Starting pitching Mariners’ big need
SEATTLE – If the past six months felt like a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl of high expectation and bitter disappointment for the Seattle Mariners, then get ready for the next six months.
The Mariners need starting pitching. Will they find a way to trade for Twins ace Johan Santana and sign him to a longterm deal?
The Mariners need to retain Jose Guillen. But will they give him the multi-year contact he’s seeking or decide an outfield of Adam Jones, Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez is sufficient?
The Mariners need Richie Sexson to come out of his funk, especially at the plate. But would they be better off trading him to another team, even if it means keeping most of his $14 million salary for 2008?
Between now and the 2008 season opener, the Mariners will work to tweak a roster that delivered 88 victories this year, 10 more than the previous year, but showed its weaknesses in several long losing streaks, including a 2-for-17 stretch late in the season.
“Everybody realizes now that this is a team that can win and contend,” said closer J.J. Putz, whose 40 saves and 1.38 ERA anchored a solid young bullpen. “Two years in a row, you can take one little stretch in our season when things didn’t go our way. Hopefully, we can learn from those things and we’ll be in contention right to the last day.
“I think we’re really close. One or two guys away.”
Who are those guys?
Starting pitchers, primarily.
With Jeff Weaver and Horacio Ramirez unlikely to return, Seattle is expected to explore all avenues – looking within the organization, at free agents and exploring trades – to replace them.
The biggest name on trade lists is Santana, the Twins left-hander who was 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA.
Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi, who told reporters last week that Jones and catching prospect Jeff Clement won’t be traded, might loosen his grip on those two if the right player could be had.
“If something blew us away, we would,” Bavasi said.
Santana would blow them away. The Mariners, though, would need assurance that they could sign Santana, who’ll be a free agent after the 2008 season, to a longterm contract.
The free-agent field isn’t full of enticing possibilities – Shawn Chacon, Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon, Carlos Silva and Josh Fogg are among those who may be available.
If last off-season proved anything, it’s that free agency can be a bigger gamble than, say, the Mariners landing Weaver for more than $8 million.
The Giants gave Barry Zito $126 million for seven years and got a 10-13 record in return. The Dodgers gave Jason Schmidt three years and $47 million but got a 1-4 record and a pitcher with season-ending shoulder surgery. The Red Sox are paying $52 million over six years for Daisuke Matsuzaka, who went 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA, but they also forked over $56 million just to negotiate with the Japanese star.
Brandon Morrow, the hard-throwing rookie who starred in the Mariners’ bullpen, will get every opportunity to fill one of the rotation spots. He’ll pitch winter ball this off-season and must refine his splitter, slider and changeup to become an effective starter.
Cha Seung Baek, who pitched well when he was healthy, also will compete for a starting job at spring training, as will Ryan Feierabend, who struggled, and Ryan Rowland-Smith, who pitched well in relief.
Two positions, right field and first base, will determine a lot in how the Mariners look in the field next year.
If the Mariners don’t re-sign Guillen, Jones will slide smoothly into the outfield vacancy. If they do re-sign Guillen and make Jones a starter, it will force them to move Ibanez either to first base, DH or, they shudder to think, elsewhere.
None of them is an ideal option for a hitter who gave them 21 home runs and 105 RBIs.
Even if first base opens up by moving Sexson, the Mariners still have Ben Broussard and Mike Morse (who is out of minor league options) who could make an enticing platoon.
Jose Vidro, while not the prototypical RBI-producing DH, batted .314 and brought the kind of hitting approach that works in spacious Safeco Field. He’s also an option at first base, although one key to his success this year was the opportunity to stay off his oft-injured legs as the DH.
“Raul had a solid year for us and he’s still a very productive major league player. Vidro had a solid year for us,” manager John McLaren said. “We have some tough decisions. We’ve got to figure out what will happen with Guillen, and things will start happening from there.”
Aside from the holes to fill, the Mariners firmly believe they’ve accomplished one of the biggest hurdles in becoming a contender in the American League West.
They now believe they can win it.
“Now we look around the room and see the guys we have here, we believe we can contend,” Putz said. “Having that attitude going into the first game of the season next year is going to be huge.”
That, and some pitching, can make a difference.