In a move that bears the fingerprints of new GM Jack Zduriencik, the Mariners have signed center fielder Steve Moss to a minor league contact.

No, the 24-year-old Moss isn't on the major league roster, but picking him up is an indication of two things.

First, Seattle's minor league cupboard is a bit bare in center.

And second, Zduriencik has a good memory - Moss was a 2002 draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, taken right out of high school.

Last year, he batted .299 for the Long Beach Armada and was, according to his manager - ex-Mariner Steve Yeager - the best center fielder in the league.

For the price of a minor league deal, why not take a look?

The current competition for center next spring figures to be Wladimir Balentien and Jeremy Reed.

Zduriencik, obviously, wants a bit more of a choice.

You can read a bit more about Moss and his 2008 season here.

It wasn't unexpected that on the first day they could, Mariners Raul Ibanez, Willie Bloomquist and Miguel Cairo filed for free agency.

Why wait?

Now, all three can begin fielding offers, although for the next two weeks only their team of origin - Seattle - can actually offer a contract.

Ibanez and Cairo couldn't be reached Friday, and Raul's telephone mailbox was so full it couldn't accept another message.

Bloomquist, however, chatted about the process of free agency, comparing it to his high school days, waiting for scholarship offers.

You can read more about the three free agents and see what Willie had to say in a story here.

As for the Mariners, the new GM and his staff are already huddling in Southern Califonia, where the GM meetings begin on Monday.

Just who they'll pursue among their own free agents is a question Jack Zduriencik isn't yet prepared to discuss.