"The Seattle Mariners' leaders travel to Dallas and baseball's annual winter meetings with plenty of needs – knowing it may be the wrong year to find everything they're looking for.

They go armed with a young closer they're willing to trade, Brandon League, who saved 37 games and had a 2.79 earned-run average. The free-agent market, however, had at least nine more experienced closers available.

Four of those - Heath Bell (Marlins), Jonathan Papelbon (Phillies), Joe Nathan (Rangers) and Jonathan Broxton (Royals) – have signed in the past month.

And while that still leaves plenty of teams looking for late-inning relief, there are still arms such as Ryan Madson, Francisco Cordero, Francisco Rodriguez and Matt Capps available on a cash-only basis.

So the Mariners, who finished in fourth place in the American League West with a 67-95 record in 2011, arrive with a bargaining chip that may not bring the return they'd hoped for.

Where does that leave them?

Working with a payroll similar to last year, Seattle figures to have about $15 million available – with Felix Hernandez ($19.5 million), Ichiro Suzuki ($18 million) and Chone Figgins ($9 million) taking up about half the budget.

The good news could be that the Mariners need offense, and two of the most productive hitters in the game – Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder – are free agents.

The bad news? Behind those two, the drop off is swift.

Among the remaining free-agent hitters are names such as Michael Cuddyer, Aramis Ramirez, Johnny Damon and Jason Kubel."