The Mariners have granted 28-year old righty swinging infielder Josh Wilson free agency. He played in 45 games for the Mariners last season and he was 32 for 128 (.250 avg, .692 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. Wilson played in 72 games overall for the Mariners & Padres & D-Backs last season in which he was 42 for 192 (.219 avg, .612 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers and 13 RBIs. The Mariners shouldn’t miss Josh Wilson too much if at all in 2010.

UPDATE: The Mariners have re-signed Josh Wilson to a minor league contract for the 2010 season.

The Mariners have signed 26-year old righty reliever Steven Shell to a minor league deal. Shell pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He also pitched in 22 games (8 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 6-3 with 1 save, a 4.72 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Shell has now pitched in 43 games (0 starts) in his 2-year major league career and he is 2-2 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Mariners as Shell should be able to help them at some point in 2010.

Don Wakamatsu finished in 4th place in the voting for the American League Manager of the Year Award. Wakamatsu led the Mariners to a 85-77 (52.5%) record in his first year as a major league manager in 2009. No one expected the Mariners to even approach .500 last season but Wakamatsu did a great job of coaching them up. The Mariners are going to likely improve the team over the winter so Wakamatsu will be expected to improve the record and there is no reason to think he can’t.

The Mariners have lost 26-year old righty reliever Robert Manuel on waivers to the Red Sox. Manuel didn’t pitch for the Mariners last season. He did pitch in his first 3 games (0 starts) of his major league career in 2009 with the Reds and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Manuel also pitched in 51 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 4-5 with 14 saves, a 2.88 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. The Mariners probably should have kept Manuel for 1 more year and give him a long look.

The Mariners have lost 30-year old righty reliever/starter Chris Jakubauskas on waivers to the Pirates. Jakubauskas pitched in 35 games (8 starts) for the Mariners last season and he was 6-7 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. The Mariners are going to be really active this winter and they will probably sign a couple of better pitchers than Jakubauskas so they shouldn’t miss him too much.