"There had been talk yesterday that the Mariners were one of the teams trying to land catcher Ryan Doumit. Instead, he wound up on a one-year, $3 million deal with the Twins.

Not a huge loss for the Mariners. And don't let the numbers fool you. As good as some of Doumit's stats looked last year, he has essentially become a part-time player and that's pretty much what he would have been in Seattle.

A part-time catcher to spell Miguel Olivo, but primarily another first base/DH type of bat off the bench or to rest certain guys.

Now, there's nothing wrong with the Mariners going after these types of role players to round out their bench. But at $3 million, that would have been pretty steep for a guy who looks more like a rich man's Chris Gimenez than a poor man's Prince Fielder (the 1B/DH part, not the catching, clearly).

In baseball, it's important to make the distinction between part-time players and full-time guys who can go the distance. We saw that this season with Adam Kennedy, who put up great early numbers, only to have his aging body run out of steam as he was thrust into a full-time role. It's why the Mariners never dared use him in an outfield role where he'd have to sprint after balls, despite the fact he'd played some games there before.

With part-time guys, both young and older, the numbers tend to drift downwards as playing time increases. Was the story of Willie Bloomquist's career in Seattle. Been the story of many part-time careers."