Hot on the heels of Grant Balfour's decision to decline arbitration with the Rays comes news that Ryan Rowland-Smith and the Seattle Mariners have parted ways.
Like Balfour, Rowland-Smith was eligible for arbitration this year. However the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players passed late last week. Geoff Baker from The Seattle Times reports that the Mariners made him a contract offer, but did not guarantee it - meaning that RRS would have to make the team out of Spring Training. Rowland-Smith turned down the offer, as it did not meet his terms. This means that he is now a free agent. It is not clear exactly what terms it was that were not satisfactory, but it could be related to money or to this 'non-guaranteed' element.
According to Baker, the way the system usually works is that performance does not really factor into offers like the one made to Rowland-Smith, so even though he did not perform well last year, someone in his situation would ordinarily expect a pay increase. It seems the Mariners may not have offered an increase that met his expectations.
Baker reports that Rowland-Smith said 'I felt that despite the rough year I had, being 27 and being healthy, and taking steps to prevent what happened from happening again, I felt like the contract they were offering me didn't match my expectations'. Rowland-Smith also told Baker that he has no hard feelings about leaving Seattle, but is excited about his future prospects.
There appears to be no word yet about potential clubs for Rowland-Smith to join. He is currently doing a lot of training in the LA area, so perhaps a move to a Californian team could be on the cards?
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