PEORIA, Ariz. — Garrett Olson was cruising through spring training with the Seattle Mariners, getting his arm in shape and hardly worrying about the results of his five exhibition outings.
“Spring training. It’s early. It’s not even the season yet,” Olson said. “We’re all getting into our gr
oove.”
Problems was, the Mariners weren’t confident the 27-year-old left-hander would find that groove. And, with newly acquired Aaron Laffey as a left-handed option in the bullpen and facing the strong possibility that at least three non-roster players will make the roster, Olson became expendable.
The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Olson after the Mariners had placed him on waivers.
“Roster spots for us are a premium,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We just didn’t feel like he was going to break camp for us. More strike-throwing issues than anything else.”
Olson had a 5.40 earned run average in five exhibition innings this year. He has pitched for the Mariners parts of the past two seasons, going 3-8 with a 5.26 ERA in 66 games, 55 of them out of the bullpen.
Olson said he understood and respected the Mariners’ decision, but that it surprised him.
“I felt personally that, hey, I haven’t shown what I can do. In no way am I going to put that on a handful of innings,” he said. “I know there’s still two weeks left. I feel great and I’m getting better each time out there. It’s no way an excuse, but by opening day I’ll be ready to go.”
He’ll be doing that with the Pirates, although he doesn’t know whether they’ll look at him as a starter or reliever.
“I have a love for both,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what they see me as. I’m just grateful for the opportunity they’re giving me. Whether it be starter or bullpen, I’ll seize it and do the best I possibly can.”
He came to the Mariners’ camp with the same mentality.
“I came in ready to go assuming the (bullpen) role I had last year was how they were going to groom me,” Olson said. “The way things played out, it kind of came sooner than I expected. But they made a decision based on what they needed and I respect that. They were up-front and honest about it. I’m going to move forward now.”
The rest of his day, Olson was busy arranging something he’s never dealt with in his career, a switch in teams while in the middle of spring training or the regular season. He broke in with the Orioles and, before spring training in 2009, was traded to the Cubs and then the Mariners in a 10-day period.
He described Friday as a whirlwind of emotions and arrangements. He said good-bye to Mariners teammates and officials, and worked on moving out of his apartment here and finding transportation and lodging in Bradenton, Fla., where the Pirates train.
“It’s getting everything together, knowing you’ve got to say good-bye to everybody you grew close to and pick up your life and move it across the country,” Olson said. “It can be a little bit of a surprise and challenge. But hey, I’ll go over there and get settled. That’s just how the game is.”
League of his own
Brandon League looks to assume the Mariners’ closer role for at least a few weeks in April while David Aardsma comes back from hip surgery. In his first save opportunity of spring training Friday, League faltered mightily.
He allowed a hit, three walks and four runs (two of them earned) in the ninth inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks came from behind to beat the Mariners 8-5.
League, who also threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score, has a 9.00 ERA in seven spring training outings.
Wedge was lenient in that League is a veteran who knows how to prepare for a season, although the manager said roles at the back end of the bullpen remain unclaimed.
“He’s still working his way into it,” Wedge said of League. “He’s done a pretty good job at the back end for quite a few years now. We have some time here. He was a little bit erratic today and made it difficult for himself, but he got his pitch count up to 25-plus (it was 27). We’ve just got to keep getting him out there.”
Aardsma has been throwing from 90 feet off flat ground on consecutive days with a day off, and he said his legs and arm all feel strong. Still, there’s no firm timetable for when he’ll begin pitching off the mound or when he’ll be ready to rejoin the team during the season.
Earthquake relief
Ichiro Suzuki hasn’t spoken about the earthquake in Japan, but Kyodo News Service reported Friday that the Mariners’ superstar has donated 100 million yen for earthquake relief. It converts to 1.23 million in U.S. dollars.
Kyodo said Suzuki donated 10 million yen last month for Miyazaki Prefecture after eruptions by the Shinmoe Peak volcano. In 1995, he donated 10 million yen to Kobe after the Great Hanshin earthquake, and in 2000 he sent 1,500 items of clothing (which Kyodo said was worth about 13 million yen) to Aichi Prefecture after heavy rains hit there.
The Mariners announced Friday they will dedicate the opening six-game homestand to Japan relief efforts, making a donation to the Red Cross to match all Mariner employee (not including players) and fan contributions with a guaranteed donation of $100,000.
Today in camp
Mariners vs. Texas Rangers, 1:05 p.m. in Surprise (ESPN 710 AM radio). Left-hander Fabio Castro will start for the Mariners against right-hander Tommy Hunter of the Rangers. In Peoria, right-hander Doug Fister will pitch in a minor-league game.
Of note
Ken Griffey Jr. spent 45 minutes talking to the Mariners’ minor league outfielders on Friday morning. … Jason Vargas, expected to start the Mariners’ second game of the season April 2 at Oakland, suffered his first rough outing of spring training. He allowed seven hits and four runs (three earned) and threw 67 pitches in five innings, including a three-run fifth inning by the Diamondbacks. “It’s still more about pitch count,” Wedge said. “More important, in the fifth inning he had to work a little bit. You like to see that at this point in time in camp.” … Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez was scratched from Friday’s game because of lower back stiffness. … Jack Wilson, scratched from his start at second base Thursday night to deal with a personal situation, is expected to start at shortstop today against the Rangers with Brendan Ryan to play second base.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog and follow his Twitter updates on the team at @kirbyarnold.
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