Questions Confront Mariners But Optimism Also Runs High Heading Into Spring Training
No team in baseball will open spring training next week more convinced of its improvement - or more concerned about unanswered questions - than the Seattle Mariners.
Blessed with one of the most potent offensive lineups in baseball last season, the Mariners lost the American League West by 4-1/2 games because of a pitching staff that allowed more runs than any in franchise history, nearly 5.5 a game.
Sixteen pitchers started games for Seattle last year, backed by an offense that set club single-season records for batting average, runs scored, doubles, home runs and RBIs.
That patchwork rotation finished the season 56-52.
“Our first priority this off-season was to retool the rotation,” manager Lou Piniella said, “and we did that.”
Without giving up the core of a lineup that included five All-Stars last season - Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez and Dan Wilson - the Mariners acquired starters Jeff Fassero and Scott Sanders, then re-signed free agent Jamie Moyer.
So on paper, Seattle opens camp Friday with perhaps the best rotation in club history: Randy Johnson, Fassero, Sanders, Moyer and either Salomon Torres or Bob Wolcott.
Yet no one associated with the team is overconfident.
There are simply too many questions that won’t be answered during the first days or weeks of camp to be certain this team will challenge for the postseason or wobble toward its April 1 opening night date in the Kingdome with the New York Yankees.
Those questions:
Can the Big Unit pitch? Coming off back surgery that some felt was unnecessary most of the team’s medical staff advised rest and exercise Johnson is a former Cy Young Award winner coming off a season in which injuries limited him to eight starts.
Can he dominate hitters again? Not only don’t the Mariners know, they say that should he be pain-free all spring there is no way of knowing whether his back will hold up to the more than 250 innings a staff ace will be asked to provide.
Can Norm Charlton close? The left-hander, whose six-week run at the end of the ‘95 season pushed Seattle into the playoffs, had a club-leading 20 saves in 25 save situations last year, appeared in a career-high 70 games - and rode a roller-coaster season to a 4.04 ERA.
Can Charlton consistently dominate the ninth inning? Seattle has no answer. And no solid alternative.
Who will set up the ninth inning? In the best-case scenario, Mariners starters will take a game into the sixth and seventh innings regularly, and Charlton will be there to close tight games. But who holds the game in check between the starter and the closer?
Mike Jackson is in Cleveland, and the only experienced setup man in the bullpen is Bobby Ayala - who has been a question mark for three consecutive springs. If Ayala can’t do that job, the Mariners will have to rely on pitchers new to the role: Rafael Carmona, Greg McCarthy, Rusty Meacham and Bob Wells.
Don’t be surprised if the Mariners pick up a veteran reliever late in the spring as teams cut down their rosters.
Who’s on third? When the position players report, the job will belong to Russ Davis. Opening night? That’s another question entirely. Davis hit .234 before shattering an ankle last June, then still wasn’t ready to test his left leg in winter ball.
The Mariners aren’t certain what kind of player Davis is, nor whether he’s completely recovered. It would be no surprise if another player coming off a major injury - Mike Blowers and his surgically repaired knee - wins the third-base job. If neither does, the alternatives become Andy Sheets and Chris Sabo.
Who’s in left? It won’t be Mark Whiten, who ended the ‘96 season there. Nor Darren Bragg, who opened the ‘96 season there. Since 1989, Griffey has played alongside more than 60 Mariners left fielders, and that list could grow beginning opening night if rookie Jose Cruz Jr. makes the team.
Cruz is a longshot this spring, but could win the job. If he doesn’t, Seattle will likely platoon veterans Rich Amaral and Lee Tinsley.
Can Griffey stay healthy? In the prime of his career, coming off another monster season, the only question Griffey seems to face from critics is whether he’s injury prone at age 27.
Despite a broken bone in his right hand last season - an injury that left him unable to feel the bat at times - Griffey set club records with 49 home runs and 140 RBIs in 140 games. If he stays healthy, and cuts down on his occasional pursuit of bad pitches, Piniella says Griffey can win the triple crown.
What now, Mr. Rodriguez? All Alex Rodriguez did as a 21-year-old last season was post perhaps the biggest offensive season of any shortstop in major league history. But how does a 22-year-old improve on a year in which he batted .358 with 36 home runs and 123 RBIs, while setting club records for hits (215) and doubles (54)?
If he hits .310 with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs, he still may have the best numbers of any shortstop in the league - and be accused of failing.
As the M’s open their 20th spring, the front office believes the team is the best ever assembled in Seattle. And yet everyone associated with the franchise, when asked if this is a team capable of getting to the World Series, begins the answer with the word “If … “
Friday in Arizona, the Mariners must begin erasing the if’s, and start answering questions that will determine the outcome of the ‘97 season.