The final roster decisions are now less than a week away for the Mariners and, barring injuries, the only real debate concerns the final few spots in what increasingly projects as an eight-man bullpen.
"Once we get on the plane (April 1) to go to Houston," manager Scott Servais said, "the decision will be made by then. But I don’t think it’s going to be a whole lot sooner. We really don’t need to (make the decision sooner).
"We’ve got flexibility. We don’t have guys with `outs’ in their contract. It’s set up that way."
The Mariners are leaning toward an eight-man bullpen to start the season for a variety of reasons and believe they can do so because Taylor Motter and Danny Valencia provide sufficient roster flexibility to shorten their bench.