Willie Bloomquist, the utilityman who played seven positions in his Mariners career, has signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals – and will compete for one spot there, second base.

The Royals, calling Bloomquist an ‘ignitor,’ have agreed to a two-year, $3 million deal and will let the 31-year-old free agent fight for a starting job at second base. If he doesn’t win that, he’ll come off the bench.

The signing ends Bloomquist’s six-year run with Seattle, during which the Port Orchard product was beloved by some fans and disliked by others.

In 540 games as a Mariner, Bloomquist batted .263 and stole 71 bases in 87 attempts.

For those who don’t believe intensity plays a role in major league games, Bloomquist was never more than an afterthought with Seattle – the kind of player who gets in the game when someone else is tired or hurt.

Much of Bloomquist’s value was a clubhouse presence that demanded maximum effort, and it was embraced by every manager he played for. Bloomquist would challenge anyone, and was as good a clubhouse mimic as there is in the game.

He could sound like virtually anyone, given enough time, from Mariners broadcasters to coaches and teammates – and he was not beyond mocking writers, in their presence, with spot-on impersonations.

Yes, he used to ‘do’ me, often grabbing a bat, making it look like the monopod I carry. Then he’d focus his imaginary camera, take a shot, check it in his view finder and beam.

That, he said, was me. His teammates loved it. I couldn’t deny it.

Bloomquist will be missed, but knew it was time to move on. Here’s hoping his time with the Royals finds him playing time and yet another manager who comes to appreciate what he can bring to a game and a team.

The strength of the 2009 Seattle Mariners appears to be a strong, deep starting rotation – but as with all things facing this team, even putting that together will be a challenge.

If you’re new manager Don Wakamatsu and his staff, you’re faced with a lot of options and some harsh reality. There are nine potential starters on this roster, and no room for all of them on the pitching staff.

The harsh reality? The Mariners can’t trade pitchers like Carlos Silva, Jarrod Washburn or Miguel Batista, and can’t send them to the minor leagues, either. And early on, at least, new general manager Jack Zduriencik isn’t going to eat their contracts.

So the Mariners must build their rotation with all that in mind, and consider not just who the teams best starters are, but which of their pitchers could also be effective in a relief role.

Want to put together a rotation? That also means figuring out where to put the men who don’t make it.

Here are your candidates.

Right-handed pitchers Felix Hernandez Brandon Morrow, Aaron Heilman, Batista and Silva.

Left-handed pitchers: Erik Bedard, Washburn, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Ryan Feierabend.

And keep this in mind while you’re building your rotation – the Mariners bullpen already includes Roy Corcoran, Mark Lowe and Tyler Walker, and candidates like Cesar Jimenez, Randy Messenger, Justin Thomas, Jared Wells andJason Vargas.

The Mariners are going to have to be creative.

Want to help them out? Put together a rotation, then figure out what the other four pitchers can do on this staff. Remember the restrictions – you can’t release any of them, cannot trade some of them and can only send Morrow and Feierabend back to the minors.

Let’s see what you can come up with, and feel free to explain why.