30 year-old reliever Chris Reitsma is on a minor league contract with the Mariners, and they don’t feel he’s ready for the big league roster quite yet. John Hickey says Reitsma can retire, go to the minors as requested, or ask the Mariners for his release (they’d have no obligation to grant it). Reitsma has yet to throw on back-to-back days, and he doesn’t offer the upside of Mark Lowe.
Reitsma had a fifth elbow surgery in July of ’07. The Mariners declined his $2.7MM option for ’08 but re-signed him to a minor league deal. He’s healthy now, but hasn’t been useful since ’05.
