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Jeff Nelson gets ready to throw at spring training workouts last week, attempting to make the Seattle Mariners' roster for a third stint. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Jim Cour Associated Press
Jeff Nelson gets ready to throw at spring training workouts last week, attempting to make the Seattle Mariners' roster for a third stint. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

PEORIA, Ariz. – Long-time major league reliever Jeff Nelson still wants to pitch and he thinks he can help the Seattle Mariners this season.

At 38, the veteran right-hander is trying to make the Mariners’ roster for the third time in a career that includes four World Series rings with the New York Yankees.

“I felt great for the last month of last season,” said Nelson, who pitched ineffectively for the Texas Rangers in 2004 and had surgeries on his right elbow and right knee. “I came into spring healthy and I feel good now.”

Signed as a minor league free agent, he made his spring debut Friday in an 8-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. In one inning, he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk.

The Mariners said they won’t be concerned with Nelson’s spring statistics until later in March. Pitching coach Bryan Price said Nelson is building up his arm strength and won’t throw his hardest until the end of spring training.

In his prime, Nelson had one of the most wicked sliders in baseball. He was an All-Star with the Mariners in 2001, when the team set an American League record with 116 victories. That season, he compiled a 4-3 record, a 2.76 ERA and four saves in 65 1/3 innings over 69 games.

His glory years came with the Yankees from 1996-2000, when he was a valuable reliever on four World Series-winning teams.

With Texas last season, he was 1-2 with a 5.32 ERA in 29 games. Uncharacteristically, he had control problems.

If Nelson can regain his form, he could help the team’s bullpen immensely. Especially after the team’s 99-loss season in 2004.

The Mariners like Nelson’s chances of being with them when they start the season April 4 in Seattle. His previous stints with the team were from 1992-95 and 2001-2003.

“If Jeff is healthy, he’s a great fit for us,” Price said. “We anticipate he’s going to provide us with a quality setup right-hander that we felt that at times we were missing last year.”

When Lou Piniella became manager of the Mariners in 1993, he made Nelson a mainstay in the team’s bullpen.

Nelson’s wealthy after earning $3.3 million in 2001 and 2002, $4 million in 2003 and $1.8 million last season. He has four daughters who share the family house in Issaquah, near Seattle.

But he’s still wants to compete. That desire got him into trouble with the Mariners front office in 2003.

When the Mariners made no moves at the trade deadline as that season slipped away, Nelson summoned reporters to his locker and ripped into the front office. The Mariners took exception and sent him back to the Yankees shortly thereafter.

Before he re-signed with the Mariners in January, Nelson had to swallow his pride and apologize to Mariners chairman and chief executive Howard Lincoln.

Reporters have loved Nelson in the past for his bluntness. He said they won’t get the same candor from him now because he’s gone corporate.

“Obviously, sometimes you stick your foot in your mouth,” he said. “Sometimes you say the wrong things because you want to win so bad. … Of course, you learn from it.”