The Seattle Mariners settled one issue with pitcher Horacio Ramirez, signing him Friday to a one-year contract that avoided the sometimes contentious exercise of arbitration.
Now the Mariners must deal with another situation: figuring out how Ramirez fits on the 2008 pitching staff.
Ramirez, the last of the Mariners’ unsigned arbitration-eligible players, will get $2.75 million this year and could earn another $250,000 more in bonuses. He made $2.65 million in 2007.
The Mariners are making him the 11th highest-paid player on the team and the fifth highest-paid pitcher. His 2008 salary ranks behind the $3.4 million of closer J.J. Putz and ahead of the $1.25 million of shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.
Ramirez, injured for nearly two months last season, went 8-7 but had a 7.16 earned run average, his record propped up by the third-highest run support average in the American League — 7.07 per game.
He struggled so badly late in the season that manager John McLaren pulled him from the rotation. He was 0-3 with a 14.73 ERA in September.
The Mariners acquired Ramirez last winter when they traded relief pitcher Rafael Soriano to the Atlanta Braves.
Unlike last year, when Ramirez was locked into the starting rotation going into spring training, he has no clearly defined role this time.
Unless the Mariners trade for another starter — talks with Baltimore’s Erik Bedard have been quiet lately — Ramirez will be among several pitchers competing for the fifth spot in the rotation. The others are Brandon Morrow, Cha Seung Baek, R.A. Dickey and Ryan Rowland-Smith. Otherwise, Ramirez could wind up in the bullpen.
The Mariners are hoping that new pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre will help Ramirez solve the problems that plagued him last season.
He did have some success last year, particularly at Safeco Field.
Ramirez won six straight starts at Safeco, the longest home winning streak to start a Mariners career, but went 4-5 after the All-Star break. He was 6-3, 5.59 at home but 2-4, 8.70 on the road.
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