M's don't pick up Guillen's option

Time appears to have run out on the brief relationship between the Mariners and right fielder Jose Guillen.

The team let Guillen know on Friday that it has decided not to pick up a mutual $9 million option for the 2008 season. Guillen still has a player option for $5 million that he can exercise within five days, but says he'll decline that as well and head towards free agency.

"No doubt, I'm going to decline everything,'' Guillen said from his home in the Dominican Republic.

It was a busy day for the Mariners, who learned that Larry Bowa won't take the third base coach job he'd been offered. Bowa is instead expected to follow Joe Torre to Los Angeles and sign a deal Monday as the new third base coach for the Dodgers.

The Mariners also declined to pick up a $2.7-million option on relief pitcher Chris Reitsma, who now becomes a free agent. Reitsma received a $700,000 buyout from the Mariners, who can still negotiate exclusively with him for the next 11 days.

While Guillen could technically still sign a free-agent deal with Seattle, the team's decision to decline his option means it must pay him a $500,000 buyout. The Mariners could have saved that money had they simply picked up Guillen's option, seeing as how he almost certainly would have declined it and forfeited any buyout so he could seek a multi-year offer on the free-agent market.

"They just gave me a half-million for no reason,'' he said with a chuckle.

Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi released a statement saying: "Declining the options on Jose (Guillen) and Chris (Reitsma) gives us more flexibility as we plan our 2008 roster. In Jose's case, this puts the ball in his court. He can choose to exercise his option with us or go to free agency. With both players, if it becomes apparent that they're a good fit for us in 2008, we can still negotiate with them as free agents.''

The fact the Mariners wouldn't take the small risk Guillen might agree to return for one year at roughly the same money he made in 2007 suggests he no longer factors into their plans. It also throws into serious doubt whether there's any desire on the team's part to seek a long-term deal with a player who hit .290 with 23 home runs and 99 runs batted in last season.

"We've got to move forward now,'' Guillen said, adding that his agent will still talk with the Mariners in hopes of landing a multi-year deal. "I'm not mad... It's just business.''