MARINERS

It's not often a minor league game on a back field has most of the Mariners' brain trust in attendance, but that's what happened Tuesday in Peoria.

The reason was simple: J.J. Putz was throwing an inning in competition. And the M's closer came through with flying colors. Now everyone can breath a little easier, safe in the knowledge the team's closer will be ready to close when the season opens.

Today's hot list …

• The Times' Geoff Baker has a long story on minor league infielder Chris Minaker, who wrote a paper at Stanford about performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Baker calls the paper groundbreaking. After reading what it was missing, i.e. input from the football team, I'd call it a B-plus.

• It looks like Jamie Burke is going to catch on as the backup catcher. But he'll have to wait until Saturday night to find out. That's when Frank Mattox and the rest of the Mariners' brass must end the dream for some budding major league players.

• Ever been down to Peoria? If it's been a while, as in my case, you remember a baseball facility that was in the middle of nowhere. But now, as John McGrath tells it, the area has grown with the M's over the years.

• Want to gamble on the Mariners? Now you can legally, as the state lottery commission is about ready toissue M's scratch tickets.

And our question for the day …

• If Putz has to miss time during the season, who should the M's use to close games? Should it be one guy or should they just play it by ear?

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