The Seattle Mariners said good-bye to a $5 million outlay to third baseman Jose Lopez for next season when the team declined to pick up the option on his contract for 2011.
Whether it means a final farewell to Lopez, who has been with the Mariners since he played for the Class A Everett AquaSox in 2001, could be determined in the next month.
Lopez, who made $2.3 million this year, is eligible for arbitration. The Mariners could choose to non-tender Lopez and make him a free agent, although they have until Dec. 2 to make that decision or possibly work a trade.
Lopez moved from second to third base this year but struggled through a difficult season offensively, when he batted .239 with a .270 on-base percentage. It was his worst season since he became a big-league regular in 2006.
The Mariners made several moves Wednesday that cleared $17 million in options off their books, along with reducing their 40-man major league roster to 30. It gives them flexibility both financially and within the roster to makes moves this offseason.
Besides Lopez the Mariners also declined options for next year on pitcher Erik Bedard and DH Russell Branyan.
Lopez, who had a $4.5 million option for 2011, gets a $250,000 buyout, as does Bedard, who had an $8 million option. Branyan had a $5 million option and the Cleveland Indians, who traded him to the Mariners last June, are responsible for his $500,000 buyout.
In addition, the Mariners outrighted the contracts of five players to Class AAA Tacoma and already have lost another on waivers. Relief pitcher Brian Sweeney, who had a 3.16 earned run average in 24 appearances, was claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Of those who were outrighted, outfielder Ryan Langerhans and catcher Guillermo Quiroz elected to become free agents; left-handed pitcher Ryan Feierabend is eligible to be a six-year minor league free agent; and left-handed pitcher Chris Seddon and right-hander Sean White have the option to become free agents.
The decision not to pick up the option on Branyan puts him and the team in a similar situation as last year — the Mariners needing middle-of-the-order power and Branyan shopping himself as a free agent who can supply it despite concerns about the health of his back.
Branyan signed last offseason with the Indians before the Mariners, badly needing a big bat, obtained him in a late-June trade. He hit 15 home runs and drove in 33 runs in 57 games with the Mariners but missed the last few weeks of the season because of a back injury.
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