SEATTLE, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Aaron Sele, whose reported four-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles hit a snag after they say the pitcher had a "problem" with their physical, Monday night opted for a two-year, reported $15 million pact with the Seattle Mariners, who play near his hometown. Official financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Various reports had indicated that the 29-year-old Sele would make of $7.25 million a year over four years with the Orioles.
"I'm excited about joining the Mariners and coming back home to Seattle," said Sele, who is from Poulsbo, Wash., and attended Washington State University. "I'm looking forward to pitching in Safeco Field in front of my family and friends."
He is the second big-name free agent to come home this offseason to play for the Mariners, joining first baseman John Olerud.
"One of our top offseason priorities was to add another veteran starting pitcher to our staff," Mariners General Manager Pat Gillick said. "He's another player with strong local ties that we were able to bring back home to our fans."
Last week, Sele agreed to a contract with the Orioles, pending his physical. However, an Orioles spokesman confirms that there was a problem with his examination. The Birds' concerns about the problem were not made public, nor did spokesman indicate if the team was looking to back out of their deal with Sele, who never has undergone arm surgery.
Now, he joins a rotation that includes former Oriole Jamie Moyer and youngsters John Halama and Freddy Garcia and anoverall squad that will include free agent pickups Arthur Rhodes, the hard-throwing left-handed reliever from Baltimore, and utilityman Mark McLemore, formerly of the Texas Rangers.
For the moment, they also still have their electrifying superstars -- centerfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., and shortstop Alex Rodriguez.
Sele was 18-9 with a 4.79 ERA for the Rangers last season and 19-11 with a 4.23 ERA with them the previous year. He made $5.525 million in '99.
"Aaron is one of the majors' winningest pitchers over the past two years and he's an experienced veteran who will help our entire pitching staff with his ability to pitch a lot of innings," Gillick said.
His 37 wins in the last two seasons matches the total of Houston's Jose Lima and Greg Madduz of Atlanta for the second-best total in baseball in that period, trailing only Pedro Martinez of Boston.
Sele, a 1998 All-Star, spent parts of his first five seasons in the majors with Boston. He missed the 1996 season on the disabled list. In 174 career starts, he is 75-53 with a 4.45 ERA, nine complete games and four shutouts.NEWLN:
