J.J. Putz

According to the New York Post, Seattle has made closer JJ Putz available.  Larry LaRue: “Well, duh.”

This was expected.  Putz is one of Seattle’s more valuable trade chips, despite the 2008 struggles, and isn’t likely to be a key component to this upcoming season.

The New York Mets are likely to remain Putz’s most aggressive suitor, as they’re said to prefer him to Francisco Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes.  The tough part is going to be getting the Mets to part with the necessary players.  The best talent Seattle might pry from the Mets would be either Jon Niese or Daniel Murphy, but even that may be a stretch.

Beyond the Mets, the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers could make good matches.

Yuniesky Betancourt

Khalil Greene has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, probably ruling out the possibility of Seattle sending Yuniesky Betancourt there.  Seattle was rumored to be in trade talks with the Cardinals, and insider Jason A. Churchill was confident that the two teams were discussing Betancourt.  Trading Betancourt to the Cardinals would have been an interesting scenario, because they are a team with several useful players that they have no room for.

Minor League Signings

Seattle has signed utility players Callix Crabbe and Chris Woodward to minor league deals, according to Baseball America.  We had the scoop on Crabbe about a week ago.  Neither is anything special and are just being added as minor league roster filler or potential MLB bench depth, though Crabbe is much younger and more promising.

Both have the Milwaukee Brewers connection that most of Zduriencik’s acquisitions share.  You may remember Woodward from his days with the Blue Jays.