Seattle, WA (Best E Casino) - Seattle Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez was offered salary arbitration by the team prior to Monday night's midnight (et) deadline.

"With the deadline tonight, offering Raul arbitration keeps all of our options open," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "We can continue our conversations with any, or all, of our free agents but, by rule, we had to offer Raul arbitration by today to guarantee we could receive draft-pick compensation if he ends up signing elsewhere."

Seattle chose not to offer arbitration to its other two eligible free agent players, utility men Willie Bloomquist and Miguel Cairo.

Ibanez played all 162 games with Seattle last season. He hit .293 with 43 doubles, 23 home runs and 110 RBI.

Ibanez has until the conclusion of Sunday to accept the offer. The Mariners will receive two extra draft picks next year if Ibanez should sign with another team.