The Seattle Mariners had 29-year old closer David Aardsma on the trade block this winter but they won’t be able to deal him now. He will have surgery next Monday to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. Aardsma pitched in 53 games (0 starts) for the Mariners last season and he was 0-6 with 31 saves, a 3.44 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. In his two years with the Mariners, Aardsma has pitched in 126 games (0 starts) in which he is 3-12 with 69 saves, a 2.90 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He only has given up 82 hits in 121 innings with the Mariners and he has 129 whiffs showing just how nasty he can be. But, he has also walked 59 batters which has led to him getting into some trouble. Overall though, Aardsma has been a big asset for the Mariners and they hope he will be ready for the season opener. If Aardsma isn’t ready to close when the season starts look for the Mariners to use Brandon League in that role.

The Mariners have signed 30-year old lefty reliever Royce Ring to a minor league deal. Ring pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Yankees last season and he was 0-0 with a 15.43 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP. He also pitched in 52 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 2-1 with 2 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Ring has now pitched in 99 games (0 starts) in parts of five years in the majors and he is 3-3 with a 5.29 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. Like Denny Bautista mentioned below, Ring has control problems as he has walked 42 batters in his 68 innings in the majors. If the Mariners can get Ring to throw strikes he might be an asset for them in 2011.

The Mariners have signed 27-year old C/1B Chris Gimenez to a minor league deal. Gimenez played in 28 games for the Indians last season and he was 11 of 58 (.190 avg, .615 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. Gimenez has now played in 73 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 27 of 169 (.160 avg, .539 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 4 homers, 15 RBIs and 1 stolen bases. He seems to have a hole in his bat as he has whiffed 58 times already in his career. Mariners’ manager Eric Wedge soon have already seen enough of Gimenez to know that he’s overmatched at the major league level.

The Mariners have signed 28-year old righty reliever Denny Bautista to a minor league deal. Bautista pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 2-0 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He only gave up 25 hits in 33 2/3 innings while whiffing 44 batters showing that he has the stuff to dominate. But, control has always been a issue with him as he walked 27 batters last season. Bautista has now pitched in 131 games (21 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 11-15 with a 5.88 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. If the Mariners can straighten out his issues with control they just might have something in Bautista.

The Mariners have re-signed 30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Ryan Langerhans to a minor league deal. Langerhans played in 60 games for the Mariners last season and he was 21 of 107 (.196 avg, .661 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 3 homers, 4 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Langerhans has now played in 572 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 271 of 1,186 (.228 avg, .707 OPS) with 168 runs scored, 30 homers, 119 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. The Mariners should have just let Langerhans go because he can’t hit his way out of a very wet paper bag.