Fermin Anticipates Release And Can’t Wait To Move On

Felix Fermin will awaken a Seattle Mariner this morning fully expecting to be headed toward unemployment before lunch.

To make room for Chris Bosio on the 25-man roster, the Mariners must take someone off that roster today, and the logical candidate is Fermin - in the last year of a two-year deal that guarantees him $850,000 in 1996.

“I hope it’s me,” Fermin said. “I like it here, I like everyone here, but I want to play.”

The only Mariner not to appear in a game this season, Fermin, 32, has heard his name in trade rumors and as the logical candidate each time a roster move has been made.

“That gets old,” he said. “This is no good for anybody.”

Quite likely, Fermin’s career as a Mariner, which began when he was part of the deal that sent Omar Vizquel to Cleveland in the winter of 1994, will end today.

If so, the team will release him because it cannot send him to the minor leagues. He could be claimed on waivers, though that’s doubtful - any team making the claim would have to pick up the remainder of his unpaid salary.

Should he clear waivers, however, Seattle owes him $850,000 and any team in baseball could sign him to a new deal.

Return to normalcy

Once the Mariners activate Bosio, the team will have the pitching staff it envisioned midway through spring training - with pitchers in the roles they were expected to fill.

The starting rotation: Randy Johnson, Sterling Hitchcock, Bosio, Bob Wolcott and Paul Menhart.

The bullpen: Norm Charlton, Mike Jackson, Bobby Ayala, Edwin Hurtado, Bob Wells and Rafael Carmona.

“This is the way we were setting up before Menhart pulled a muscle and we found out Bosio wasn’t ready,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We’d have liked to have another left-hander, but we liked Hurtado, Wells and Carmona in the middle and long roles out of the bullpen.”

Bosio makes his first start of 1996 today against Toronto, opposing Jeff Ware (0-0, 0.00) in a 10:05 a.m. PDT game that will be televised on KIRO.

Menhart’s first start as a Mariner will open an eight-game homestand on Monday against California.