EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

1. Seattle Mariners

They're trying on a new look made for their new park -- and trying to forget Junior

By Tom Verducci

Offense Defense Starting Pitching Bullpen Manager 1999 Record 79-83 (third in AL West) Batting Order LF Brian L. Hunter 3B Carlos Guillen SS Alex Rodriguez DH Edgar Martinez 1B John Olerud LF Jay Buhner CF Mike Cameron 2B David Bell C Dan Wilson Bench OF Mark McLemore C Tom Lampkin IF John Mabry OF Raul Ibanez Starters LH Jamie Moyer RH Freddy Garcia RH Aaron Sele RH Gil Meche RH Brett Tomko Bullpen RH Jose Mesa RH Kazuhiro Sasaki LH Arthur Rhodes RH Paul Abbott LH Steve Sinclair LH John Halama Next Up... When agent Tony Attanasio heard 32-year-old Japanese righthander Kazuhiro Sasaki was looking for an agent to get him to the majors, he called Mets skipper Bobby Valentine, who once managed against him in Japan. Said Valentine, "If Mariano Rivera was available, would you get on the next plane? He's that good." Attanasio jetted to Japan and got his man. Now the Mariners, by shelling out $9.5 million over two years, have him. Sasaki, who throws a devastating split-fingered fastball, will be used at first as a setup man, but he has no intention of being No. 2 to Jose Mesa in the bullpen. "I want to close," says Sasaki. "That's what I am used to." The Book An opposing team's scout sizes up the Mariners: "I really like this team. It has good pitching, good speed and enough offense.... I like the Mariners' starters. Aaron Sele is solid. Freddy Garcia is a big, strong guy who knows how to win. Jamie Moyer gives you innings and wins. I think a new environment is going to help Brett Tomko, even though manager Lou Piniella isn't known for his patience with pitchers.... It's a big year for Piniella. I believe he has to win a lot of games to keep his job.... With Ken Griffey Jr. gone, this is now Alex Rodriguez's club. I think he's going to respond to being out from under Griffey's shadow.... Jay Buhner, who's finally healthy, looked terrific in the spring.... They still need an outfielder with pop, especially from the left side, to play leftfield. Brian Hunter hasn't gotten much better since he came into the big leagues. He's not the answer.... Mark McLemore and Stan Javier are good extra pieces to have around.... Kazuhiro Sasaki has a nasty splitter and could take the closer's job from Jose Mesa. He's been through the fire in Japan. He's used to pressure."

The Mariners had not opened a training camp without Ken Griffey Jr. since manager Dick Williams was wearing (thank goodness) the uniform. So it was a bizarre moment ripe with coincidence when the team dressed for its first full workout this spring that Junior, courtesy of a taped cable interview, appeared on the two clubhouse TVs in full view of everyone. That wasn't as odd as the Mariners' reactions: No one paid attention. Players tied their shoelaces, pounded their gloves and scratched themselves as if Griffey wasn't there. Which is precisely the point.

"Time will tell," lefthander Jamie Moyer says about how quickly the Mariners will get over trading their franchise player. "Obviously we'll miss his bat and his defense. But we've improved in other areas."

Olerud brings a solid bat to Seattle, but the team's makeover will feature less long ball and better pitching.Ronald C. Modra

Says shortstop Alex Rodriguez, "We've got 10, 11 new guys here, so we're still getting to know each other. If we had the same ball club back, it would be a lot harder to get over Junior not being here. These guys never played with him."

The Mariners' makeover began in the second half of last season. It wasn't just that Griffey, his thoughts often drifting to his future whereabouts, wasn't his usual dominating self. (Griffey hit .255 after the All\!Star break.) It was also that the move from the Kingdome to airy, spacious Safeco Field made for a different brand of baseball, like comparing Arena football to the NFL.

In 42 games at Safeco compared with the previous 39 at the Kingdome, runs, homers and doubles all dropped by more than 35%. The Mariners still led the league in home runs for a second straight season -- with bubkes to show for it again -- but learned they can't try to pound opponents with the long ball when they play half their games in a big park with cool, damp air. It's a stadium that favors pitching and defense.

"One of my first games there, I gave up a hit into the gap and thought, That's an easy double," Moyer says. "But unless you just crush the ball, it won't go through the gap. It was a single. I really saw the effect on our young pitchers. It's like they got to Safeco and relaxed. It showed."

Rookies pitched 43% of Seattle's innings last season. The best of them, righthander Freddy Garcia, won 17 games and could be even better with a full season outdoors. He was 6-4 with a 5.54 ERA in the Kingdome and 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA at Safeco.

Seattle has Garcia and righty Aaron Sele behind Moyer in the rotation -- all have won 17 games or more at one time in the majors -- as well as lefty John Halama and righties Brett Tomko and Gil Meche, who has all the tools, including a 97-mph heater, to be a No. 1 starter. "I love Freddy," Rodriguez says, "but Meche can be even better. Wow, his stuff is amazing."

In previous seasons Seattle likely would have rushed 6'10" lefthander Ryan Anderson to the big leagues. "Now we can let him pitch in the minors and call him when he's ready," manager Lou Piniella says of the 20-year-old, who was the team's top draft choice in 1997. That time could be in July.

New general manager Pat Gillick signed free agents Arthur Rhodes, a lefty, and Kazuhiro Sasaki, a righty, to fortify the bullpen. Righthander Jose Mesa, who is expected to lose his closer's job to Sasaki eventually, tied the franchise record last year with 33 saves, but in doing so he underscored the vapidity of the save stat: Only seven times did he hold a one-run lead.

The Mariners figure to be in more tight ball games this season, a result of losing Griffey and playing a full season at Safeco. Even with the free agent addition of first baseman John Olerud, Seattle will have to scrape so hard for runs that Piniella had each player laying down 50 bunts a day in spring training before taking batting practice. Outfielders Jay Buhner, Mike Cameron and Brian Hunter, all righthanded hitters, combined for more strikeouts (336) than hits (323) last season. No wonder Gillick spent the spring scouring other teams for a lefthanded-hitting outfielder.

"We've got a roster that's built around our new ballpark," Piniella says. "We're going to have to play for one run at a time. I used to have the third base coach hold runners at third because we didn't want to run ourselves out of a big inning. Now I say, 'Run, take your chances.'"

Lurking behind Seattle's optimism, though, is the quandary about what to do with Rodriguez, who has promised to test the free-agent market after the season. The Mariners could choose to trade him quickly and try to contend on the fly, the way the Dodgers did with Mike Piazza in May 1998; or they could trade him at the July 31 deadline if the team isn't playing well, as the team did with Randy Johnson in '98; or they could take a shot at the World Series by keeping him all year and losing him for draft picks, the way the Indians did with Albert Belle in '96. In any case it may not be long before Rodriguez, too, is just another image flickering on a TV screen in the Seattle clubhouse.

Issue date: March 27, 2000

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