The Seattle Mariners have signed their first free agent of the offseason, 3rd baseman Russell Branyan.
Branyan played in 50 games with the Brewers last year hitting 12 home runs in 132 at bats (not a bad rate really) with a .250 batting average. While Branyan is hardly a big signing, he should provide the M's with some left handed power off the bench or from the DH spot as long as they don't expect him to do much against southpaws.
The Mariners will be Branyan's 8th team and 6th in 3 years. The signing is a low risk move and some are suggesting Branyan will be traded to a contender at the deadline but I just don't see a lot of demand for the kind of one dimensional player that Branyan is.
