[nfbwatlk] Reitsma brings relief to M's

[Mike Freeman]

Reitsma brings relief to M's
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/298669_mari06.html

Reitsma brings relief to M's

Ex-Brave is coming off elbow surgery

Saturday, January 6, 2007

By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER

If there is, in fact, success for the Mariners after their long, strange 
offseason -- if they put a winning team on the field after three consecutive 
years
of losing -- the team's medical crew just might have to get the MVP nod.

Almost all the moves Seattle has made this winter have come only after the 
medics cleared players coming off injuries and/or surgeries.

The latest example is right-handed reliever Chris Reitsma, the former 
Atlanta closer who agreed to a one-year contract at $1.35 million plus a 
club option
for the 2008 season.

Reitsma comes to the Mariners after two tours on the disabled list in 2006 
and surgery on his right elbow. He said a bit of muscle was wrapped around a
nerve near his elbow, causing him occasionally to lose feeling in his right 
hand.

It's another instance of the Mariners trying to fill their needs with 
players who have been sidelined by injuries.

They added left-handed starter Horacio Ramirez from Atlanta, who was slowed 
in the first half of 2006 with hamstring troubles and lost the final six 
weeks
of the season because of a torn left middle finger.

They brought in DH Jose Vidro. A career .301 hitter, he's been slowed much 
of the past two seasons by a series of hamstring problems.

The new right fielder is Jose Guillen, who has some power but is coming off 
reconstructive elbow surgery.

So it's a high-stakes game of risk being played by General Manager Bill 
Bavasi.

Bavasi said he likes Reitsma because if closer J.J. Putz needs a day off, 
Reitsma can fill in. Two years ago he had 15 saves and a 3.93 ERA in 76 
games
for Atlanta.

"He's got the stuff, and his makeup as a closer is off the charts," Bavasi 
said.

Reitsma, 29, who hails from Calgary, Alberta, is coming home, after a 
fashion. When he was growing up in Alberta, the games on TV involved Toronto 
or Seattle.


The one-time starter (he started 50 times in 2001-02 with Cincinnati) 
doesn't seem to have a problem moving into the setup role. Reitsma's agent, 
Brian
Goldberg, said Reitsma took less money -- admittedly not a lot less -- to 
play second fiddle to Putz.

"There's no adjustment on my part," Reitsma said. "Before I closed, I had a 
year, a year and a half of pitching setup to John Smoltz (in Atlanta). 
Whether
it's the eighth inning or the ninth, you've still got to get three big 
outs."

Reitsma called his injury a "freak thing," and said elbow specialist Dr. 
James Andrews, who did the surgery in Birmingham, Ala., told him he'd only 
seen
one other like it -- Kenny Rogers. That's the singer, not the pitcher.

"That's why I don't worry too much about 8.68 (his 2006 ERA)," Reitsma said. 
"There were times in the game when I'd just lose feeling. I couldn't throw
the ball where I wanted to. It's like a piano player trying to play the 
piano with no feeling in his fingers.

"There were times I had to take myself out of games. The last pitch I threw 
for the Braves, I hit (Baltimore's) Miguel Tejada in the head (July 1). I 
had
to come out. I wasn't helping my team, and I wasn't helping myself."

Reitsma has been long tossing for a while, and says he will start pitching 
off a mound Monday.

NOTES: Bavasi said the club probably wasn't in the market for more relief 
pitching but could use another starting pitcher and some bench help. ... The 
Mariners
expect right-handed reliever Mark Lowe to undergo an MRI exam on his right 
elbow. That will give the club some idea of how well he's progressing after
his surgery. There seems little likelihood that Lowe will pitch before the 
All-Star break. ... In addition to the $1.35 million Reitsma gets for 2007,
he has a $700,000 buyout if the Mariners don't pick up the option on a $2.7 
million deal for 2008.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or 
johnhickey at seattlepi.com.

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