Longtime M’s scout Mattox dead at 49

It was about this time last year that former Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price picked up his telephone to take a call from an old friend.

On the other end was veteran Mariners scout Frank Mattox, who had played with Price at the University of California in the 1980s. They had worked together for years in Seattle before Price left the organization after the 2006 season, but both lived in the Phoenix area and they frequently kept in touch.

Mattox died suddenly Sunday at the age of 49, having just sat down to watch the Academy Awards at his home in Peoria, Ariz., upon returning from a funeral in Virginia. As the Mariners and others reacted with shock Monday to the passing of a 17-year veteran of the organization, Price reflected on what Mattox said in that brief conversation.

“He said, ‘I’m just thinking about you and I wanted you to know that,’ ” said Price, now the Cincinnati Reds pitching coach. “And you come away thinking at the time, ‘Wow, what a nice thing for somebody to let you know.’ But now, given what’s happened, you know that it’s a memory you’ll carry for the rest of your life.”

Mattox held roles at all levels of the team’s scouting ranks, but it was the person that many chose to remember.

“If you were his friend, you were a really important person in his life,” Price said.

Former Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi, now an assistant with the Reds, said he attended Cincinnati’s annual scouting meetings Monday and many of the scouts there knew Mattox and were “buckled” by the news.

Zumaya out for season

Joel Zumaya’s season is over, his time with the Minnesota Twins ended before it began because of a damaged elbow.

Now he has to decide whether his once-promising career is finished as well, and the reliever with the rocket right arm and the pattern of recurring injuries sounded like he’s ready to quit rather than endure another arduous year of rehabilitation.

“Right now, my perspective is probably not,” Zumaya said, two days after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow.

Zumaya didn’t pitch last season. He left the Detroit Tigers to sign with the division rival Twins, getting an incentive-laden one-year contract with $400,000 guaranteed.

Chavez, Yankees ink deal

Eric Chavez and the New York Yankees have finalized a $900,000, one-year contract that allows the backup infielder to earn $3.05 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances.

The 34-year-old, a six-time Gold Glove winner, hit .263 with two homers and 26 RBIs last year, starting 33 games at third base and playing a bit at first. He broke a bone in his left foot on May 5 after just 17 games and didn’t return until July 26.

Clearing the bases

Left-handed closer Sean Marshall agreed to a new contract with the Cincinnati Reds that adds $16.5 million over three seasons through 2015. Cincinnati traded left-hander Travis Wood, outfielder Dave Sappelt and a minor leaguer to the Chicago Cubs in December to obtain Marshall, who will be the setup man to new closer Ryan Madson. … Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is in Baltimore to have his surgically repaired left Achilles examined. Scott Sheridan, the Phillies head athletic trainer, said the visit wasn’t a sign of a setback on Howard’s rehabilitation. Howard will likely miss at least the first month of the season. … Athletics third baseman Scott Sizemore will miss the entire 2012 season after tearing a ligament in his left knee last weekend during Oakland’s first full-squad workout. The 27-year-old Sizemore was acquired by Oakland last May in a trade with Detroit. He hit .249 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 93 games with the A’s.