SEATTLE MARINERS NEWS CLIPS February 10, 2011 Former closer Ray could find opening in Seattle Aardsma's injury gives right-hander chance to win spot in 'pen By Greg Johns / MLB.com | 02/09/11 10:00 AM EST SEATTLE -- With closer David Aardsma still on crutches while recovering from offseason hip surgery, one of the many orders of business for the Mariners this Spring Training will be coming up with some new late-inning relief options. Right-handed setup man Brandon League stands as the most-familiar name in that expected group and hard- throwing rookies Dan Cortes and Josh Lueke also have been mentioned prominently in the club's prospective plans. But another guy to watch in that regard when pitchers and catchers report in Peoria, Ariz., on Sunday is Chris Ray, a former Orioles closer now two years removed from Tommy John surgery. Ray, 29, turned down a Major League offer from another club and signed a Minor League deal with the Mariners, liking his chances enough to take that risk on a deal that will pay him $1 million in base salary if he makes the team, with playing time incentives that could add as much as another $1.025 million. With Aardsma expected to miss at least the first few weeks of the regular season, Ray comes in as the most experienced closer in camp with 51 saves, 49 of those coming with the Orioles in 2006-07 before his elbow surgery. After missing all of '08, Ray pitched 46 games for Baltimore in '09 and then 63 games while splitting time last year between Texas and San Francisco, the two teams that wound up playing each other in the World Series. Ray wasn't on the playoff roster with the Giants, but he pitched fairly effectively for both clubs in putting up a 5-0 record and 3.72 ERA in 55 2/3 innings in the regular season. Now the Mariners feel he should be all the stronger, another year removed from his elbow reconstruction. Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik says the Tampa, Fla., native definitely figures in the mix for one of the late-inning jobs if he shows well in camp. "Chris is going to be given every shot to make this club," Zduriencik said. "Here's a guy that has closed games out at times and he's a veteran. He's bounced back now healthy. "In our talks with him, we laid it out, 'Chris, you have every opportunity to make this club. We'll give you every chance to be part of this bullpen Opening Day.' Certainly he has to come in and compete, but it's a nice opportunity for him." Tony Blengino, the Mariners' special assistant to the general manager, believes the 6-foot-3 right-hander is close to being back to the pitcher who posted a 3.19 ERA and totaled 138 strikeouts in 149 1/3 innings his first three seasons with the Orioles. "The arm strength is there," Blengino said. "His slider was an out pitch for him when he was at his peak and lots of times with arm issues, the last thing to come back is the secondary stuff. If that comes back, we have a chance to have the same guy who closed those games for Baltimore." Page 1 of 14 If Ray does close games for Seattle, he'll enhance his own value. A total of $500,000 of his potential incentives are tied into the number of games he finishes. The other half are based on number of appearances. So if Ray pitches often and works his way into a prominent late-inning role, he'll do well for himself and the Mariners. And the club certainly is open to that sort of help, given the uncertainty over Aardsma's health and the inexperience of several of their other top late-inning candidates. Greg Johns is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregJohnsMLB as well as his Mariners Musings blog. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Originally Published: February 9, 2011 Offseason grades for the AL West By Jerry Crasnick ESPN.com The American League West experienced a power shift in 2010, as the Texas Rangers made the playoffs for the first time in 11 years and the Los Angeles Angels finished below .500 after winning five division titles in a span of six seasons. Could it happen again in 2011? Oakland is a trendy dark horse pick in the division, the Angels' offseason was widely panned and Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has a lot of work to do resolving this nettlesome Michael Young situation on the road from Arlington to Surprise. Meanwhile, the Seattle Mariners still can't hit. How did the division's four teams fare during the offseason? Here are our AL West report cards for the winter: Oakland Athletics BIGGEST ADDITIONS: Josh Willingham, David DeJesus, Brian Fuentes, Grant Balfour, Hideki Matsui BIGGEST SUBTRACTIONS: Justin Duchscherer, Jack Cust, Vin Mazzaro, Eric Chavez The A's spent a lot of time wondering "why won't anybody take our money?'' after Lance Berkman spurned them to sign with St. Louis and Adrian Beltre passed on a five-year offer from Oakland to sign with Texas. In addition, the A's failed to reach agreement with their other prime target, right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma. He elected to return to Japan. As the winter rolled on, general manager Billy Beane and assistant GM David Forst found ways to upgrade an offense that ranked 11th in the league with 663 runs. After picking up DeJesus from Kansas City in a trade, the A's snagged Willingham in a deal with Washington and signed Matsui to be their DH. Matsui, 36, isn't quite the force he used to be. But he still hit 21 homers and logged a .361 on-base percentage last year, and he has an .815 OPS in 136 plate appearances at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland. When Vladimir Guerrero gets one year and $8 million with Baltimore, the artist formerly known as Godzilla is a reasonable sign at $4.25 million. The A's signed Fuentes for two years and $10.5 million and landed Balfour for two years and $8.1 million. Those deals seem reasonable in light of the three-year contracts signed by setup men Rafael Soriano, Matt Guerrier, Joaquin Benoit, Scott Downs and Jesse Crain this winter. The veteran relievers fortify an already Page 2 of 14 strong bullpen and help ensure that Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Oakland's young starters won't have to endure the anguish of watching their leads frittered away in the late innings. The A's also took low-cost flyers on Rich Harden and Brandon McCarthy, who'll compete for the fifth spot in the rotation. If their injury histories mean anything, they'll present a challenge for the training staff. Grade: B+ Texas Rangers BIGGEST ADDITIONS: Adrian Beltre, Arthur Rhodes, Mike Napoli, Brandon Webb, Yorvit Torrealba BIGGEST SUBTRACTIONS: Cliff Lee, Vladimir Guerrero, Bengie Molina, Jeff Francoeur, Michael Young (?) The Rangers did everything they could to retain Lee, only to lose out to Philadelphia in the end. Texas has the raw materials to pitch well in 2011, but C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis need to bounce back after logging more than 450 innings combined last year, and Derek Holland, Tommy Hunter and the kids will have to embrace the expectations raised by the team's deep run in 2010. The Rangers' bullpen logged an American League-high 503 2/3 innings last season, and manager Ron Washington and pitching coach Mike Maddux need to coax longer outings from the rotation. Beltre is a fine two-way player and an upgrade over Young at third base, but a guaranteed five years and $80 million were a bit extravagant after Boston and Oakland dropped out of the running and Beltre's other options were scarce. Webb also did well in landing a guaranteed $3 million deal plus $5 million in incentives after pitching a total of four innings over the past two seasons. Can the Rangers count on him for 25 or more starts this season? Rhodes will help in the bullpen. But his workload needs to be monitored judiciously now that he's 41, and the lineups are a little tougher than what he faced in Cincinnati the past two years. Napoli, who has a .931 career OPS against lefties, will help an offense that ranked seventh in the AL in OPS against left-handers in 2010. The Rangers' overall grade takes a hit because of the sloppy handling of the Young situation. Alienating the team pillar and clubhouse leader to the extent that he feels it necessary to pronounce himself "manipulated and misled'' in early February is not a great way to end the offseason. If the Rangers can trade Young without having to eat most of the $48 million still owed him, this grade could rise. But it's so late in the winter and the negative vibes are so pronounced, Daniels is backed into a corner. He has almost zero leverage now. Grade: C+ Los Angeles Angels BIGGEST ADDITIONS: Vernon Wells, Scott Downs, Hisanori Takahashi BIGGEST SUBTRACTIONS: Hideki Matsui, Mike Napoli, Scot Shields, Juan Rivera It's always dangerous to overlook the Angels as a contender in the AL West. Kendry Morales' return from a broken leg will help immensely. Any rotation with Dan Haren, Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana at the top and Joel Pineiro in the fourth spot is going to keep the team in most games.