Mariners Report: Holding his breath
PEORIA, Ariz. – Jamie Burke has been fooled before.
He sat in a major league clubhouse in the final days of spring training, added up the catchers who remained and counted himself on the opening day roster.
Then at the last minute, he was the one who was subtracted.
It happened three years ago when the Chicago White Sox told Burke he’d made the team as the third catcher, then changed their minds when they needed an extra pitcher.
So, when the Mariners optioned Rene Rivera to the minor leagues Wednesday and left only two catchers in camp, Burke sealed his joy beneath the face of 14 years of experience in this game.
He’s a 35-year-old career minor leaguer with 73 games of major league experience, most of it as a midseason call-up.
“I think I’m old enough to realize what’s going on,” said Burke, who was born in Roseburg, Ore., and still lives there in the off-season. “It’s pretty exciting, especially being from the Northwest. You always dream about being around home on the big league squad. Dreams come true.”
Nobody is saying what the roster will look like when the Mariners open the season Monday. Mariners scouts have been looking for backup catching all month, and the next few days could reveal some possibilities as other teams make cuts.
“We’ll carry two catchers, but we just don’t know who the two are yet,” manager Mike Hargrove said.
It wasn’t a grand endorsement of Burke as the probable backup catcher on opening day, but he’s clinging to that dream nonetheless.
It’s been that way since 1993, when he was drafted in the ninth round by the Angels and began spending his summers in minor league outposts such as Boise, Cedar Park, Lake Elsinore, Midland, Vancouver, Edmonton, Salt Lake, Charlotte and Oklahoma City.
Burke has had his major league moments. The Angels called him up for nine games in 2001 and, after the White Sox obtained him, he got six games with them in 2003. After having the opening day thrill pulled from him in 2004, Burke came up that year and played 57 games for the White Sox. He has played one big league game since, two years ago with the White Sox, who brought him up for a day and sent him back to Triple-A Charlotte.
He signed with the Rangers last year and played the entire season at Triple-A Oklahoma, became a minor league free agent again and signed with the Mariners last November.
Burke has been through major league camps and received the call into the manager’s office, just as Rivera did. His locker has been next to Rivera’s throughout spring training and they’ve come to know each other, Burke the journeyman and Rivera the 23-year-old backup from last year.
Burke could see that Rivera was shaken when he returned from Hargrove’s office, and he sat down and talked with him.
“I’ve been in that situation a few times,” Burke said. “But the kid was upset and I just tried to tell him to keep his head up and go down there and work. He’s the type of catcher who will come back up here and catch every day.”
If nothing else, Burke is a major league veteran in his patience.
He said he has never considered doing anything else, despite spending 14 years trying to become a major league regular.
“It’s like a doctor going to school for eight or nine years. That’s how I look at it,” he said. “There’s nothing else I’ve ever thought about doing because this is something I want to do for the rest of my life. There are times when you get tired of situations, but I’ve gone through those and they’ve made me a stronger person.
“I’m going to make somebody rip the uniform off me.”
Reed sent down
Jeremy Reed, Seattle’s opening day center fielder for the last two seasons, will not be on the roster for Monday’s opener against Oakland. He was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.
“It’s the bad side of this job, having to do this, especially this time of spring,” Hargrove said. “(Cutting) Jeremy was one of the tougher ones I’ve ever had to do. It wasn’t fun, but we all thought it was the right thing to do.”
Reed packed his bags and left the team complex without comment right after hearing the news.
Ichiro Suzuki switching to center field to make room for new right fielder Jose Guillen left Reed, who hit .238 this spring, as a fourth outfielder at best.
Small reassigned
Veteran right-hander Aaron Small, who went 10-0 for the Yankees as a midseason call up in 2005, was reassigned to minor league camp.
He was signed as a minor league free agent in early January and allowed five runs in four innings this spring.
M’s top Rangers
As spring training winds down in Peoria, Ariz., Richie Sexson is beginning to heat up.
The Mariners’ slow-starting slugger had three hits, including his second home run of the spring, and two RBIs in Seattle’s 11-8 victory over the Texas Rangers in the final exhibition game in Arizona for the Mariners’ regulars.
Sexson came into the game batting .180 with one extra-base hit.
Mariners starter Felix Hernandez wasn’t the sharpest he’s been this spring, but was effective in allowing two runs over five innings.
He walked one, struck out four and allowed seven hits.