Seattle Needs Rope To Avoid Drowning M’S Must Make A Deal While Griffey’s Wrist Heals

The night before the All-Star break, Lou Piniella sat in a noisy airport bar with a writer waiting for a flight.

Piniella was flying east. The writer was traveling west.

The conversation kept coming back to whether the Seattle Mariners manager could keep his team from heading south.

“If we get much further back than we are right now, we won’t be able to make it up in September,” Piniella said.

How far out of the American League West race can Seattle fall and still expect the return of Ken Griffey Jr. to matter? Piniella sipped a beverage, tried to block out the music.

“Five, six games, if we’re still last in the division,” Piniella said. “If you’re any further back, there’s too many teams to jump over - you’d have to sweep every series against the other division teams.”

For anyone believing the return of the fractured All-Star can save the ‘95 season, there are some hard facts.

The second half began Thursday with the first of Seattle’s remaining 75 games. Junior, out since May 26 with a shattered wrist, isn’t due back until late August or early September.

Without Griffey, the Mariners are 19-23. If that winning percentage (.452) held until Sept. 1, Seattle would be 55-62.

That won’t keep them close.

If Junior returned Sept. 1, the Mariners would have two games left on their schedule against the California Angels, three more against Oakland.

Simply put, if Seattle is dead last and more than a half dozen games out in September - and the Angels and A’s are ahead of them - the Mariners don’t have enough head-to-head meetings to bring down those teams.

Can the Mariners play the next seven weeks without Griffey and not lose ground to the pack? Without help, no.

The breakthrough first half of Tino Martinez, the re-emergence of former batting champion Edgar Martinez, the continued reign at the top by Randy Johnson and the marvelous pitching of three right-handed relief pitchers in the first half sent Seattle to the break one game less than 500.

Drop the stats of the Johnson, though, and Seattle’s starting rotation this year is 16-19 with a 6.19 ERA.

In the next few weeks, pennants will be out there to be bought. As teams fall out of their division races, good players with big salaries will become available.

The bad news is Seattle has shown no willingness to add payroll - and has no history of helpful, late-season acquisitions under Piniella.

In 1993, the Mariners were 51-54 on Aug. 1 and eight games out, then 66-66 on Sept. 1 and nine games behind the White Sox. General manager Woody Woodward was out of town on the trading deadline, and the best he could do for the September push that year was pick up one hitter - over-the-hill Larry Sheets, who batted .118.

Last year, the Mariners added one player after the All-Star break, pitcher Shawn Boskie. He pitched 2 innings, pulled a muscle, and was never seen in a Seattle uniform again.

So far this season, the Mariners have brought in a pair of journeyman pitchers - left-hander Bill Krueger and right-hander Bob Milacki - and kept them in Tacoma.

Piniella and his coaches have talked at length about needs. There hasn’t been a reliable left-handed reliever in the bullpen this season and isn’t one yet. There hasn’t been a win out of the fifth spot in the rotation - and few of them from the No. 4 spot, where Salomon Torres is the latest inhabitant and opens the second half 3-4 with a 5.62 ERA.

The offense needs another bat.

In the off-season, the Mariners added bench strength, signing reserve players like Doug Strange, Alex Diaz, Chad Kreuter and Gary Thurman, then gave jobs to rookies like Darren Bragg early in the year.

For every pleasant surprise - Joey Cora, for instance, hitting a solid .284 while platooning at second base - there have been disappointments. Mike Blowers is batting .226, Bragg .225, Felix Fermin .175. Dan Wilson has 15 RBIs, Luis Sojo 12, Rich Amaral 8.

Without Griffey, the Mariners have faced a steady diet of right-handed starting pitchers because the opposition knows Seattle has one left-handed threat - Tino Martinez.

Financially, the Mariners caught two breaks this month. They saved about $200,000 by trading Dave Fleming to Kansas City, and when Greg Hibbard underwent another season-ending surgery, the team’s insurance policy kicked in.

If this team is to have any chance for a meaningful September, it had better be prepared to spend that money.