SEATTLE, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Eddie Guardado, one of the premier relievers on the open mark, signed a three-year contract Tuesday with the Seattle Mariners.
Financial terms of the deal, which includes player-club options for 2005 and 2006, were not disclosed. But the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported the deal is worth about $14 million.
Guardado, 33, spent his first 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins and received All-Star honors in each of the last two campaigns, when he saved 86 games.
A lefthander nicknamed "Everyday Eddie" for his durability, Guardado reportedly turned down a three-year, $12 million deal from the Twins. He made $2.7 million last season.
In Seattle, Guardado will go back to the set-up role, a job he held with the Twins until he became their full-time closer in 2002. Kazuhiro Sasaki is firmly entrenched as the Mariners' closer.
