The Mariners have signed 34-year old lefty reliever George Sherrill to a 1-year deal. Sherrill pitched in 51 games (0 starts) for the Atlanta Braves last year and he was 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He started his career with the Mariners from 2004-07. In those four years, Sherrill pitched in 195 games (0 starts) in which he was 10-8 with 4 saves, a 3.65 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has now pitched in 440 games (0 starts) in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 19-17 with 56 saves, a 3.68 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. This was a very nice pickup for the Mariners as Sherrill will be their top lefty in the pen in 2012.

The Mariners have signed 32-year old righty reliever Josh Kinney to a minor league deal. Kinney pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the White Sox last year and he was 0-0 with a 6.62 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. He has now pitched in 58 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 1-0 with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Kinney has always pitched well in the minors, so maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. He will have a shot of winning a job in the Mariners’ bullpen next spring.

The Mariners decided not to tender a contract to 24-year old righty reliever Daniel Cortes. Cortes pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mariners last year and he was 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in parts of two years with the Mariners and he was 0-3 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Cortes had surgery to repair a partial tear of his rotator cuff and to fix a biceps tendon. Some team will take a chance on Cortes, as I’m a little surprised to see the Mariners give up on him this soon.

The Mariners have decided not to tender a contract to 28-year old righty swinging C/1B Chris Gimenez. Gimenez played in 24 games for the Mariners last year and he was 12 for 59 (.203 avg, .585 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. He has now played in 97 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 39 for 228 (.171 avg, .551 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 5 homers, 21 RBIs and 1 stolen base. This is no loss for the Mariners.

UPDATE: The Mariners have re-signed Chris Gimenez to a minor league deal.

The Mariners have signed 30-year old righty swinging catcher Guillermo Quiroz to a minor league deal. Quiroz played in 76 games in AA-ball for the Padres last year and he was 60 for 250 (.240 avg, .684 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 5 homers and 44 RBIs. Quiroz has played in 7 games in parts of three years for the Mariners (2006, 2009 and 2010) and he is 6 for 23 (.261 avg, .565 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 101 games in his first seven years in the majors and he is 53 for 255 (.208 avg, .542 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers, 28 RBIs and 1 stolen base.