Deadlines and Stove…

First order of business this morning…Be sure to tune in tomorrow night from 7-9 as we broadcast the first Hot Stove League Show of the winter, or, if you like, stop by and see us as we will be broadcasting from the Mariners Team Store at Alderwood Mall. Dan Wilson will sit in with us and guests will include Jack Zduriencik, Dustin Ackley and John Jaso.

Two deadlines that could be of significance to the Mariners. The first is the non-tender deadline which comes at 9pm tonight. Teams must decide whether or not to tender contracts to their arbitration eligible players by this deadline and if they decline to do so the player becomes a free agent free to sign with any club. Decisions will have to be made on Shawn Kelley, Jason Vargas and Brandon League.

There has been speculation by various media outlets that the Mariners could pass on Vargas who is expected to see his salary jump to perhaps as high as 5 million next year through arbitration.

The second deadline comes up Wednesday at 2:00 when bids for the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish must be submitted by. The team that wins the bidding will then have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the pitcher. The Mariners name has not been linked to Darvish but I would be surprised if they didn’t put in a bid of some sort. The Rangers have scouted Darvish heavily in Japan and reports of their interest level have been mixed. We will learn more Wednesday.