Tyler Walker, who has one-half season as a closer on his resume, was signed by the Mariners with the idea that he will get a chance to show that he can take up the slack left when J.J. Putz was traded to the Mets.
Walker, who has spent most of the last five seasons with the San Francisco Giants, hasn't been a closer or had a save since 2006, when he was with Tampa Bay and had Tommy John surgery. Walker isn't coming in with a big-money contract -- he'll earn $750,000 this year -- but there are some big expectations because back in 2005 he showed that he could close games.
The Giants lost Armando Benitez to injury that season, and Walker was pressed into duty. All he did was save 23 games in 28 chances before Benitez came back at the end of the season. A year later, he saved 10 games for Tampa before his elbow went south, and he's been mostly a setup reliever since then.
But he's more than willing to be the closer, if that's the way manager Don Wakamatsu wants it. At this point, Brandon Morrow, who will probably be a starter, Miguel Batista, Roy Corcoran, Aaron Heilman and Mark Lowe are candidates to close. All are right-handed.
Assuming Morrow stays in the rotation, Walker will start the spring about even with everyone else.
"The closer is the only guy who is ever truly happy in the bullpen," Walker said. "It's not up to me. It's up to the manager. I'll do it if they want me to."
