Carlos Ruiz is now on the Seattle Mariners

Good morning! It’s probably time you started counting down to pitchers and catchers. And now we can!

The news:

• Carlos Ruiz is now a member of the Seattle Mariners. The Dodgers traded Chooch to Seattle for pitcher Vidal Nuno. Ruiz has a $4.5 million club option in 2017, which Seattle will exercise, and should sit behind starter Mike Zunino to start the season.

Chooch is now in the Solid Backup Catcher phase of his career. He hit .264/.365/.348 last season, still flashing that plus-level eye, and threw out an NL-best 42 percent of base stealers.

It’ll be odd seeing Chooch in a Mariners uniform … but we’ll get to see it! Circle May 9-10 on your calendar: Seattle visits the Phillies.

• Speaking of counting down to pitchers and catchers, report date is Feb. 13. The first game is Feb. 23 against the University of Tampa, and the Grapefruit League opens Feb. 24 against the Yankees.
• More today on the Pat Neshek acquisition, which was made Friday to buoy the Phils’ flawed 2016 bullpen.
• Also, Phillies prospect Dylan Cozens was involved in a fight Saturday with Mariners prospect Boog Powell down in the Dominican Winter League. Apparently the fight came about after teammates started razzing Cozens about his inability to hit breaking balls.

Fighting is stupid. Who knows exactly how it escalated, but it’s dumb altogether. No word on if Cozens was disciplined, but yeah, don’t fight, and don’t be cruel to one another.