Seattle Mariners

When lefthander Jeff Fassero was with the Expos last season, he lost 11 games in which the anemic Montreal offense produced a total of 20 runs. So it's no wonder that Fassero thought he'd died and gone to heaven when he was traded to the Mariners on Oct. 30. After all, Seattle scored 993 runs last year, more than any other team, and averaged 6.2 runs per game. "It's like going from riding on a go-kart to driving a stock car," Fassero says. "This lineup is a pitcher's dream."

Acquiring Fassero became the Mariners' primary goal following a season in which they learned a difficult lesson: When you own a Big Unit, you better have some Big Unit insurance. Seattle ace Randy Johnson made just eight starts before succumbing to a bulging disk and having back surgery that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Without Johnson, who was 5-0 and had 85 strikeouts in his brief 1996 stint, the Mariners wound up using 16 other pitchers as starters, and the staff combined for a 5.21 ERA, the worst in club history. Even all those brawny bats couldn't take Seattle (86-76) back to the playoffs.

With Johnson's pitching career up in the air, the Mariners needed a durable starter like Fassero, who last season threw more complete games (five) than the Seattle staff (four). He also had a career-high 15 wins and 222 strikeouts, with just 55 walks and a 3.30 ERA, in 34 starts. "He keeps the ball down, has great movement and throws strikes," says Mariners manager Lou Piniella. "We figured that was a formula to win in any league."

In addition to Fassero, Seattle has three other starters—lefthander Jamie Moyer and righthanders Scott Sanders and Dennis Martinez—who were not with the team last spring. The veteran rotation has 50 years of major league experience, compared with the 10 years the 1996 Opening Day rotation had. Piniella, who formerly managed the Yankees and the Reds, believes this is the best staff he has taken into a season.

The Mariners are hoping that the Fassero deal turns out as well as the trade they made with Montreal eight years ago. In that transaction Seattle dealt lefthander Mark Langston to the Expos for three pitchers, righthanders Brian Holman and Gene Harris and a 6'10" lefty who at the time had an 0-4 record and a 6.67 ERA—Johnson.

After seven minor league seasons in whistle-stops like Johnson City, Springfield and Canton- Akron, Fassero reached the majors at age 28. "Then when I got to Montreal, it was tough because I realized that the Expos couldn't afford to make the moves necessary to put us over the top," Fassero says. "The Mariners have shown they will do whatever they can to get us into the World Series."

Fassero can point to himself as evidence. Mariners brass insists it was a fluke that the Fassero deal was announced on the day New York City held a ticker-tape parade to honor the World Series champion Yankees. "Oh, no, we weren't trying to rain on Mr. Steinbrenner's parade," says Seattle general manager Woody Woodward, "but we do hope that a guy like Fassero might help us get our own parade."

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