Remember Chris Seddon and Mike Wilson? So do Mariners, who re-sign them to minor league deals

Published 3:11 pm Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Without Chris Seddon this year, the Mariners probably would have been … well … a 101-loss team anyway.

With him, they got a better idea of the arms they had down below in the minor leagues and what it meant to their future. Seddon, a 27-year-old left-hander, came up from Class AAA Tacoma in July and went 1-0 with a 5.64 earned run average in 14 relief appearances.

That apparently was good enough to keep Seddon around, because this afternoon the Mariners signed him as a minor league free agent. Earlier this month, the Mariners bumped Seddon and others off the 40-man major league roster as they set themselves up for an offseason of maneuvering. He’s not a 40-man man now, but he gets an invitation to spring training and will have a chance to prove himself in March in Arizona.

The Mariners did the same today with a couple of others, signing right-handed pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and outfielder Mike Wilson to minor league deals with invitations to the major league spring training camp.

Petit was 4-2, 4.85 in 59 1/3 innings with Tacoma and Wilson batted .278 with 25 home runs and 78 RBI in 117 games between Tacoma and Class AA West Tennessee. Wilson homered in each of the three games of the Pacific Coast League championship series and was named the series MVP.

• Many of you have asked … well, a few have … OK, nobody has asked what the Mariners will do as today’s deadline approaches for teams to offer salary arbitration to free agents in order to retain draft-pick compensation if they lose those players.

Here’s the answer anyway, as it pertains to the Mariners: nothing. This deadline is for free agents who fall under the Type A or B classification, and the M’s don’t have any of those.

Earlier this offseason, the Mariners announced they would not pick up contract options on Russell Branyan, Erik Bedard, Josh Bard or Ryan Langerhans, making them free agents.

The team also didn’t pick up the option on third baseman Jose Lopez, although he remains under control of the team and, therefore, didn’t immediately become a free agent. However, because he’s eligible for arbitration, the Mariners must decide by Dec. 2 whether to offer him a contract or allow him to become a free agent.