M’S Pass Time Watching Other Teams Make Deals

On one of the busiest days of the off-season, the Seattle Mariners did what most major league fans did Monday watched with fascination as names and multimillion dollar contracts were scattered across baseball’s landscape.

The Mariners lost free agent first baseman Paul Sorrento to the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and lost at least two other players, Mike Blowers and Roberto Kelly, by not offering them arbitration.

And, according to general manager Woody Woodward, the team isn’t in position to add significant payroll to a club that has lost a handful of players since October.

David Segui, a free agent Seattle has offered a contract, was mulling over the multiyear deal - but the team isn’t close to anything else, including a trade of pitching ace Randy Johnson.

Still, a Mariners team that won the A.L. West last season now has lost Sorrento, Blowers, Kelly, Norm Charlton, Omar Olivares, Andy Sheets and Bob Wolcott.

Sorrento was the latest to leave and did so by accepting a two-year contract for $5.25 million that was, he said, $5.25 million higher than anything Seattle offered.

“We basically never got an offer,” Sorrento said. “Tampa contacted me the day I filed for free agency. A bunch of teams talked to me. I told the Mariners I’d come back for less, but the one time they talked numbers, it was at just about what I made last year.

Boggs joins Devil Rays

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed veteran third baseman Wade Boggs.

Financial terms of the one-year contract weren’t released, although ESPN reported that it is worth $500,000 and gives the team the option to extend it for the 1999 season.

The 39-year-old Boggs batted .292 with four home runs and 28 runs batted in for the New York Yankees in 1997. The five-time A.L. batting champion is 200 hits short of 3,000 for his career.

Eckersley signs with Boston

The Boston Red Sox have signed relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley to a one-year contract. The deal brings the 43-year-old right-hander back to Boston, where he was a starter from 1978-84.

Giants sign Hershiser

The San Francisco Giants signed free agent pitcher Orel Hershiser, a key part of the Cleveland Indians’ A.L. championship team. Details of the one-year contract with an option year were not available.

Rangers land Kelly, Alicea

The Texas Rangers and outfielder Roberto Kelly agreed to terms on a two-year, $4.05 million contract.

The Rangers also signed second baseman Luis Alicea to a two-year contract.

Kelly, 33, split the 1997 season between Minnesota and Seattle.

Phillies fire GM

Two months after saying he expected Lee Thomas to be with the team in spring training, Philadelphia Phillies president David Montgomery fired the team’s general manager.

Montgomery said Ed Wade, Thomas’ assistant, will become acting general manager with full responsibility for running the team’s baseball operations through the 1998 season.

Around the horn

The Chicago Cubs got a new shortstop, agreeing to an $8.4 million, two-year contract with Jeff Blauser, who had been with the Atlanta Braves since 1987… . The Oakland Athletics signed 14-year veteran Tom Candiotti to a two-year contract worth an estimated $3 million. Candiotti spent the last six years with the Los Angeles Dodgers…. Two months after he was fired as manager of the White Sox, Terry Bevington was hired to manage the Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs, Toronto’s top farm team…. Pitcher Jon Lieber and the Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a $3.5 million, two-year contract…. Free agent infielder Jack Howell agreed to a $1.05 million, twoyear contract with the Houston Astros…. The Detroit Tigers signed free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez to a two-year contract.