Major League Baseball

Seattle officially signs Bloomquist to 2-year deal

Published Dec. 5, 2013 9:35 p.m. ET

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Utility player Willie Bloomquist officially signed a $5.8 million, two-year contract with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, bringing him back to the team he started his major league career with.

The deal was agreed to earlier this week and became official after Bloomquist passed a physical. Bloomquist said a combination of the offer Seattle made and a chance to return to the Pacific Northwest made the decision simple. Bloomquist will earn $2.8 million in 2014 and $3 million in 2015.

''A lot of teams had interest and I had couple of offers on the table and was looking to better my position. When I heard Seattle had interest I was excited,'' Bloomquist said.

Bloomquist spent the past three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, appearing in 225 games and hitting .289 with 36 doubles and 63 RBIs over that time. Last season with Arizona, he appeared in 48 games and had 139 at-bats.

The 36-year-old Bloomquist spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Mariners. His high point came in 2006 when Bloomquist appeared in 102 games for Seattle. He spent the 2009-10 seasons with Kansas City and Cincinnati before joining the Diamondbacks.

Bloomquist guessed that Felix Hernandez was the only Seattle player still remaining from his first stint with the club. He said getting a two-year deal was important.

''It gives me security, which goes without saying, but it allows me to know that it's not going to be a flash in the pan, here one year, gone the next,'' Bloomquist said.

He said that based on his conversations with Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik that he's expecting big moves this offseason from the Mariners.

''In talking with Jack, he has some things up his sleeve that are going to make us a better team,'' Bloomquist said.

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