The Seattle Mariners have avoided the arbitration process with infielder Brendan Ryan, announcing Friday they have signed him to a two-year contract.
It leaves three other players still in line for arbitration — pitchers David Aardsma, Brandon League and Jason Vargas.
Reports early this week said the Mariners and Ryan already struck a two-year contract worth $2.75 million, paying him $1 million this year and $1.75 million in 2012. Those reports were premature, the team said, and the deal wasn’t finalized until Friday.
The Mariners acquired Ryan from the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this offseason in exchange for minor league pitcher Maikel Cleto. Considered one of the National League’s best defenders at shortstop, the 28-year-old Ryan will go into spring training as the favorite to play second base for the Mariners. He has played 59 of his 404 big-league games at second.
However, because of shortstop Jack Wilson’s history of injury, Ryan also figures solidly in the picture on that side of the bag as well. Ryan led major league shortstops last year with 3.43 assists per game. He was fifth in double plays turned and 10th with a .974 fielding percentage.
Ryan, who played college ball at Lewis-Clark State, has been with the Cardinals since they drafted him in the seventh round in 2003. In four major league seasons, he has a .259 batting average, .314 on-base percentage and .344 slugging percentage.
He struggled to a .223 average last year, when he had wrist surgery before the season and never found himself offensively. In 2009, Ryan batted .292 with a .340 on-base percentage and .400 slugging percentage.
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