Not much suspense about today's final roster, since we told you what would be happening a few days ago. The Mariners did not have any sober second thoughts about that 11-man pitching staff. Or, if they did, they didn't change their minds.

The only new addition to the roster is Mike Sweeney being added in the spot vacated by the waiving of Ryan Garko. Cliff Lee is going on the 15-day disabled list, meaning, if his suspension is upheld, he'll have to serve it after he's activated.

We told you two weeks ago that Matt Tuiasosopo had made the squad. When you think about it, it's a no-brainer. It had little to do with Josh Wilson's ability to be the backup infielder until Jack Hannahan recovers from his groin strain.

Wilson is the better shortstop here and easily could have filled the backup role. The problem becomes the roster spot. Tuiasosopo is on the 40-mn roster while Wilson was not. To free up space for Wilson, somebody would have had to come off the roster and that just wasn't going to happen. Who would you have been willing to lose?

The other huge plus working for Tuiasosopo was that he has minor league options left. Wilson does not. So, when Hannahan is ready to come back, you can simply ship Tuiasosopo to Class AAA with no consequence (unless he does something to convince the M's he should stay in the majors longer, you never know).

With Wilson, he'd have to be outrighted back to the minors and could be lost to a waiver claim in the process. That already happened once, with the Diamondbacks taking him, last season. Losing Wilson to such a claim would spell big trouble if regular shortstop Jack Wilson winds up getting hurt for more than a day or two at some point.

The M's don't mind Tuiasosopo playing shortstop once a week. But for a week, or two, or three at a time? No way. That's what Josh Wilson is for. And for now, keeping him in AAA and ready for such an emergency need is what the M's have to do. Yeah, they'd still have to outright him back to AAA at some point, but they'll cross that bridge after he's used for his emergency role, if it comes to that. Right now, the point is to have him available for that role.

Which is why Tuiasosopo makes the team.

Today's move means two extra outfielders -- Eric Byrnes and Ryan Langerhans. Yes, it gives the M's some versatility in the backup role, especially with MiltonBradley a little sore-legged to start the year. But it's also Ken Griffey Jr. insurance. If Griffey gets off to a terrible start, you could slide Milton Bradley in as the DH against right handers, put Langerhans and his lefty bat in left field, then still have a backup outfielder in Byrnes.

Versatility is a key to any roster.

Only big risk I see with this one is the six-man bullpen and no true long reliever. The M's have Felix Hernandez going in Texas, so that's a huge plus. A long as he doesn't get knocked out early by the Rangers, the team should be OK. If that was to happen, the M's and their bullpen could be in big trouble early. But we'll worry about that if it happens. Right now, the odds say it won't.