After yesterday's selection in the Rule 5 Draft, reliever Kanekoa Texeira is headed to Seattle with a chance to make the big league roster out of spring training. Truth be told, though, I thought Texeira would be Mariners property months ago.

Here's why:

On July 30, Texeira entered during the final two innings of the second game of the Thunder's doubleheader with the Harrisburg Senators. It was raining hard that night, and most of the people who started the night in the stands had long since departed.

One of the few who remained at the game did so with a visible sense of purpose -- and a radar gun. He was a scout from the Mariners, and he watched Texeira intently from first pitch to last.

At the time, the Yankees were negotiating with the Mariners to bring starter Jarrod Washburn to New York. After leaving that game, I thought for sure that Texeira would be packing his bags shortly and heading south to join the Mariners' Double-A affiliate in West Tennessee, or across the country to Tacoma and Triple-A.

The negotiations obviously didn't blossom, but to me the implications were clear: Seattle liked what the saw. Now, five months after that game, they have their man.