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Chris Flexen has been characterized as a completely different pitcher than the one who left the Mets organization 14 months ago as a broken prospect.

Before the first Seattle Mariners’ workout of the spring Thursday in Peoria, Arizona, manager Scott Servais began his Zoom news conference by exclaiming, “I love this team! I really do.”

The Seattle Mariners have finalized a $7 million, two-year contract with reliever Ken Giles that includes a club option for the 2023 season

Seattle Times reporter Ryan Divish has already been sending me screenshots of the temperature in Peoria, Arizona — a sunny 66 degrees at last check — and you know what? It doesn’t bother me too much.

James Paxton and Blake Snell stood chatting near the D1 gate of Sea-Tac airport, early Monday morning, waiting to board their flight to Phoenix. Neither the mass of people waiting in the boarding area nor the swarms of snow-stranded travelers shuffling by had any idea that two of baseball’s most talented left-handed pitchers were conversing.

While the Puget Sound recovers from Snowmageddon 2021, the sun will be shining and temperatures are expected to be in the mid-70s as Mariners pitchers and catchers report to the team’s facility in Peoria, Arizona, on Wednesday for mandatory physicals.

When the 2020 baseball season ended for Kyle Lewis and the Mariners on Sept. 26 — and another disappointing year without a postseason berth for Seattle — a much-needed break from the daily grind was a priority for the rookie outfielder.

At varying points of the offseason, both general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais were asked about the health status of All-Star outfielder Mitch Haniger and where he was at in his recovery from the two most recent of three surgeries he underwent in the span of seven months.

Any day that features an expanded role for Ken Griffey Jr. in MLB is a good one for the sport. And baseball, sagging in the public perception and steadily falling out of favor with youth, needs now more than ever a transfusion of the charisma and appeal that made Junior a true rock star in his prime.

On a team of fresh-faced kids, Kyle Seager is the solitary grizzled veteran. As the Seattle Mariners pointedly go young, Seager is the anomaly, the exception that proves the rule.

The Hall of Fame outfielder will work in baseball operations and on youth baseball development. He is tasked with improving diversity at amateur levels, Major League Baseball said Friday.