Batista awaits word
Miguel Batista had leaned back on his stool in the Mariners’ clubhouse with his arms folded, chatting and laughing with reporters, when someone asked if he worried about his position in Seattle’s pitching rotation.
“Worry? There’s no such thing,” the Seattle right-hander said. “There’s no such a thing. There’s only two things we can do. We occupy and we wait.”
Batista won’t have much more waiting to do.
Erik Bedard and holdover Felix Hernandez have already claimed the top two spots in the rotation, while Batista, Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva are the likely candidates to fill the other three. There’s been no announcement on their order.
Manager John McLaren said Friday he expects to make an announcement within the next few days after he and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre have more discussions.
Batista, who led the Mariners with a career-high 16 wins in 2007, doesn’t care where he lands in the rotation.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” he said. “I wasn’t No. 1 when I was with the Diamondbacks. I was No. 7 and I ended up being No. 3 in the playoffs. That’s no problem with me.”
Batista was 16-11 with a 4.29 earned run average last year. His 32 starts matched Washburn for the team lead while his 193 innings pitched were second on the Mariners to Washburn’s 193 2/3.
Batista celebrated his 37th birthday Tuesday and is the oldest player on the Mariners’ current 40-man roster.
Bedard, the ace lefty who was acquired from Baltimore in a trade only days before the Mariners opened camp, went 13-5 in 2007 and was a 15-game winner for the Orioles in 2006. Hernandez had 14 wins last season while Silva (13) and Washburn (10) also reached double figures.
Silva, who signed a $48 million, four-year contract with Seattle in the off-season, will likely be third in the rotation while Washburn, a left-hander like Bedard, could be slotted fourth in order for the Mariners to avoid throwing back-to-back lefties, which they would if he were in the fifth spot.
That leaves Batista as the probable No. 5 man, which means his turn in the rotation could be skipped occasionally.
“I don’t believe they invested all that money to be average,” Batista said. “We have got to win. If a guy can dominate a team and they see we’re going to play this team in two days, we’re going to jump you a day so you can pitch against that team.”
“The Mariners have signed catcher Mike Kinkade, a former Washington State University star who last played in the major leagues in 2003 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, to a minor league contract. He will report to the minor league camp.
Clearing the bases
The Los Angeles Angels defeated Francisco Rodriguez in salary arbitration, and the closer will receive $10 million rather than his request for $12.5 million. Despite the loss, Rodriguez tied the record for the highest salary in an arbitration decision, a mark he shares with Alfonso Soriano, who lost his case against Washington in 2006, and Ryan Howard. Howard beat Philadelphia on Thursday. … Oliver Perez won his salary arbitration case against the New York Mets and will be paid $6.5 million this year rather than the team’s offer of $4,725,000. The left-hander went 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA last year.