Marlins Manager Leyland Not Content As A Contender

Although his Florida Marlins are considered a top-notch contender, Jim Leyland wants his players to know that’s not good enough.

“We have a lot of good players,” he said Friday after telling them what he expected. “The question is, do we have a good team?”

On paper, it would certainly appear that they do. No one knows that better than Leyland, who left Pittsburgh after 11 seasons when his early successes gave way to an austerity program that made the Pirates non-contenders the last several years.

“I’m not a rocket scientist, but I know what the expectations are in South Florida,” Leyland said. “I expect us to have a real good year. That’s why I came here.”

Among the other new faces are hard-hitting free agents Bobby Bonilla and Moises Alou, and pitcher Alex Fernandez.

The Marlins already had some outstanding players in Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson and Edgar Renteria, and an outstanding 1-2 punch on the mound with Kevin Brown and Al Leiter.

Martinez throws for M’s

Dennis Martinez threw for the first time as a member of the Seattle Mariners, spending more than 15 minutes in the Seattle bullpen in a workout at Peoria, Ariz.

Afterward, the 42-year-old right-hander said he had come close to retirement after the Florida Marlins decided not to sign him - but a telephone call from Lou Piniella helped bring him to the Mariners.

“He said if I wanted to pitch another one, two years, this was the perfect place,” Martinez said. “A great offense, a great defense, a team with the chance to go all the way. The feeling in this clubhouse is good, I can tell after one day. I think this team will win with or without me, but I’d rather be part of it. If I don’t make it, I’ll go home with no resentment.”

Justice expects to be traded

Returning from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for all but 40 games last year, David Justice responded to rumors, saying he no longer feels the Atlanta Braves are his team and expects to be traded, relieving an outfield logjam.

“I still love all the dudes I came up with and all the guys I’ve been shaking hands with (since arriving in camp),” he said. “But I’m just concentrating on getting myself ready to play. Forget being a spokesman and being the one to get the guys all pumped up and ready to go. That’s not my job anymore.”

Fight resumes for Japanese hurler

Baseball’s ruling executive council will meet Thursday in Chicago and receive the report from the committee investigating what to do with Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu.

San Diego reached an agreement last month with the Chiba Lotte Marines, the 27-year-old right-hander’s team in Japan’s Pacific League, for what the Padres say are exclusive negotiating rights. That has been contested by the New York Yankees and the Major League Baseball Players Association, who say Irabu should be a free agent.

If Irabu doesn’t sign with the Padres before the end of that period and doesn’t sign with a Japanese team, the major leagues would then consider him a free agent, a source said.

Short time on top

Albert Belle had the distinction of being baseball’s highest-paid player for only three months. Although he fell to No. 2 when Barry Bonds got a two-year, $22.9 million extension from the San Francisco Giants, Belle says he doesn’t mind.

The extension gave Bonds an average annual salary of $11.45 million. Belle’s five-year, $55 million contract signed last November with Chicago averages $11 million.

Fluke injury sidelines Morandini

Second baseman Mickey Morandini became Philadelphia’s first spring training casualty when a ball broke his nose.

Morandini was leaning on the aluminum framing of a batting cage watching when a foul tip off Mike Lieberthal’s bat went straight back into the mesh at the back of the cage.

Bad foot doesn’t affect Wells’ arm

Pitcher David Wells worked out after missing four days because of gout. The left-hander threw on a bullpen mound for about 10 minutes.

“I was very pleased with what I saw,” Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said. “He threw the ball well and had no signs of anything bothering him. He didn’t favor the foot at all.”

Gout is an inflammation of the joints, caused by an excess of uric acid in the blood.