I'm on my blackberry but here's the release

SEATTLE, Wash. - Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jack Zduriencik announced today that the Mariners have acquired third baseman Jack Hannahan from the Oakland A's in exchange for minor league right-hander Justin Souza.Hannahan will be in uniform and available for tonight's 7:10 game versus the Texas Rangers. Seattle will have to make one other roster move prior to tonight's game.

"We had the opportunity to acquire a premium defensive player who swings a left-handed bat," Zduriencik said. "Jack will become part of our mix at third base. He's a great make-up guy, and a well above average defensive third baseman."

Hannahan, 29, appeared in 52 games with the A's this season, and was hitting .193 (23x119) with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 1 home run. Hannahan started the season with the A's but was optioned to AAA on April 4. He returned to the big leagues on April 24 where he remained until June 29. In 21 games with the Sacramento River Cats (AAA - Pacific Coast League), Hannahan was hitting .222 (18x81) with 7 doubles, 2 home runs and 11 RBI.

Last season Hannahan ranked second among American League third basemen in fielding. He made his Major League debut in 2006 when he appeared in three games for Detroit and hit .278 in 41 games with Oakland in 2007. Hannahan led the International League with a .422 on-base percentage at Toledo in 2007. He was originally a third-round draft pick of the Tigers in 2001.

In his Major League career, he's appeared in 239 games with Detroit (2006) and Oakland (2007-09), hitting a combined .223 with 13 home runs.Souza, 23, spent this season with Double A West Tenn in the Southern League. He compiled a mark of 6-6, 3.35 in 20 games, 14 starts, with the Diamond Jaxx.

A few quick things. Today is salute to Japanese baseball night at Safeco Field, and since my mom is full Japanese descent, meaning I'm half Japanese, the Mariners gave me one of Ichiro's bats and one of Joh's red catcher's gloves. Okay I totally made that last part up. But I am half Japanese and it was a big deal to some of my relatives when Japanese players started showing up in the big leagues. I would think they've helped enhance major league baseball.

A quick note on the nights festivities -- Ayumi Kataoka is a female professional baseball player, who plays for the Ibaraki Golden Golds in the Japanese minor leagues and she threw out the first pitch. While standing around during batting practice, the diminutive player got a wave from Ichiro Suzuki as he was preparing to get in the cage which brought tears to her eyes. Later Kenji Johjima asked if she wanted him to catch the first pitch and she also began tearing up. I guess there is crying in baseball.

First inning
Jarrod Washburn looks pretty sharp, striking out Adam Jones and Nick Markakis.

In the bottom of the inning Russell Branyan takes out any all-star snub frustrations (very few minimal if any) out on the baseball driving a moon-shot to left-center into the Mariners bullpen. M's lead 1-0.

Second inning
Washburn is still cruising along nicely. Also sorry for the delay, but the scoreboards went out hear at Safeco and it has me playing catch up.

Gutierrez leads off with a double in the bottom half of the inning, but he's later thrown out by about six feet on a bad attempt of a steal at third.

Third inning
Another 1-2-3 inning for Washburn ... meanwhile the M's get another strikeout from Ronny Cedeno. That's 37 strikeouts in 121 at-bats for Cedeno. Um, that's kind of a lot.

Fourth inning
Washburn gives up his first hit - a liner to left from Markakis. I didn't jinx it. I didn't say a word.

The Mariners aren't exactly tearing it up offensively other than Branyan home run. Bergeson has probably been Baltimore's best pitcher this season.

Fifth inning
Washburn works a 1-2-3 inning, while the Mariners scratch across another run. Rob Johnson reaches and advances on a throwing error by shortstop Robert Andino. He moves to second on Chris Woodward's broken bat grounder to the right side. The Mariners try a squeeze play with the anemic hitting Ronny Cedeno at the plate, but he bunts it foul. Cedeno then strikes out... of course he does. But Ichiro bails the M's out with a single through the right side.

Sixth inning
Another 1-2-3 inning for Washburn, he's at 80 pitches after six.

The Mariners get a single from Gutierrez, double from Ryan Langerhans to put runners on second and third with one out. The Orioles then intentionally walked Rob Johnson, which is not a typo, to load the bases and Chris Woodward makes them pay with a two-run double to left. Seattle goes up 4-0 with runners on second and third with no outs. Of course, there's no way they are walking Ronny Cedeno, who pulls a hat trick with his third strikeout of the night. The Mariners almost get a couple more, but Ichiro's sinking liner is glove by Brian Roberts on a short hop and thrown to first for the final out.

Seventh inning
Washburn 1-2-3 again. The Mariners tack on an insurance run as Ryan Langerhans hits a ball deep to left with bases loaded for a sac fly.

Eighth inning
Wash again 1-2-3, this is for you Dave8557. Another note, Kam Mickolio is in the eighth to pitch against the M's, as I mentioned earlier he was part of the Bedard trade, and he's also from my home state of Montana. Two Montana players in one big league game, that doesn't happen very often.

Ninth Inning
Washburn with a 1-2-3 inning for a one-hitter the first for a Mariner in Safeco Field history.

Reaching down to their Class AA affiliate, the Mariners have brought up catcher Guillermo Quiroz to replace the injured Kenji Johjima, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

To make room for Quiroz on the 40-man roster, the team placed left-hander Cesar Jimenez on the 60-day disabled list.

A 28-year-old veteran, Quiroz has been with Seattle before - in 2006 - and has bounced around baseball for years.

Why Quiroz and not one of the better known catchers in Tacoma?

Known as a solid defensive player, Quiroz was released this year by Baltimore and signed by Seattle in April, then assigned to West Tennessee. He has a career average of .201.

Sorry for the brief post, but it came from the blackberry. And I also had to go to the A's clubhouse before I head back to Tacoma for the Rainiers.

As I mentioned earlier, Brandon Morrow has been placed on the disabled list with biceps tendonitis. The injury is retroactive to April 24th and means he's eligible to come off the DL on May 9th. Denny Stark has been called up and according to manager Don Wakamatsu will be used in the 5th to 7th inning range.

As expected, David Aardsma will step in and fill the closer's role for the time being and Shawn Kelley will most likely be used as the eighth inning set-up man.

Morrow wasn't pleased about going on the disabled list and thinks he can pitch.

"I didn't want to go on the disabled list," he said. "I told them I'm ready to pitch. We argued, they won the argument."

"We talked about it last night, and the decision was made before I got here this morning," he said. "It started last night because I asked why I hadn't been called upon.

As for his side of the argument, Morrow pointed to having the same issue last season.

"My argument was that I went through this last year, and after four or five days I was fine for the rest of the year," he said. "What they're doing is for my safety, I understand that. But I'm frustrated. I haven't been out there in a week, I don't feel it at all."

When asked if he was angry, Morrow said: "I'm not angry. I'm not injured. I came to the park today ready to pitch, and now I'm on the DL."

Wakamatsu offered these thoughts ...

"We had talked to him about being available," Wakamatsu said. "But it's kind of at that point where if we are little bit proactive we can allow him probably seven or eight days ... where we can kind of control it a little bit more. It was the best move for Brandon and the best move for the club."

Morrow will throw a bullpen today and the Mariners will see how he reacts tomorrow and if it goes well, he'll throw bullpens every other day till he's eligible to come off.

The Mariners may have the day off, but there are roster moves being made. Right-handed reliever Roy Corcoran is being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained neck. The injury is retroactive to April 29th, meaning he's eligible to come off on May 14.

In his place, the Mariners will call up lefty Jason Vargas, who has been solid for Triple A Tacoma this season.

Corcoran, 28, has appeared in eight games this season, all in relief. He has posted a 1-0, 7.27 mark, allowing 13 hits, 9 walks and 7 earned runs in 8.2 innings pitched.

Vargas, 26, is 1-1, 2.49 in 4 starts at Tacoma. He has not allowed a run in his past two starts, tossing a combined 11.2 innings and giving up just 4 hits.

Vargas (right) has pitched in the Major Leagues with Florida (2005, 2006) and the New York Mets (2007). He has a career ML record of 6-8, 5.81 in 31 games, 20 starts. Vargas missed all of the 2008 season following surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip on March 17, 2008.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has decided to send Rule V draft selection Reegie Corona back to the New York Yankees.

Per Rule V draft rules, Corona must be on the team's 25-man roster for the entire season or be sent back. If the Mariners wanted to option a Corona back to the minors, the club must first offer him back to his original team for $25,000 (half of the $50,000 claiming fee).

Zduriencik also had the option of trading for Corona. However the recent signing of utility man Chris Burke made the idea of trading a player to keep Corona far less necessary.

Corona, 22, appeared in 26 spring games, batting .281 (16x57) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, one home run and 7 RBI.

This puts the Mariners 40-man roster at 36 players

Well, it was an interesting day and the Mariners have moved a little closer to the 25 players they’ll be taking with them to Minneapolis for opening day against the Twins.

A few things on the moves …

• I’m holding out judgment on the Brandon Morrow decision to go to closer. Initially, my thought it was a colossal waste of a top pick and categorical screw-up from the very start by the previous regime starting with former GM Bill Bavasi and former manager Mike Hargrove. Look I have nothing against drafting Morrow, his potential seemed limitless. Sure he’s not Tim Lincecum, but really he could have been and should have been more than he is now - a guy choosing to go back to closer after lobbying to start from the moment he was drafted. The wishy-washy way in which Bavasi and Hargrove handled Morrow’s progress – first allowing Hargrove to even put him in the bullpen that first year – is a reason why the Mariners are sitting at this juncture. If he was drafted as a starter, then that’s what he should have been from the very beginning. No matter what he did in his first spring training. I understand Morrow's desire to go back. But if he'd been a starter from the beginning I doubt he would be looking to do this.

Ask yourself this question: If the Mariners knew that Morrow would be a closer not a starter for his career, would they have taken him before Lincecum?

I guess if you're looking for a bright spot in it, Wakamatsu isn't forced to choose from Miguel Batista or David Aardsma or Make Lowe as closer.

• The situation with Jeff Clement going back to Tacoma isn’t surprising. We mentioned a few times that he was playing his way into forcing Wakamatsu to make this decision. The problem is Clement will go and dominate Triple A pitching, and the Mariners will not be any closer to knowing if he’s a legitimate major league hitter. And if Rob Johnson is the back-up catcher, how much does he play? Will it be like what Jamie Burke had to do two years ago, start about once every seven days? Realistically, that that will stunt the considerable progress Johnson has made in the last two years. And then there is the question of Burke. They certainly don’t need three catchers on the roster now, to they? They could use Johnson as a pinch runner and other things, but three catchers seems excessive especially when one of them isn’t getting significant at-bats at DH. Also what does this do for Adam Moore’s progress? Catching coordinator Roger Hansen talked about the need for Moore to be challenged in Triple A this season, if he goes back to AA it won’t happen.

• Tyler Walker was a casualty of his own inability to stay healthy. He seemed pretty sure that he would make the team, but you don’t make a team if you don’t pitch well, or in his case, don’t pitch at all.

• Chris Burke will go to Triple A Tacoma. He has never proven to be a legitimate hitter in the big leagues, but the Mariners have kept similar non-hitting utility men around before.

Ok, now let’s get to the good part....
At the bottom of this post is a list of the remaining players in major league camp. The task for GM Jack Zduriencik and manager Don Wakamatsu is to cut it down to 25 players, that feature the right mixture of everything: starters, bench players, pitchers, relievers and now a closer. Sound easy, it isn’t. Remember you also have to take into account contracts, meaning Carlos Silva and Kenji Johjima make the team because the Mariners are paying them AIG bonus-type money for their services. Don’t forget about injuries or spring training performance.

So give it a try, build your 25-man roster. Think about your lineups, your rotation, your bench, your bullpen, and them post them in the comments section. I’ll do the same.

Here's my personal 25-man roster ...

Projected lineup
RF Ichiro
CF Franklin Gutierrez
DH Ken Griffey Jr.
3B Adrian Beltre
1B Russell Branyan
2B Jose Lopez
C Kenji Johjima
LF Endy Chavez
SS Yuniesky Betancourt

* Notes: Obviously there will be platooning with Balentien and Sweeney replacing Branyan and Chavez when the M's face tough left-handed pitchers. I honestly have no idea how much they will play Griffey in the outfield, which is why I didn't put together lineups vs. lefties and righties.

Bench
IF Ronny Cedeno
IF/DH Mike Sweeney
OF Wlad Balentien
C Rob Johnson

* Notes: Sweeney’s hot bat of late and his overall clubhouse presence will force Chris Shelton to Triple A Tacoma. Mike Morse is gone. He’s out of Triple A options and probably won’t clear waivers. The M’s will lose Corona because he’s a Rule V guy unless they make a trade for him. But signing Chris Burke and keeping Chris Woodward might make him an afterthought. If Johjima is going to play often, sitting Johnson on the bench is worthless as I mentioned above. Jamie Burke could do that. Which would leave Johnson, Clement and Adam Moore in the minors. They need to trade somebody. But Burke may want a chance to look around and hook on with another team and ask for his unconditional release.

Rotation
RHP Felix Hernandez
LHP Erik Bedard
RHP Carlos Silva
LHP Jarrod Washburn
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith

* Notes: I don’t like having Silva at the three, but Washburn prefers not to pitch the game after a left-hander. Rowland-Smith isn’t bothered by matters like that.

Bullpen
RHP Chris Jakubauskas (long reliever)
RHP David Aardsma
RHP Roy Corcoran
RHP Mark Lowe
RHP Shawn Kelley
RHP Brandon Morrow (closer)
LHP Cesar Jimenez

* Notes: Tyler Johnson would be my situational lefty instead of Jimenez, who actually isn’t very good against lefties. But Jimenez is pretty versatile and showed he can pitch multiple innings. Kelley was the most consistent pitcher in the spring. I take Jakubauskas over Miguel Batista just because of personal preference. Batista has been bad this spring and seems displeased with his overall role. Eat the 9 million and go with a youngster. Even lefty Garrett Olson might be better in the long relief role. But my gut says they’ll keep Batista and I’ll be banging my head off the table in the press box about three times a week.

REMAINING PLAYERS in CAMP
Pitchers
45 Bedard, Erik LHP
31 Feierabend, Ryan^^ LHP
37 Jimenez, Cesar LHP
58 Johnson, Tyler* LHP
54 Lugo, Jose LHP
49 Olson, Garrett LHP
18 Rowland-Smith, Ryan LHP
56 Washburn, Jarrod LHP

53 Aardsma, David RHP
43 Batista, Miguel RHP
48 Corcoran, Roy RHP
33 Cordero, Chad* RHP
67 Delgado, Jesus RHP
34 Hernandez, Felix RHP
71 Jakubauskas, Chris* RHP
66 Kelley, Shawn* RHP
57 Lowe, Mark RHP
26 Messenger, Randy* RHP
35 Morrow, Brandon RHP
52 Silva, Carlos RHP

Catchers
15 Burke, Jamie* C
2 Johjima, Kenji C
32 Johnson, Rob C

Infielders
29 Beltre, Adrian INF
7 Betancourt, Yuniesky INF
30 Branyan, Russell INF
3 Cedeno, Ronny INF
1 Corona, Reegie INF
4 Lopez, Jose INF
13 Shelton, Chris* INF
5 Sweeney, Mike* INF
6 Woodward, Chris* INF
0 Chris Burke INF/OF

Outfielders
25 Balentien, Wladimir OF
10 Chavez, Endy OF
24 Griffey Jr., Ken OF
21 Gutierrez, Franklin OF
12 Morse, Mike OF
51 Suzuki, Ichiro OF
61 Wilson, Mike* OF

* non-roster invitee
^^ 60-Day DL

On a day when plenty of things are going on around Peoria, general manager Jack Zduriencik added another move to the fray, acquiring utility infielder/outfielder Chris Burke from the San Diego Padres for future cash considerations.

"As we continue to build depth in our organization, we thought Chris was a nice fit as insurance at a number of positions on our big league club," Zduriencik said.

Burke was a non-roster invitee with the Padres and will join the Mariners major League spring training camp also as a non-roster invitee.

Not sure how this all works for the remaining guys in camp like Reegie Corona, a Rule V guy, who either the Mariners will have to make a trade for to keep if he isn't on the 25-man roster. Also, it's another guy that probably moves ahead of Mike Morse as well. But because he was signed to a minor league deal, Burke can be optioned to Triple A Tacoma.

Burke, 29, has started a game in the big leagues at every position except pitcher and catcher. He spent the 2008 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks and saw action at six different positions, including all four infield spots. He played five different positions with the Astros in 2007.

In all, Burke has spent all or parts of five seasons in the big leagues with Houston (2004-2007) and Arizona (2008). He was a part of the 2005 Astros team that advanced to the World Series.

Last season, Burke hit .194 (32-for-165) with 5 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs. Despite playing six positions, he committed just one error in 193 total chances.

It’s an offday in Peoria, so I figured I’d post something from this perpetually gray place known as Puget Sound.

Quickly, I was on KJR with Ian Furness on Tuesday. You can listen to the interview here. It looks like that will be a weekly thing. Just not sure what day and time it will be.

Here's the up to date spring stats and pitching lines for the M's.

Also it looks as though Angels ace John Lackey won't be ready for opening day for the second straight season.

And I won't be going to Michigan to try this burger, at least not any time soon.

Watched the Mariners game with the Dodgers last night and was struck by a few things …

• Manny Ramirez’s homer off of Ryan Rowland-Smith was awesome. Look, I dislike Manny probably as much any reasonable human can dislike someone. He is the antithesis of everything I believe in about playing baseball. Also, I like Ryan Rowland-Smith and think he should be in the Mariners starting rotation – along with a healthy Brandon Morrow. With that said, Manny can “rake” and that homer was ridiculous. Here's the video

• Jeff Clement is still fighting himself. He’s getting into that bad habit again of getting pull happy. When I watched him have his best success in Triple A (with the understanding it’s still AAA pitching) and even the brief moments last season, Clement was staying in on the ball and hitting up the middle and even to left-center.

He was never a pure pull hitter coming up, but you can tell everything is opening up a little quick and he’s trying to just hammer balls to right. Of course, last night he did have to face lefties in three of his four at-bats. Still, he’s always maintained that he likes hitting lefties, and his minor league splits suggest that. But one of the keys to hitting lefties as a lefty is staying in on the ball, keeping that front shoulder in and going with the pitch. He wasn’t doing that last night, and hasn’t consistently done it this spring.

Being around Clement enough, it’s easy to see that he’s a guy that wants success at the major league level so badly and is clearly pressing both at the plate and behind it this spring.

With Ken Griffey Jr. likely to take a good portion of the at-bats at designated hitter, that means Clement will lose at-bats. Could he be sent back to Triple A, to make sure he gets day to day at-bats and work behind the plate. It’s certainly possible. It will be interesting to see what transpires over the week and half with the return of Kenji Johjima. That leaves Johjima, Clement, Jamie Burke and Rob Johnson all trying to make the team with Adam Moore most likely ticketed to Triple A.

Realistically, the Mariners could name Joh as the starter, designate Burke giving him the chance to hook up as a back-up with another team, and then decide between Clement or Johnson. Johnson is better defensively and calls a better game. But at some point, the Mariners need to make a determination if Clement is part of their future, and they won’t know unless he gets some day to day at-bats in the big leagues to get used to major league pitching. Or they could make a trade with another team in need of catching help.

• Brandon Morrow looked pretty good. His fastball ranged fro 92 to 97. He threw three straight fastballs at 97 mph against Brad Ausmus to end the inning. He’s still not going to start the season in the big league rotation because he’s just too far behind. He'll probably begin the season in the minor leagues, maybe AA West Tennessee since its climate is a little warmer, but he could go with the Tacoma since they start the season on the road.

• To be fair, Miguel Batista has not been good this spring. He hasn’t been completely horrible, just on occasion. But consistent? Not even close. Here’s his spring pitching lines …

He has not pitched back-to-back scoreless innings this spring.

Batista has maintained that his horrible performance last season is due to minor fractures in his back that never allowed him to extend on his pitches. He’s supposed completely healthy this year and we should see a difference, but he’s still allowed 11 hits in 10 2/3 innings pitched.

Let’s look at the facts ..
1. He’s 38 years old
2. He’s in the final year of three-year, $25 million contract with the Ms (thanks BB). He’ll get paid $9 million this year.
3. He’s not a part of the Mariners immediate future, and obviously not the long range future.
4. If he continues to give up hits or more importantly walk hitters and consistently falls behind hitters, his minimal value to the Mariners decreases even more and his trade value will be virtually non-existent.
5. The Mariners might be better off keeping one of their younger pitchers like Shawn Kelley (more consistent) or Chris Jakubauskas (more versatile) or Cesar Jimenez (extra lefty in the pen) on the staff instead.

So should the Mariners just release Batista and eat the $9 million? The USS Mariner discussed this possibility a while back.

After watching Batista slog his way through an inning of work last night, getting hit hard by the likes of Jason Repko and Doug Mientkiewicz, I think you know my answer to the question.

As expected the Mariners made some cuts from camp today ...

Optioned to Triple A Tacoma
RHP Luis Pena, LHP Justin Thomas

Optioned to Double A West Tennesseee
RHP Stephen Kahn, RHP Marwin Vega

Re-assigned to minor league camp
RHP Eric Hull, RHP Luis Munoz, RHP Denny Stark, LHP Chris Seddon, OF Freddy Guzman, OF Prentice Redman.

So we have Jerry Crasnick's story saying baseball sources have told him talk with Griffey have picked up.

And we have Jim Street's story saying the Mariners and Griffey's agent Bryan Goldberg are nearing agreement on a one-year contract.

Now whether it gets done today or not isn't a given. Junior is playing golf at Pebble Beach at the AT&T Pro-AM and I don't think he's going to leave the tournament to take what figures to be a fairly extensive physical (remember he had knee surgery in the offseason).

But it does appear that the deal is going to happen in the coming days, most likely some time next week.

Now I ask you, is this a good decision by the Mariners?

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik continues to stockpile arms for spring training. The Mairners signed left-handed pitcher Tyler Johnson to a minor league contract on Thursday, and extended an invite to major league spring training.

"Tyler is an experienced, left-handed reliever that gives us another option to look at for our bullpen," Zduriencik said. "He's had success at the Major League level, especially against left-handed hitters. Over the past several weeks, we've had Duane Shaffer watching him throw, and the reports have been very positive."

Johnson basically missed all of last season after being placed on the Cardinals 60-day disabled list March 31 with bursitis in his left shoulder. Johnson had shoulder surgery in 2007 and just never could get healthy.

In 2007, pitching with St. Louis, Johnson appeared in 55 games, and held opposing hitters to a .217 (31-for-143) batting average against. He had appeared in 56 games with the Cardinals in 2006, and limited left-handed hitters to a .221 (17-for-77) batting average against. He led all St. Louis pitchers with 10 appearances and 4 holds during the 2006 post-season, striking out 12 in 7.1 innings pitched.

Johnson is 3-5, 4.32 in 116 Major League games with the Cardinals (2005-2008), all in relief. He has tossed 77.0 innings, and allowed just 67 hits while striking out 65.

The Mariners now have 60 players reporting to Major League Spring Training (40 players on 40-man roster, 20 non-roster invitees). Pitchers and Catchers will hold their first workout February 14 in Peoria, Ariz., and the first full-squad workout will be held Feb. 18.