M's Notebook | Makeup date madness

BOSTON -- Katy Feeney is the person in charge of figuring out a way for the Mariners and Indians to make up their four snowed-out games.

For MLB's senior vice president of scheduling and club relations, that means nothing but headaches.

"We're working with the Players Association and the teams, seeing what we can do," she said Wednesday by phone from New York, before adding with a sigh: "None of them are pretty."

Feeney prefers not to discuss the various possibilities on the table, because "people start screaming if they see something they don't like. It's better to get something worked out."

It's likely that the Players Association will have input if the proposed make-up dates interfere with the Basic Agreement requirement that no team is to play more than 20 consecutive days. And that seems unavoidable, because the Mariners don't return to Cleveland this year and the games might have to be replayed on off days.

"With rescheduling, you can quote, unquote, violate some of the rules to get games in," Feeney said. "It's a matter of which ones and where."

They could make up two of the games with a doubleheader on June 11, a mutual off day for both teams. They could play doubleheaders in Seattle when Cleveland makes its only trip to Safeco Sept. 25-27. They could play after the season. Or they could come up with another creative solution.

"We just sent over a couple of possibilities to the Players Association," Feeney said. "They might have some ideas of their own."

Feeney realizes, with foreboding, that this situation might get even more complicated. Forecasts in Boston list a 100-percent chance of rain today, though there is hope that a window of opportunity for clearing exists in the evening. The game has a scheduled 4:05 p.m. local start.

The Mariners aren't scheduled to return to Boston, either.

Trouble ahead for Rhodes

The news on left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes is season- and perhaps even career-threatening bad.

An MRI Tuesday revealed a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, which is usually a precursor to Tommy John surgery.

Rhodes, 37,is back in Seattle reviewing his options, which include rehabilitating his arm and attempting to pitch with the tear. He is expected to seek a second opinion.

At any rate, the Mariners will not soon see Rhodes in action, if at all this season. Signed to be the second left-hander in the bullpen behind George Sherrill, the role will now be taken by Jake Woods, who did the job last year.

Los Marineros en Español

The Mariners have finally reached agreement on a Spanish radio deal for home games, and the broadcasts will start Friday with Raul Sandoval doing play-by-play and Julio Cruz doing color.

Seattle Mariners Spanish Audio, presented by FSN Northwest, will distribute the 78 remaining Mariners home games.

The Spanish-language feed will be distributed via a secondary audio program (SAP) feed on cable systems for all FSN home-game telecasts. It will also be available via the internet and broadcast on Spanish-language radio stations in Seattle and Portland.

Subscribers are urged to contact their cable operators to see if the Spanish feed is available on their system. The feed will also be streamed live on www.mariners.com.

Sixty-eight of the home games will be carried on KDOW AM 1680 in Seattle and 1230 ESPN Deportes (KSZN AM) in Portland.

Bark and bike (rack)

Brendan Donnelly seemed to be both amused and annoyed when a Boston Globe reporter told him that Jose Guillen had called him out Tuesday night.

After the game, which featured a confrontation between the two old adversaries after Donnelly fanned Guillen, Guillen said: "If he wants to take care of his problem ... He can just send one of the batboys to come get me outside, and then we'll take care of this as a man."

Donnelly's response to the Globe: "It's the same old Jose, that's what you make of it -- the same song and dance. You know what his quotes remind me of? A comparable quote would be, 'Meet me at the bike rack after school.' "

Note

• The Phillies claimed Michael Garciaparra off waivers, not entirely surprising in light of the fact that Phillies GM Pat Gillick was in charge of the Mariners when they drafted the infielder in the first round in 2001. The Mariners designated Garciaparra for assignment on April 1 to clear room on their 40-man roster.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com.

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 2-1

Road: 1-1

vs. AL West: 2-1

vs. Anaheim: 0-0

vs. Oakland: 2-1

vs. Texas: 0-0

vs. AL East: 1-1

vs. AL Central: 0-0

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 0-0

vs. RHP: 3-2

Day: 1-1

Night: 2-1

One-run: 0-0

Extra innings: 0-0