Mike Blowers, who agreed to a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners yesterday for $400,000 plus $300,000 in incentives, is very happy to be back home after a season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"This is what I wanted, to play at home where I grew up, where my family wants to live," said Blowers, a popular player and solid infielder in his previous stint with the Mariners, from 1992 through '95. "It came down to me and (wife) Nicole sitting down and deciding that being here was more important than maybe making more money somewhere else."
Blowers' happiness is matched by that of the Mariners, who needed a right-handed bat to come off the bench and back up Paul Sorrento at first base and Russ Davis at third.
"Mike is the guy I wanted," Manager Lou Piniella said. "We know what he can do and one of those things is hit well against left-handed pitching. He's a gamer, a great kid to have on the club. We had to let him go once for financial reasons and were sorry to see him go then. We're glad to have him back."
Blowers, 31, hit .280 and .289 with Seattle in 1993 and 1994. As the full-time third baseman on the American League West championship team of 1995, he contributed 23 homers and 96 runs batted in.
Moving to the National League last year with Los Angeles, he hit .265 with six homers and 38 RBI before being sidelined in late June with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Getting Blowers a deal that fit into Seattle's financial constraints was the main holdup to negotiations that took several months to complete.
"We talked a long time ago and Mike's agent (Larry O'Brien, brother of former Mariner Pete O'Brien) was looking for a lot more than we could afford," said Lee Pelekoudas, Mariner assistant general manager. "But we hoped to have him back, and so we kept working at it. He'll help immensely if he's healthy, and the indications are that he is."
Because Blowers is coming off knee surgery, he signed a minor-league contract. He will have to prove his knee is recovered and make the Seattle varsity in training camp.
"The minor-league status is something that will be with me until I get to camp and show the Mariners I'm back," Blowers said. "The contract setup is the way the club protects itself about my knee, not my ability to play."
Bob Finnigan. "Blowers returns to M's". Seattle Times. 25 Jan., 1997.
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