The Mariners have lost 23-year old lefty Eric O’Flaherty on waivers to the Braves. He was awful last season for the Mariners working in 7 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. O’Flaherty pitched three seasons for the Mariners covering 78 games (0 starts) in which he was 7-2 with a 5.91 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. This is a guy the Mariners should have probably kept for another season or two because of his age and the fact that he throws left handed.

The Mariners have signed Don Wakamatsu to manage the Mariners. He has been a coach in the majors with the A’s and Rangers but he has never managed in the majors until now. He does have some experience managing in the minors. It will be interesting to see how well Wakamatsu does in the tough American League West. The Mariners are hoping that Wakamatsu can get something out of Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva who might be the three most overpaid pitchers in all of baseball. Hopefully the Mariners will have patience with Wakamatsu who will have his work cut out for him from day #1.

The Mariners have outrighted pitchers Jared Wells, Joe Woerman and Jake Woods to AAA making them all free agents. Wells is a 27-year old righty who pitched in 8 games (0 starts) with the Mariners and Padres last season. In those games, Wells was 0-0 with a 8.64 ERA and a 2.16 WHIP. 25-year old righty Joe Woerman pitched in 26 games (21 starts) last season in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 3-11 with a 6.69 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. He allowed a whopping 134 hits and walked 87 batters in only 117 innings and that just didn’t get it done. 27-year old lefty Jake Woods is by far the best of these three pitchers. He pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Mariners last season and he was 0-0 with a 6.16 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. Woods pitched three seasons for the Mariners covering 56 games (8 starts) in which he was 7-4 with 1 save, a 4.61 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. The Mariners needed to get rid of these three guys to hopefully make some smart moves before spring training.

The Mariners will probably go about filling their needs with affordable free agents and making some minor trades. At first base the Mariners will likely consider Kevin Millar, Tony Clark and Sean Casey as possible starters. The Mariners likely need a couple of outfielders and Ken Griffey Jr. has stated that he wouldn’t mind ending his career with the club. It will be interesting to see if the Mariners are going to make him a reasonable offer. The Mariners will likely be window shopping looking for bargains. Players who fit in that category are likely Emil Brown, Eric Hinske, Jerry Hairston, Scott Podsednik, Jay Payton, Shannon Stewart, Cory Sullivan and Chris Duffy. The Mariners also need bullpen help and they will likely look for cheap help there too. The Mariners will likely be looking at pitchers like Rudy Seanez, Matt Herges, Mike Timlin, Keith Foulke and Eric Gagne from the right side. From the left side Trever Miller, Ray King, John Parrish and Kent Mercker are possibilites in the Mariners’ price range. Don’t expect the Mariners to spend big money on free agents until they get out from under Jarrod Washburn, Carlos Silva and Miguel Batista’s awful contracts.

The Mariners have lost 25-year old righty swinging 2B Yung-Chi Chen on waivers to the A’s. Chen was the Mariners’ #20 prospect heading into 2008 according to Baseball America. Chen played in 66 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 62 for 249 (.249 avg, .638 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 3 homers, 25 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Chen never really lived up to his potential with the Mariners but it still hurts seeing him go the the rival A’s.