updated 4:23 p.m. ET Dec. 20, 2007

SEATTLE - Pitcher Carlos Silva and the Seattle Mariners finalized a $48 million, four-year contract Thursday.

The 28-year-old right-hander was 13-14 last season for the Minnesota Twins with a 4.19 ERA — better than every Mariners starter other than hard-throwing Felix Hernandez.

Seattle likes that Silva pitches deep into games, generally stays low in the strike zone with a sharp sinker and walked just 36 batters in 202 innings last season.

He joins a Seattle rotation that includes Hernandez, Miguel Batista and Jarrod Washburn.

“We feel that signing Carlos addresses one of our main needs, adding a quality arm to the starting rotation,” general manager Bill Bavasi said. “Our goal heading into the offseason was to identify the best available pitcher on the free agent market and we feel we got the best one.”

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