The Seattle Mariners were having a pretty quiet offseason until the news of the death of OF prospect Greg Halman rocked the organization. Halman was stabbed to death last week while was in Amsterdam and his funeral is scheduled for Tuesday.

As the Mariners look to try to put the death of Halman behind them, let’s take a look at some things that will affect the Mariners on the field for 2012.

Mariners Trade For John Jaso: Late Sunday night, the Mariners traded RHP Josh Lueke and a player to be named later or cash considerations to the Tampa Bay Rays for C John Jaso. Jaso hit .224/.298/.354 with five HR’s for the Rays in 2011.

With this trade, the Mariners are looking for Jaso could be the left-handed compliment to the right-handed Miguel Olivo behind the plate. Mariner catchers were 29th in baseball in BB Percentage in 2011 (5.2 percent) and Jaso has a career 12.2 percent BB Percentage, so the Mariners are hoping to acquire players who can work the count a little more in 2012.

Hultzen will compete for a rotation spot in 2012

Hultzen To Be Given A Shot In 2012: According to CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler, the Mariners will give 2011 first-round pick Danny Hultzen a shot at making their starting rotation in spring training. Hultzen was the second overall pick in last year’s June Draft and made his debut in the Arizona Fall League going 1-0 with a 1.40 ERA, 18 K’s, and five walks in 19.1 innings pitched.

Regardless of how well Hultzen pitches in spring training, I think it would be a mistake to have him start the season in the Mariners’ rotation. I would be very hard for a pitcher to go from college to just the AFL and then to the Major Leagues. The difference in talent levels is too great. Even in spring training, he won’t be facing Major League level talent every plate appearance.

I would suggest the Mariners treat Hultzen like the Arizona Diamondbacks treated Trevor Bauer, who was the third pick in the 2011 Draft. They had him start in High Single-A and then quickly moved him up to Double-A.

The Mariners should start Hultzen out in Double-A and if all goes well, bring him up in late-April/early-May.

Is Figgins Even Tradeable? A source told Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com that the Mariners are willing to eat some money in order to trade Figgins. Glad to see one of Morosi’s sources is Captain Obvious.

Figgins has two years and $17 million remaining on his contract along with a $9 million vesting option for 2014 if Figgins makes 600 PA’s in 2013. Considering that Figgins has a .595 OPS, is 34-years-old, and has been a complete bust in Seattle, I don’t see how the Mariners can trade Figgins without absorbing 95 percent of his contract.

Teams like the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, or even the Atlanta Braves make sense as a trade partner for the Mariners, but noway on God’s Green Earth any of those teams take on Figgins’ contract at full value. Even at 95 percent, I think the Mariners will be hard pressed to trade Figgins. I think he is done.

Is Mike Carp The Next Michael Morse? As it stands right now, Mike Carp is slated to be the Mariners’ DH and hit in the middle of their lineup in 2012. If you take into account the Mariners are severely lacking any offensive talent and Carp hit 12 HR’s in 313 PA’s, Carp is a solid choice for the Mariners.

However, I am wondering if there is something more to Carp. I am wondering if he is the next Michael Morse? Take a look at Morse’s 2010 season compared to Carp’s 2011 season:

Morse’s 2010 was better than Carp’s 2011 season, but they aren’t too far off. If you take Carp’s numbers over the course of a full season, you are looking at a 20 – 25 season out of Carp. As a matter of fact, ZiPS predicts a .252/.317/.414 season out of Carp with 21 HR’s.

I think the Mariners will certainly take that.

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By The Baseball Index