Antsy, M’S Skipper Says Time Of Essence

Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella is getting antsy about baseball’s strike.

The striking Mariners players need to get into camp in order to get ready for the team’s April 3 opener on the road against Toronto, their manager said Friday.

While Piniella is trying to stay optimistic, he admits it’s getting harder each day. He’s hopeful a contract can be worked out next week when negotiations resume in Scottsdale, Ariz.

And if one isn’t?

“This is the most crucial week coming up of these negotiations,” Piniella said. “They’re either going to hammer out a deal in the next week or so or this thing here could really, really get nasty. Get ugly. And last a long time.”

How long?

“I’m not talking about another two or three weeks,” he said. “I’m talking about a long time into the season. That can pose a lot of problems, other problems that will be coming.”

The Mariners have 30 replacement players in their training camp. They’re scheduled to open their exhibition schedule here next Friday against the Chicago Cubs.

They’ll need some of their minor leaguers to play if they’re going to play all 31 of their scheduled exhibition games, Piniella said. They wind up their exhibition schedule against Milwaukee April 1 in Las Vegas, Nev.

“It’s important that we can use minor leaguers,” he said. “Without them, it would be difficult to play seven days a week.”

In his third season as Seattle’s manager, Piniella has tried to stay neutral in the players’ strike that began Aug. 12. It’s becoming more difficult, though, he said.

He’s told general manager Woody Woodward that if he’s going to ask one minor leaguer to play in the exhibitions, he should ask them all.

“Let the kids make up their minds, but ask everybody,” he said.

Emotionally, the strike has been hard for him. “I don’t like to complain about it because there’s nothing I can do,” he said. “But it’s not easy; it’s been a downer.”

Piniella isn’t sure about the quality of replacement baseball - if it comes to that.

“But it’s better to have what we’re having than nothing at all,” he said. “Now it’s up to the union and it’s up to the ownership to get this thing straightened out.”