Either Way, M’S Will Pay Good Or Bad, Pitching Exacts High Price

In the market for mischief, Randy Johnson cranes his considerable neck into the office of Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella, where several writers have convened.

“How’s the starting rotation look, Lou?” asks the Big Role-Playing Unit.

“Randy’ll go on opening day,” answers Piniella, warming to the joke, “and then we’ll have Randy on the fifth day of the season and Randy again on the 11th. And we’ll pray for rain.”

“I can hit, too,” Johnson says, as minor-league chuckles grow into major-league laughs, “but it’ll cost you extra.”

Better a fool to make you merry than experience to make you sad. Somebody said that.

Somebody familar with the M’s and their pitching, perhaps.

Piniella’s fourth spring with the Mariners draws to a close this week and much has changed since the first one. It is now a franchise with marquee names - Johnson, Griffey, Buhner, Martinez, Piniella himself - all signed to multi-year contracts. A manager and general manager on the same page. Ownership with both commitment and vision, and a town turned on by the results.

Now, if Lou could only come up with a fourth starter - to say nothing of a fifth, a left-hander for middle relief and the cure for whatever ails Robert Joseph Ayala.

Patching up the pitching has become the annual agenda at Camp Piniella - nothing radically different, really, than what’s going on throughout Arizona and Florida. Pitching has pretty much sunk to poverty level throughout baseball.

The Mariners became the poster children for the affliction last fall, when Johnson trudged out of the dugout seemingly every other day to keep Seattle’s fairy tale on track toward happily ever after. That the M’s had one of baseball’s more reliable middle relief corps and the resurrection of tough-guy closer Norm Charlton often got lost in the legend-making, but the obvious truth was Seattle had but one starting pitcher it could count on.

Exactly as many as the M’s have now.

Yet Piniella has more than once this spring called this “the best staff we’ve had since I got here.”

“My first spring here, we had to give jobs away on the pitching staff,” said Piniella. “We’ve had to give jobs away every year I’ve been here.”

Frankly, he will have to give jobs away again.

With Chris Bosio’s return from off-season knee surgery slowed because of recurring pain and newcomer Paul Menhart hobbled by a knot in his calf, 40 percent of Piniella’s projected starting rotation is in limbo. Remaining are Johnson, rookie Bob Wolcott and two youngsters acquired in trades, Sterling Hitchcock and Edwin Hurtado.

So today’s exhibition game against the Giants in Scottsdale may be the most important of the spring. Bosio will work for the first time in 20 days, on a 50-pitch limit. Menhart is scheduled to get three or four innings either today or Monday.

If Bosio comes out of it with no ill-effects, he could be Seattle’s No. 5 starter April 13, and Menhart could retake the No. 4 spot from Hurtado, his former Toronto teammate.

If not, well, can you say Salomon Torres and a cast of thousands?

Actually, the M’s starters have been marginally better than the bullpen this spring - not surprising since the two top middle relievers, Jeff Nelson and Bill Risley, were traded over the winter. As a team, Seattle’s spring ERA is a puffy 6.02 - the worst in baseball - and those runs are coming in bunches.

“We’re giving up too many big innings,” Piniella acknowledged, “and that’s where you lose games. Too many walks, too many pitches. Your starters don’t get deep enough into games and you burn up your bullpen.”

So for all the good ink middlemen have been getting lately, the trick is not to have to use them too often. That’s not the only reason Johnson (average start: 7-1/3 innings) is the Big Unit and Bosio (average start: 5-1/3 innings) isn’t, but it’s among the most pertinent.

Piniella’s problem is that behind those two - presuming Bosio recovers enough to be factor - it’s all theory:

Wolcott was the hero of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, but he has exactly eight games of big-league experience.

“He wasn’t overwhelmed in the big game, so he shouldn’t be overwhelmed now,” said Piniella. “As long as he throws strikes and keeps that same poise, he’s the kind of guy who can give us six or seven innings every time out.”

Hitchcock, the big get in the Tino Martinez deal, started 27 games for the Yankees in 1995 (11-10, 4.70 ERA). But some scouts consider the 24-year-old lefty a No. 4 starter - with the ego of a No. 1, though pitching in New York can cause anyone to be misunderstood.

“I expect to be much more comfortable here,” Hitchock said. “I couldn’t say that about New York. There’s a lot to be said for stability and being able to relax and not have to look over your shoulder all the time - knowing I’ll get the ball every fifth day.”

And right-handers Menhart (1-4, 4.92 in nine starts) and Hurtado (5-2, 5.45 in 10) were considered expendable by the Blue Jays, who envision Risley as a closer.

“If they pitch well, then the trade’s a bargain,” said Piniella.

They’re a bargain anyway. Neither will make more than $150,000 this season.

And certainly, they seem to be the key to whether the M’s stand pat or whether Piniella starts goading general manager Woody Woodward into action.

Menhart was one of the Blue Jays’ prize prospects until he tore a ligament in his elbow pitching in winter ball. He underwent Tommy John surgery and sat out the 1994 season, and - aside from a great August - struggled mightily in ‘95.

“I guess you could say I was pitching scared,” said Menhart. “I think I’m over that now. I’m challenging hitters more and I feel more confident out there.”

Hurtado is even less of a known quantity - an absolute horse (39-5) for four seasons in the low minors before being rushed to Toronto last year.

“I was surprised we got traded,” Hurtado said. “I never thought they would trade me, but you always think that. The good thing is to know that Seattle wanted us.”

Wanted they are, but not necessarily as is. Both Menhart (47 walks, 50 strikeouts in ‘95) and Hurtado (40 and 33) must show improved control before they’ll truly gain Piniella’s trust.

If they ever do. Already Piniella is dropping hints about acquiring another starter, and already Woodward is saying the money isn’t there for a quality pitcher.

A pitching staff that will give you peace of mind? It’ll cost you extra.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Mariners rotation Potential starting rotation for 1996 Seattle Mariners, with 1995 statistics. (Note: Bosio will probably start season on the disabled list, hence six names) W-L ERA IP H BB SO Randy Johnson 18-2 2.48 214 159 65 294 Chris Bosio 10-8 4.92 170 211 69 85 Sterling Hitchcock 11-10 4.70 168 155 68 121 Bob Wolcott 3-2 4.42 36 43 14 19 Paul Menhart 1-4 4.92 78 72 47 50 Edwin Hurtado 5-2 5.45 77 81 40 33 Hitchcock’s statistics with New York Yankees; Menhart and Hurtado with Toronto Blue Jays