record of 30-22 with a 4.13 ERA over parts of four seasons. Last year he was 5-5 with a 4.48 ERA and was bothered by a pulled hamstring and a finger injury.

Cross the names of pitchers Freddy Garcia and Ted Lilly off the Mariners list.

On Wednesday, both of the starting pitchers landed new homes: Garcia with the Phillies and Lilly with the Cubs.

Garcia, who went 17-9 for the White Sox last year, was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitchers Gavin Floyd and pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

Lilly, a free agent who earlier in the day ruled out returning to Toronto, reached a preliminary agreement on a $40 million, four-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.

The deal for Garcia reconnects him with his former general manager from Seattle, Pat Gillick, who has been working to upgrade the team's pitching staff.

Floyd, who has struggled with control in his brief stints in the majors, was 4-3 with a 7.29 ERA in 11 starts for the Phillies last season before being optioned to Triple-A on June 3.

Lilly has a career 59-58 record in eight major-league seasons with Montreal, the Yankees, Oakland and Toronto. He went 15-13 with a 4.31 ERA for the Blue Jays last season.

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove spoke at the Winter Meetings and the team was gracious enough to provide us with a transcript. It's long, but here you go:

Q. I’m assuming you haven’t had a chance to play with the lineup?
MIKE HARGROVE: I really haven't. To an extent, I did a little bit last night but not anything that I'll be ready to talk about. You know, there's time for that. We're really focused right now on trying to improve our rotation, and that's been pretty much where the energy has been.

Q. Have you played with your rotation as it is now?
MIKE HARGROVE: Not for very long.

Q. If the season started today, who your rotation would be, it's kind of tough to come up with, right?
MIKE HARGROVE: Well, I mean, yeah. The way it is right now and there's no reason to there really is no reason to even name that because I'll be shocked if it's not different. We've got Hernandez and Washburn and Baek and Woods and Feierabend, Pineiro, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Q. Are you pretty sure Pineiro will be back?
MIKE HARGROVE: I'm going to let you ask Bill that.

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Bad news, Mariners fans. This just in from ESPN and The Associated Press:

The Dodgers, who lost three players to free agency on Tuesday, reloaded in a big way Wednesday.

Free-agent pitcher Jason Schmidt and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a three-year contract worth $47 million.

The team has been in the market for a starting pitcher, especially after losing Greg Maddux to the Padres on Tuesday.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti previously worked as a front-office executive while Schmidt was pitching for the Giants.

Schmidt's $10 million option for 2006 was exercised by the Giants, but knew they might lose him as a free agent this offseason. The 33-year-old right-hander seemed ready for a change of scenery from San Francisco, which has endured two straight losing seasons and three in a row out of the playoffs.

Schmidt was the Giants' lone All-Star this season and went 11-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 213 1/3 innings.

Here's a look (and outside of guys named Zito or Schmidt, it's a grim one, folks) at the free agent pitchers still available:
AVAILABLE STARTING PITCHERS
NAME..................AGE..........2006 TEAM
Tony Armas............28...........Washington
Miguel Batista........35...........Arizona
Bruce Chen............29...........Baltimore
Roger Clemens.........44...........Houston
Shawn Estes...........33...........San Diego
Rick Helling..........35...........Milwaukee
Jason Johnson.........33...........Cincinnati
Ted Lilly.............30...........Toronto
Jason Marquis.........28...........St. Louis
Gil Meche.............28...........Seattle
Brian Moehler.........34...........Florida
Mark Mulder...........29...........St. Louis
Tomo Ohka.............30...........Milwaukee
Ramon Ortiz...........33...........Washington
Russ Ortiz............32...........Baltimore
Chan Ho Park..........33...........San Diego
Andy Pettitte.........34...........Houston
Mark Redman...........32...........Kansas City
Jason Schmidt.........33...........San Francisco
Aaron Sele............36...........LA Dodgers
Jeff Suppan...........31...........St. Louis
John Thomson..........33...........Atlanta
Steve Trachsel........36...........NY Mets
Jeff Weaver...........30...........St. Louis
David Wells...........43...........San Diego
Paul Wilson...........33...........Cincinnati
Jamey Wright..........31...........San Francisco
Barry Zito............28...........Oakland

Here's a list of starting pitchers who have already signed and what they got:

NAME.................AGE.....NEW TEAM....................DEAL
Adam Eaton...........29......Philadelphia..........3 years, $24.5 million
Tom Glavine..........40......NY Mets.................1 year, $10.5 milion
Orlando Hernandez.....37......NY Mets................2 years, $12 million
Greg Maddux..........40......San Diego...............1 year, $10 million
Wade Miller..........30......Cubs....................1 year, $1.5 million
Mike Mussin..........37......NY Yankees..............2 years, $23 million
Vicente Padilla......29......Texas...................3 years, $34 million
Kip Wells............29......St. Louis...............1 year, $4 million
Woody Williams.......40......Houston...............2 years, $12.5 million
Randy Wolf...........30......LA Dodgers.............1 year, $8 million

Here are two stories that should interest Mariners fans. The first is from Jasyon Stark of ESPN.com and is about the high cost of pitching.

Then there's this interesting story from the L.A. Times about new Mariner Jose Guillen and his former teammate Jarrod Washburn. Both were on the Angels when Guillen had his run-in with manager Mike Scioscia that eventually led to him being suspended for the rest of the season.

Former Bellarmine Prep star Jon Lester reportedly received good news recently in his ongoing battle with lymphoma.

A source who has direct knowledge of Lester's medical condition told The Boston Globe that the Red Sox left-hander's latest CT scan was clean and his lymphoma seems to be in remission. The source told the newspaper that Lester expects to be with the Red Sox in spring training.

Lester has anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a type of cancer that forms in the body's lymph system. He has been undergoing chemotherapy since September.

The rookie pitcher was originally sidelined for back pain from an auto accident in mid-August, but "something stuck out" during a test in Tacoma, Wash., Lester said in September.

When contacted by The Globe, Lester's father said he would leave comment for his son.

"That's something that has to come from Jon," John Lester told The Globe "It's his body, his treatment. I'd love to say something, but I wouldn't want to compromise his wishes."

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein also declined comment.

Enlarged lymph nodes were identified when Lester was tested to determine the cause of back pain that sent him to the disabled list on Aug. 28.

Lester has been one of Boston's top prospects since he was drafted in 2002. He reached the major leagues for the first time on June 10, won his first five decisions and was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA when he went on the disabled list.

With the winter meetings in full swing you are bound to hear many players being mentioned as interested in or on their way to Seattle. Here are a few of the main names being tossed around the rumor mill and their situation:

Freddy Garcia – The White Sox are one of the few teams that have a surplus of starting pitching because they want to use Brandon McCarthy in the rotation. That makes Garcia, who's due $10 million in the last year of his contract, expendable. Unless the Mariners get creative, it's hard to see how they match up with the White Sox in a trade, unless you start including guys like J.J. Putz and Adam Jones, which I'm sure they don't want to do for a guy who's potentially only going to be in Seattle for a year.

Manny Ramirez – Yes, he's flakey and yes he's getting older and more likely to start breaking down. But the man can hit, and would be a boost to any lineup ... just probably not the Mariners'. Boston would like to move ManRam but he holds a no-trade clause and the team is looking for a lot in return. The Angels have some young talent and seem to match up better but they're in no hurry to make such a move.

Jason Schmidt – A free agent who can go where he pleases, the soon to be 34-year-old Schmidt is highly sought after despite some recent arm woes. The Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals and M's are said to be the favorites. Those are some of the heavy hitters in baseball as far as resources are concerned and Seattle will have to be willing to step up its offer if it wants to compete in that neighborhood. The M's can only hope that Schmidt, who's from Longview, thinks playing near home is worth more than a year or two and $20 million in the final deal.

Barry Zito – The coveted pitcher of this offseason, Zito has the pick of the litter. What Seattle has going for it is location and the American League. Zito is a West Coast guy and is a little eccentric and might be wary of trying to fit in in Dallas or New York. It would be a coup if the Mariners could land him. Side note: When I was living in the L.A. area in the mid 1990s, I saw Zito pitch for L.A. Pierce Junior College, which was a block down the street from the L.A. Daily News. Even then, the guy could pitch and throw that big old curve.

Ted Lilly – A left-hander with a decent fastball who has had a Gil Meche like career (read: Inconsistent). A lot of teams are targeting him figuring they can't afford a Zito or Schmidt. The teams interested, besides Seattle: Cubs, Giants, Yankees, Blue Jays. Lilly is a California native who has said he would like to pitch closer to home, which could help the M's chances.

One of the most popular questions I get about the Mariners involves pitcher Gil Meche and why the Mariners did not do more to keep him before he became a free agent.

Anyone who has watched the Mariners the past few years has seen Meche pitch one of those games where it looks like the big right-hander can do no wrong. Fastball's popping, control's sharp, breaking stuff's working. And then you've seen the starts where Meche looks like he just picked up a baseball for the first time in his life. No control and worse, no idea of what to do with what he has got. This is the Gil Meche problem in a nutshell and the Mariners were spooked to spend to spend millions on a pitcher who might – or might not – be any good.

Mariners coaches were frequently frustrated with Meche because of his lack of consistency. Some of that could be blamed on the arm troubles Meche had but those have long since ceased to be a concern. Worse, Meche seemed to always have some little problem/excuse that caused his bad outing. Bad arm slot, too long of a stride, didn't feel right warming up, etc. I think these things got to be a bit tiring, too.

Your right if you're thinking at least the Mariners knew something about Meche, who has been with the organization since being drafted, instead of gambling with an unknown pitcher. And that fact alone might speak volumnes why the Mariners didn't push harder to sign Meche.

One more thing to remember: Meche may not have wanted to return to Seattle. He might have vetoed any deal this summer with the Mariners with the thought of getting out of town. Maybe he realized his time had come and gone here or maybe he was holding out for the big payday, which seems likely given the state of pitching and what team's are willing to pay. Whatever the reason, Meche himself might have decided that Seattle was no longer in his plans.

Scanning the internet, there seems to be many teams that have an interest in Meche. The Yankees, White Sox, Cubs, Blue Jays and even the Royals! have been reported to have interest in signing Meche.

First of all, let me say thanks to all the loyal readers who have been checking the blog; your attentiveness is appreciated. I also want to apologize for not posting more but I've been off work the last two weeks while attending a family emergency. I'm back now and will be more diligent, promise.

That said, the next week could be interesting. Baseball's winter meetings began today in Orlando, Florida, and the Mariners have already signed what they hope to be a productive, middle-of-the-order bat in outfielder Jose Guillen.

Staff writer Larry LaRue is in Orlando and he'll be keeping us up-to-date with all the goings on. Here's his story on what the Mariners hope to accomplish.

At the first day of the winter meetings, the Mariners announced Monday they have signed outfielder Jose Guillen to a one-year, $5.5 million contract with an option for 2008.

Guillen, 30, is coming off a season cut short by reconstructive elbow surgery. He hit .216 with nine homers and 40 RBI for the Washington Nationals but is a career .272 hitter with 143 homers.

"He fits real well in our lineup among Ibanez, Sexson and Beltre," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "Considering the production he has shown in his career, it's a significant acquisition for us. He plays the game with a lot of passion and heart -- he's not afraid to stick his nose in there. Defensively. He's a plus in how hard he plays the game."

Guillen left a game on July 18, 2006 in the third inning and didn't return to the lineup. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery later that month to repair a completely torn ligament in his right elbow. Guillen underwent a physcial on Sunday with no apparent problems.

"We feel like this is a signing with some real upside," GM Bill Bavais Bavasi said. "Our doctors have given him a very complete physical and we are very confident he's healthy; when Jose has been healthy in his career he's put up numbers. This was an opportunity for us to sign a top-quality rightfielder, and a productive middle-of-the-order hitter."

In 2005 Guillen led the Nationals in runs (81), hits (156), total bases (264), home runs (24), and RBI (76). In 2004 with the Angels, he notched career highs of 148 games and 104 RBI.

To make room on the Major League, 40-man roster, Seattle designated left-handed pitcher Bobby Livingston for assignment.