Several of the Mariners lounged late Saturday afternoon before batting practice, thoroughly enjoying a video of basebal bloopers on the clubhouse big screen. With this team, it was hard to tell if they were laughing at the bloopers or with them.
At his locker barely paying attention was the newest Mariner, and perhaps the guy who least expected to be here — pitcher Jake Woods. He played all of the 2006 season with the Mariners but made only four appearances with them last year, when he spent most of the season at Class AAA Tacoma and wasn’t at all happy about it.
He let it affect his pitching, and he went 5-7 with a 6.91 ERA last year with Tacoma. Woods decided to clear his head of any thoughts about returning to the big-league club this year, and it seemed to help. He went 6-1 with a 4.08 ERA and one save in 32 games.
“I just went out there and didn’t worry about what’s going on up there,” he said. “I didn’t pay attention. I had a job to do and worried about that.”
Returning to the Mariners was the farthest from Woods’ mind until his phone range Saturday morning and he heard Rainiers manager Daren Brown on the other end.
“When you get a call like that, they’ve either called you up, released you or traded you,” Woods said. “I knew he wasn’t calling to invite me to breakfast.”
Brown told Woods the Mariners were calling him up to fill the spot vacated by Arthur Rhodes, who they traded Thursday to the Florida Marlins.
Manager Jim Riggleman said Woods would pitch in long relief, with Cesar Jimenez sliding into the left-handed specialty role that Rhodes filled.
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