Seattle Exercises Its Option On Johnson For 1998

Most of the season, the Seattle Mariners knew they were going to have Randy Johnson back in 1998, but it wasn’t until Wednesday in Texas that the team exercised its option and made it official.

Johnson played it coy, hinting to reporters that he hadn’t known about the move until a Mariners public relations assistant director notified him in the clubhouse.

That wasn’t true.

“I think the team’s been talking to Randy and his agent about an extension for some time, and I don’t know the status of those talks,” manager Lou Piniella said, “but we all fully expected this to happen. No one has had any doubts about Randy’s back for quite a while.”

Technically, the Mariners’ contract option gave them until Oct. 31 to bring Johnson back next season at a $6 million salary - the last year of a deal signed four years ago.

“When Randy signed this contract, that was the high end of what the best starting pitchers were getting,” senior vice president Lee Pelekoudas said.

The decision to exercise the option came this week because, with the postseason looming, no one wanted the distraction of wondering whether Johnson would return.

As for a contract extension, the team declined to discuss whether talks were ongoing with the 34-yearold Johnson, who takes a 17-4 record and a 2.25 earned-run average to the mound tonight.

Notes

The first 15,037 strips of postseason tickets that went on sale at 8 a.m. Tuesday were sold 5-1/2 hours later. … The Rangers will start an all-right-handed-hitting lineup tonight against Johnson, something manager Johnny Oates said he hasn’t done all year.