Jose Lopez was an All-Star in 2006 and the future appeared very bright for him. But last season he had off the field issues (his brother died) and it seemed to affect the way he played the game. The Mariners need Lopez to be focused this season because he has the talent to be a multi-time All Star in his major league career. The Mariners signed Miguel Cairo to backup up Lopez and take over for him if he continues to have problems. The Mariners signed Cairo because they don’t want to use Jose Vidro at 2B because of his bad knees.

The Mariners have re-signed 30-year old righty reliever Chris Reitsma. Reitsma pitched in 26 games for the Mariners last season and he was 0-2 with a 7.61 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP. Reitsma has now pitched in 338 games (53 starts) in his major league career and he is 32-46 with 37 saves, a 4.70 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.

The Mariners have signed 33 year old Miguel Cairo to a 2-year contract. The righty swinging Cairo played in 82 games last season for the Yankees and Cardinals and he was 44 for 174 (.253 avg) with 20 runs scored, 15 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Cairo has now played in 1,092 games in his major league career and he is 826 for 3,095 (.267 avg, .674 OPS) with 392 runs scored, 27 homers, 295 RBIs and 123 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Mariners as Cairo is a solid player off of the bench.