Brendan Ryan and Munenori Kawasaki are quickly becoming two peas in a pod during Mariners workouts in Peoria. Here are some shots of them from today's workouts.

"Obviously, he's very energetic as well,'' Kawasaki said of Ryan, through interpreter Antony Suzuki. "He's very close to how I play. And that makes it very comfortable for me to play here with him. You look at his plays and the way he moves and he's great. He's got a lot of talent.''

There isn't reason to be concerned just yet, but shortstop Brendan Ryan has yet to make any throws during Mariners' drills and won't do so until at least next week. Ryan did begin a throwing program today under the supervision of M's head trainer Rick Griffin. He threw for abut five minutes from a distance of 60 feet.

"I'll probably do that about three or four more days and then we'll go from there,'' Ryan told me. "But I'm able to do everything else.''

Mariners manager Eric Wedge said Ryan reported to camp "a little bit behind'' when it came to his upper back, neck and shoulder. You'll remember he had myriad problems with that area in the second half of last season, with one injury later spreading to other parts of that body region when he threw.

Ryan took it slow this off-season to let the injury heal. But it's still not to the point where the team wants to risk anything.

David Aardsma established himself as a major league closer with the Mariners in 2009 and 2010, but it's been a tough go for him ever since. He didn't pitch all of last year and won't start throwing again until July after undergoing Tommy John ligament transplant surgery in his right elbow last summer.

But now, Aardsma knows who he'll be pitching for.

He signed a $500,000, incentive-laden major league contract today with the New York Yankees. There is also an option for 2013, paying the same $500,000 base with similar incentives based on innings pitched, games finished and other stuff.

"The Yankees were very pro-active,'' Aardsma told me by phone a short while ago. "When they wanted to get the deal done, they got it done.''

Photo Credit: AP

ADDITIONAL NOTE 9:32 a.m.: Multiple reports, beginning with one at MLB.com, are now stating that David Aardsma signed with the Yankees. Aardsma won't pitch until second half, if at all this year following Tommy John surgery.

We've all heard the stories about how, in many a pro sports locker room, you'll have a veteran player or two who takes the heat off younger teammates by taking on all the media questions and deflecting blame.

Right now, inadvertently or not, the same thing is going on with Chone Figgins and Ichiro. In fact, if the Mariners planned things this way, they'd be accused of brilliance.

But no matter whether this was all part of some elaborate plan or not, the end result is that Figgins is taking on most of the fan ire, worry, heat and focus over yesterday's lineup switch while the guy who really ought to be getting the most attention -- Ichiro -- has been left largely pressure-free.

Think about it. The Mariners have left it an open-ended question as to whether Figgins will keep his leadoff spot, seeming to imply that he's on a short leash and had better perform or else they won't put up with any more feeble-hitting nonsense.

Meanwhile, Ichiro has been proclaimed as the No. 3 hitter this season no matter what.

Which is all fine and good, except that, of the pair, the least likely to succeed at his new role may not be Figgins.

Many of you keep writing in to ask me, so here it goes. My take on what the Mariners lineup could very well look like on opening day.

I see it going something like this:

3B Chone Figgins (S)
2B Dustin Ackley (L)
RF Ichiro (L)
1B Justin Smoak (S)
DH Jesus Montero (R)
LF Mike Carp (L)
CF Franklin Gutierrez (R)
C Miguel Olivo (R)
SS Brendan Ryan (R)

Now, there is a method to the madness. Let's explore.

John Lok/Seattle Times

Ichiro is swarmed by autograph-seeking fans after Mariners workout in Peoria, Ariz.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge just confirmed moments ago that he is moving Ichiro to the No. 3 spot in the batting order to begin the regular season. Chone Figgins will get first crack at replacing Ichiro atop the order.

Wedge also said Dustin Ackley is the leading contender to hit second, but others will get a look in that spot as well.

"I've done a lot of thinking about it this winter, of course,'' Wedge said. "I've talked about it a lot with coaches and Jack (Zduriencik) and everyone. I feel like the bottom line is for us to have the best lineup, one through nine, out there. I want our lineup to be extended. I feel like our est opportunity to score runs is with Ichiro hitting third for us. it helps the guy in front of him, it helps the guy behind him.''

We've heard lots of talk about how Japanese infielder Munenori Kawasaki has brought "energy" to his on-field drills with the Mariners. To see him in action is quite the spectacle. I've heard more than one person refer to him as a Japanese version of Brendan Ryan, at least from a hyper-kinetic sense.

Well, now you can see what we've all been talking about.

Lots of talk the past 48 hours or so about Chone Figgins and the playing time he'll get this year. I went on ESPN 710 Seattle yesterday and chatted with the on-air hosts about Figgins, his contract and what the M's can reasonably expect to re-coup.

But there's this line of reasoning I keep seeing cropping up online in both the mainstream media and the blog world. It has to do with the whole notion of "sunk costs" and how the Mariners should be prepared to just jettison Figgins and move on.

Sorry, just can't let that one go.

We've been having this discussion since the end of the 2010 season and I think it bears repeating.

Teams don't just chuck $20 million, or $30 million out the window. Certainly not teams like the Mariners, with sub-$100 million payrolls. The owners of those teams don't look kindly upon general managers who cost them that amount of money with little to show for it.

As I said yesterday, for every five good moves a GM makes, they can be negated by a single free-agent contract gone bad. In the case of Jack Zduriencik, the four-year, $36 million Figgins deal signed prior to the 2010 season is not something the ownership of this team is just going to let him walk away from without trying to recoup some of the value.

That's where the whole "sunk cost" theory becomes bogus when applied to major-league players in this context.