The moves are not official as of yet but the Mariners have informed Roy Corcoran and Tug Hulett that they are going down to the minors. Mac and a group that included Bill Bavasi then had what had to be difficult conversations with Arthur Rhodes and Chris Reitsma.

Both were told that they would not break with the big club. While both have been throwing well the team has chosen to err on the side of caution, for the sake of both the team and for the two players.

“The reason for this is those guys have not pitched back to back and we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we have too many pitchers we have to take extra caution with and paint ourselves into a corner.” Mac said. “March 31 is a date where we don’t want to put them in a situation where they can hurt themselves. Both have throwing programs up until April 10-12 and we want them to stick to that program.”

Arthur will go to Vegas with the club and continue his throwing program. Reitsma has decided to go home and think about it. I spoke with Reitsma as he was heading out and he was very disappointed. After his 5th arm surgery he was fighting like mad to get back to a position where he could not only compete for a spot, but win one out of spring training.

He is very close. Not only for the team, but for himself, I hope he looks at the situation and decides to come back. He has come to far not to give himself the chance. If it means a couple of weeks in the minor leagues, so be it. He, the team and those facing him will be that much surer that he is 100% and the “injury” tag will be gone. A healthy Reitsma would bring a lot to this team both on and off the field. In talking with several of his teammates, it is apparent that they feel this way too.

I just looked into it and got confirmation that both guys are signed to minor league contracts. Neither has an out clause if they fail to make the big league roster out of camp so they cannot become free agents unless they ask for their release. According to Mac the club is “hopeful” both will continue the throwing programs set by the doctors and trainers and while no promises have been made, Mac said that in looking at the big picture he did see where they would fit in.

As for the rest of the bullpen, the 11 or 12 man staff is an ongoing discussion. In looking at the remaining pieces, it would appear that they are short on true long men, guys who can go 3 or more innings in a pinch.

Morrow is of concern in that he has missed time and has had control issues. I asked if the DL was a possibility but Mac didn’t seem to think so. “I think his velocity is there and he feels good, it’s just a matter of getting his command and his delivery smoothed out. I haven’t gotten any red flags with Morrow or any of our guys.”

Lowe is still in the mix and his back to back effort may have gone a long way in landing him a spot. Ryan Rowland-Smith has had several good outings and RA Dickey will get a look in the heavier air of San Francisco. It will be interesting to see how many innings he can go.

While the 25 man roster deadline is March 31, we are expecting more moves tomorrow. Will they be down to 25 by the time they step on the plane? Probably not, but they will be very close.