Mariners

Daily coverage of the Mariners during the season and all year long.

ADDITIONAL NOTE 8:30 p.m. PT: The Mariners have just informed us Felix Hernandez will not be available to the media tomorrow. My guess is, his deal won’t be done until later in the day at the earliest, after his physical is taken.

Scratch Michael Bourn off the list of potential long-term pieces for the Mariners. Bourn has agreed to a four-year, $48-million deal with the Cleveland Indians and becomes their center fielder. There is also a $12 million option for a fifth year if Bourn reaches 550 plate appearances in Year No. 4 of the deal.

That means the Mariners are likely done with big-ticket additions for now on the eve of camp opening tomorrow.

As of right now, they’ve got a payroll of right around $85 million. With incentive bonuses factored in, that could climb as high as $91 million or so, assuming no one gets traded at mid-season.

So, that’s where we are right now.

As far as big-ticket additions go, I suppose we can count Felix Hernandez as one of those. As I wrote earlier today, there’s a good chance the Mariners announce his new deal tomorrow. Hernandez did not show up at the Peoria Sports Complex today and I’m not surprised. There was no real reason for him to do that, since he’ll only take the remaining part of his physical tomorrow with the other pitchers and catchers. By that point, when he’ll be surrounded by the media, he might actually have something to tell them about his contract extension.