Ryan Garko is heading back to the Amercian League after signing a 1-year/$550,000 deal with the Mariners to play 1B, DH and catch?  Yes, Garko may find himself behind the play for some spot starts or in late innings.  Garko was a former All-American catcher in 2003 at Stanford but hasn’t caught a game in the Majors yet but manager Don Wakamatsu hasn’t eliminated the idea either.  It would be interesting to see a guy like Garko, who was definitely a very good catcher more than 5 years ago, return to the position and excel.  That’s when you know you have an athlete on your hands, when you can just switch positions in the blink of an eye.

The deal could reach over $1 million depending on Garko’s ABs.  After 325 ABs he gets around $25,000 for every 25 ABs he reaches.  The Mariners have Casey Kotchman slotted in at first but Garko will definitely be a valuable backup there as well as DH, especially if Griffey gets hurt. 

Grade for the Mariners: B; if Garko doesn’t reach the ABs, then this deal is a steal.  If he does, well it’s only $1.  In 2008 he enjoyed his best season with 14 HRs and 90 RBI.  Garko is capable of hitting the long ball, getting on base at a high rate and driving runs in.  He will be a nice fit to this new revamped team.

The Mariners also signed Eric Byrnes who was recently making $10 million and was cut by the Diamondbacks and is now making the league minimum at $400,000.  Ouch, what a pay cut.  He will act as a backup to Gutierrez in CF and a defensive replacement for Milton Bradley in LF.

Grade for the Mariners: I don’t want to give it an A because Bynes is a terrible player for an entire season and a joke of a hitter but as far as a defensive backup and to pay him just $400,000 this deal may be considered an A.