The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Nov. 24, 2012

On a week that you're supposed to celebrate all those things you're thankful for - good news came early on Tuesday night for baseball fans in Seattle.

Granted, I was on board with the Seattle Mariners bringing in Chone Figgins a few years ago, but I'd since jumped off that boat once he'd played his way out of the starting lineup and later completely out of their lineup.

WHAT SOUNDED like a great idea when they signed Figgins along with Cliff Lee in 2009, looking like they could make a run at the World Series - what could go wrong?

Well, a lot.

Lee didn't even last through that season with the team and Figgins struggled - to say the least - in his time with the club.

He went from playing third base in Anaheim to second base in Seattle, and the Mariners finally moved him back to third long enough for him to lose his starting job to Kyle Seager this season.

After an injury to Mike Carp in the opener in Japan, Figgins was back in the lineup again and starting in left field when they played their first home games of the season against Oakland.

Once the team began to get healthy, Figgins played less and less, almost to the point where I began to wonder if he'd been traded, released, hurt or even worse - got lost finding his way to the stadium.

For now, the Figgins era is over in Seattle, although him re-signing for less money won't shock me.

In 66 games this season, he batted .181 with two home runs and 11 RBIs.

By comparison, Adrian Beltre - the guy that Figgins was supposed to replace - hit .321 with 36 homers and 102 RBIs for the Texas Rangers.

At least fans won't have to sit through another season like that for a while.

BUT IT does make me wonder what will happen next with the club.

Last year, they dealt Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees, yet opted to keep Jason Vargas, who was drawing some attention by other teams in the playoff hunt.

It also makes me wonder about Figgins.

When the playoffs are approaching, teams are usually jumping at the chance to try and sign a player like him to fill out their roster, whether as a defensive replacement or someone that can run and steal bases late in a game.

Wasn’t that the exact description of him before coming to Seattle?

Who knows if this is the end of his career as well.

It has happened before where a player from Seattle that is nearing the end of his career has suddenly turned things around and went on to play a lot longer than they’d expected.

Other times, guys have hung around too long and by leaving, eliminated a big hole in the lineup.

With Figgins, he can still play somewhere, but in his case, it will allow someone else to come in and make an impact.

You know, like he was supposed to when he came to town.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer at the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].