The Seattle Mariners have lost 27-year old righty starting pitcher Charlie Haeger for the next 6-8 weeks due to back surgery. Haeger pitched in 9 games (6 starts) for the Dodgers last year and he was 0-4 with a 8.40 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP. He gave up 30 hits in 30 innings but he also walked 26 batters which kept getting him in a ton of trouble. The Mariners signed the knuckleballer hoping to catch lightning in a bottle just like the Mets did with R.A. Dickey last year, but they will have to wait a while for him now.

The Mariners have placed starting CF Franklin Gutierrez on the 15-disabled list due to a stomach issue. Ryan Langerhans and Michael Saunders will likely split the P.T. in CF until Gutierrez is ready to return to action. The Mariners will miss both Gutierrez’ bat and mitt while he is out of action, so they hope he can return soon. He is one of the very best defensive outfielders in all of baseball and he’s one of the better hitters on the team.

The Mariners have released 30-year old righty swinging infielder Josh Wilson. Wilson played in 108 games for the Mariners last year and he was 82 of 361 (.227 avg, .572 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He played in 153 games in two years with the Mariners and he was 114 of 489 (.233 avg, .604 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 5 homers, 35 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Mariners shouldn’t miss Wilson too much as he looked overmatched at the plate and in the field in 2010.

The Mariners have released veteran outfielder Gabe Gross. Gross played in 13 games this spring for the Mariners and he was 2 of 26 (.077 avg, .431 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. The Mariners don’t have much in the outfield which really says a lot about Gabe Gross. The Mariners won’t miss Gross who has never been a good major leaguer.

43-year old Eric Wedge has not had a lot of success in the majors as a manager but at least he will give the Mariners a new direction. Wedge last managed in the majors back in 2009 with the Indians when he led them to a 65-97 (40.1%) record which got him fired. Wedge now has a 561-573 (49.5%) record during the regular season in his first 7 years in charge. He is also 6-5 (54.5%) in the post season. Don’t expect miracles out of Wedge in 2011 as he will be going into a lot of gun fights with butter knives this year.