They won't win 116 games again, but that's O.K. -- they've got bigger things in mind

By Tom Verducci

The Mariners are high on Sierra, though the itinerant 36-year-old hasn't played 100 games in the outfield since the 1993 season.  Brad Mangin ENEMY LINES An opposing team's scout sizes up the Mariners "There's no way Jamie Moyer can keep winning 20 games. One pitch is 79 mph, the next is 83 mph. You just can't fool guys forever. ... James Baldwin will not give the Mariners what they're looking for. Last year he changed his arm angle, and he tried to compensate for his lack of arm strength with guts. He has a lot of guts, but it's not enough. He used to throw 94, 95 mph with a good breaking ball. I don't think he can do it anymore. ... It'll be interesting to see how clubs pitch Ichiro [Suzuki] after watching tapes all winter. I would bust him in where he can't do anything except pull the ball foul, then pitch him away. He jail-breaks on his swing, so if you bust him inside, how's he gonna handle a two-seamer away from a righty? That said, the guy is a magician. If he hits a two- or three-bouncer to short, the guy might as well put the ball in his pocket. ... I can't see Bret Boone having that kind of year again, but he's still one of the best. I'd take him over Craig Biggio in every area. He turns the DP as well as anyone except Fernando Viña , and he's hard-nosed. ... Jeff Cirillo is a nice upgrade over David Bell at third. Cirillo's automatic: a .300 average, 80-90 RBIs and 15 homers. If he drops to .299, he'll go home, beat his dog and swing in the backyard until his hands are rough. He's a pro's pro. ... Ben Davis is not a catcher that pitchers enjoy throwing to. They say he's not too smart. ... I love Mike Cameron . He's a throwback. He'll never put up Griffey-type numbers, but he's become his equal as an outfielder, and his attitude is 1,000 times better."

For a man once ticketed for Cooperstown, Ruben Sierra has a baseball passport stamped with exotic locales not exactly on the recommended path to upstate New York. He has ventured to Mexico, Atlantic City, Joe Torre's doghouse (pop. 1) and 11 teams in three countries in the past eight years (including the A's, where then manager Tony La Russa pronounced him the village idiot). At 36 Sierra has more mileage than the Maddencruiser. So, naturally, the professional itinerant was bound to wind up at what passes for the Shoney's truck stop of the majors: leftfield for the Seattle Mariners.

Seattle has used six Opening Day leftfielders in the past six years, only one of whom (Mark McLemore) remains in the organization. Last year the Mariners tried Al Martin, who fancied himself a former USC football star and a decent hitter. He was neither. (He pulled an O'Leary with his bogus college claim and pulled almost nothing at the plate, hitting .240 with seven homers.) Now G.M. Pat Gillick is convinced that he's found another Ichiro Suzuki or Bret Boone -- your basic huge breakout hitter.

Sierra did smash 23 homers in only 344 at bats for Texas last year while hitting .291. He also showed a quiet industriousness that had been missing when La Russa questioned his common sense in 1995, and when Torre said he was the only player who did not fit into the unselfish Yankees clubhouse in '96. (Sierra infamously rebuked the Bronx Bombers by scoffing, "All they care about is winning.") The man who drove in 109 runs at age 21, was an MVP runner-up at 23 and the game's second-highest-paid player at 26, found himself working a $3,000-a-month Atlantic City gig in '99 (with the Atlantic League's Surf) and playing in the Mexican League in 2000.

"He's turned his act around," Gillick says. "Before we signed him, I called [former Texas G.M.] Doug Melvin, and he said he was a real good influence there. It was all positive."

Sierra hasn't played 100 games in the outfield since he was 27, but the addition of him; third baseman Jeff Cirillo, a career .311 hitter; and catcher Ben Davis, who can supplement the light bat of Dan Wilson, prompted manager Lou Piniella to say, "We should have a better offense than last year," when Seattle led the majors with 927 runs. Gillick added that Suzuki, whose 242 hits were the most in 71 years, "will be even better this year," now that he knows the pitchers and the league.

Starting pitching is a concern. Jamie Moyer (92-41) has been Pedro-like since 1996 (Martinez is 97-38). Freddy Garcia's 2572Ú3 innings last year, including the postseason, were by far a career high. Seattle needs help from Paul Abbott, who had the majors' best run support last year (7.15 per game); James Baldwin (4.98 career ERA) and youngsters Gil Meche and Joel Piñeiro.

The Mariners won't repeat their record 116 wins, but history suggests they'll return to the postseason. Of the nine teams that played .700 baseball before the 2001 Mariners, the 1909-10 Pirates took the worst fall, a 22% decline, to 86 wins. Even if Seattle took a similar tumble, it would still win 90 games. Forty-five teams have won 90 games since the wild card was instituted, in '95; only three missed the playoffs.

"Sooner or later you have to break the door down," says Piniella, whose team has lost two straight ALCS's. "We know anything short of the World Series will be a disappointment." The World Series? Now that's exotic. The Mariners, and even that walking Frommer's guide they're putting in leftfield, have never been there.

Issue date: March 25, 2002