Love reading your stuff. It's nice to get a thoughtful look the mariners. Keep up the good work!

Shawn Kelley, thanks for everything, You will be missed.

I do wish the Mariners kept Kelley. One thing not mentioned in Shannon's post is Kelley's cost, which isn't insignificant. He'll make close to $1 million and there are other options on the team that will make league minimum, so I suppose he's the odd man out.

since shawn wasn't "sent down" i'm thinking his contract is gauranteed so when a team claims him they only pay the league minimum and the M's pick up the remainder. just as they will pay Figgans' wages they will also pay Kelly money to play somewhere else!! baseball contracts are gauranteed! i also believe that no one would claim Peguero had he been dfa'd!

The claiming team would pay the full amount. If the Mariners release him in the next 10 days then they pay just 1/6th of the contract. As for this being a money move as mentioned above by bugmenot, I don't see that either. The team is still well under budget with or without a huge Felix deal.

If a team does claim him, which I think is very likely, a trade can still be worked out. The return would probably be a minor leaguer. But the team doesn't have to release him if he isn't claimed while on waivers. At that point, he could stick around for a while without taking a roster spot. There will certainly be some more 40 man moves before the season starts and Kelley could still theoretically end up on the 40, or even the 25 man, though that's probably less likely. Kind of amazes me how few people are left since Jack took over.

He might be able to refuse a minor league assignment and be released anyway. Not sure why he would do that if he isn't claimed, though. Maybe Shannon knows the answer to that?

First off, I assume his contract is a Major League one, not a Minor League one since it was an "avoid salary arbitration" deal. If so, he can refuse assignment should he clear waivers.

If I were him, I would seriously consider refusing assignment because I'm 29 this year and my value isn't going up on that account. Because I think I'm a ML quality pitcher and don't want to be re-buried in AAA. And because I'm a leftover from the old regime and all that entails, including Wedge's apparent issues with me. There are 29 other teams out there, and I might have a chance with one of them. Waiting in Tacoma to be bundled in a trade at this stage would almost be like admitting defeat with no guarantee of ever getting another shot at the Bigs. Not being claimed off waivers doesn't mean nobody's interested; it could mean somebody's hoping for me to refuse assignment so they can deal with me one-on-one and not have to make a trade. It would be risky, but it might pay off.

By the way, we're five days into this with five to go and no takers. Maybe M's management calculated this one correctly. Unless Kelley clears and refuses, then they get nothing. (Well, not nothing. They get to pocket almost a million bucks.)

I am quite sure you meant Josh Kinney at the bottom of your article, not Sean Kinney. :)

Oh dear, the editor did that! One of their few screw ups. Thanks for alerting me to that!

My apologies. I did mean Josh Kinney.

...this week he gets DFA'd. Next week the As' claim him (probably). Poetic justice, if ever so.

The team knew just what he had and what their other bullpen arms have, not to mention farmhands like Medina. Kelley had the largest contract in the pen after Oliver Perez, was the most establish big league talent (other then Perez) and so will have the best probability of bringing a return piece via trade. Some team will claim him, probably more than one, his contract is a bargain too.

I am also glad to see this deal done. I mentioned in another blog post that I didn't think the Mariners would go after Saunders in a two-year deal for that high a cost, but no matter the cost, one-year deals are always good. And despite the fact that I would like to see Hultzen in the majors early this season, this at least allows him to be in Triple A for some time to work on the issues that plagued him in the second half of the season last year. Saunders is a lefty who can give us 200 innings with numbers that aren't too far off from what Vargas gave us. This is a great move.

The big question now, though, is the roster move to follow. Gotta wonder if there's a trade in the works.

It sad to see Shawn Kelly get Dessignated for Assignment but, he will most likely get claim on waivers as their still some team out their that need bullpen help & he has the stuff to be in majors.. Thought so who is next to get dessignated for assignment for Joe Saunders?? Someone time is up: my guess is Chance Ruffin or someone of that type of player that has good chance of passing, through waivers without getting claimed.

Actually, Carp would seem the most likely to get the axe. His chances of making the team are slim to none, and DFA'n him could spark a trade -if there isn't one in the works already. If (when) a team claims him, it shouldn't be hard to figure out a minor league compensation piece.

You see that? I am stealing one of your tricks Stevil! Carp very well could be the next one as he is out of options. If he is DFA'd they will most likely lose him as there have been reports of other teams interested in him. The crazy thing is the Mike Morse parallels. Like Morse he is a guy that has been moved around and played out of position. Like Morse he is a guy that many think will hit at the big league level someday and like Morse he lost his big break in the bigs to a shoulder injury. With all that said, things happen. There could be a move or an injury before Opening Day. Maybe he far outshines Wells in Spring Training. You never know what will happen.

I had joked about the similarities to Morse before. It's kind of crazy, really. I'd be surprised if the Mariners kept him around, but I wish they would. I really wouldn't have a problem with someone else (like Ruffin) getting DFA'd, and Smoak starting in Tacoma. But no matter how things get twisted around, there's just too many 1B/DH options.