Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Open secret: Pitching is M's biggest need
Bullpen in better shape than starters

By DAVID ANDRIESEN
P-I REPORTER

The Mariners' top priority this winter isn't exactly a mystery.

"I think it's obvious," manager Mike Hargrove said. "My recommendation
would be to look for pitching. I don't think I'm revealing any deep,
dark secret there."

Even the hitters want pitching.

"If you look at the teams in the playoffs, their pitching is pretty
solid," first baseman Richie Sexson said. "I think if we solidify our
rotation with an arm or two, we'll be right there."

Looking back at the season, however, it's clear that some good things
happened in the Mariners' pitching ranks. If nothing else, the
struggles and injuries allowed the organization to evaluate its
inventory.

Any list of the good from 2006 has to start with J.J. Putz. He was
thrust into the job of major league closer, with the additional burden
of sharing the clubhouse with the mentor whose job he had just taken.
He succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, converting 36 of 42 save
opportunities.

Despite not taking over until May, and pitching for a team that lost
more games than it won, Putz had the fourth-most saves in franchise
history (Kazuhiro Sasaki has the top three marks). Putz led American
League relievers with 104 strikeouts and struck out all three batters
he faced in Sunday's season finale.

"Probably the most pleasant thing that's come out of this season
pitching-wise is the fact that J.J. has really stepped up and taken the
closer's role over," Hargrove said. "That is one of the most difficult
positions to fill, because it's so rare that a person has both the
stuff and the mental capacity to deal with that. J.J. obviously does,
and he had a great mentor in Eddie Guardado."

The setup role vacated by Putz was left in good hands. Limited to 13
big league appearances between 2004 and 2005 due to elbow problems that
required ligament replacement surgery, Rafael Soriano was better than
ever, posting a 2.25 ERA in 53 appearances. Mark Lowe was the find of
the year, rocketing up from Double-A ball. He was unscored upon in his
first 13 appearances and pitched a club-record 17 2/3 scoreless innings
before being sidelined by elbow tendinitis.

"Mark Lowe has been a real pleasant surprise," Hargrove said. "He gives
you a power arm coming out of the bullpen to go along with another
power arm in Soriano, so that's been good."

Middle relief also was solid. Julio Mateo was behind early due to
leaving spring training after the death of his brother, but finished
strong once he got into shape (at least up to the point he dropped a
weight on his hand and broke it). Lefty George Sherrill solidified
himself as a big leaguer, and Jake Woods was capable in the long role.
Sean Green and Emiliano Fruto also showed they can figure into the
team's big league plans.

Among the players added late, the one who likely earned a job for next
year is Jon Huber, who was stellar in 16 appearances (10 hits in 16 2/3
innings, 1.08 ERA). If Soriano is to receive serious consideration for
a spot in the starting rotation, as is his wish, Huber gives the team a
promising option for replacing him in the setup role.

"Huber came in and pitched real well. He's done a terrific job,"
pitching coach Rafael Chaves said. "I think if we can bring all these
guys back and they are healthy, we will have a strong bullpen."

In the rotation, Gil Meche and Joel Pineiro were looking to solidify
their futures here, and neither did.

Meche (11-8, 4.48 ERA) was good enough to assure that he'll cash in
with a depleted free agent market this winter, but probably wasn't good
enough to convince the Mariners, who know him best, to pay the freight.
Pineiro had his worst season (8-13, 6.36) and pitched his way out of
the rotation. He was better out of the bullpen, but his contract makes
him impossible to bring back even if the Mariners thought they could
salvage him -- he's arbitration-eligible, and rules dictate his $6.3
million salary can't decrease more than 20 percent in arbitration.

With Jamie Moyer having fled to theoretically greener pastures (though
don't bet the farm against his return), only Felix Hernandez and Jarrod
Washburn are under contract for 2007.

Hernandez's potential is clear, and many were hopeful the 20-year-old
would turn into a 20-game winner this year. Instead, the Mariners got
flashes of his brilliance combined with evidence of his youth, as he
tantalized by appearing to get it figured out only to fall back. He
finished strong, however, and led the team with 12 wins. There's no
reason to believe he won't keep getting better.

Washburn, in the first year of a four-year, $37.5 million contract, was
better than his numbers (8-14, 4.67) but clearly not what the team was
hoping it would get.

"I think him being in a new place, a lot of times when a player changes
scenarios and goes to a different place, they try to prove themselves
and maybe try too hard," Chaves said. "I wouldn't exempt him from being
one of those cases. He wanted to prove to people that he was worthy of
the money that he got, and he was trying real hard. It's tough to blame
him for that."

Cha Seung Baek made a strong case for being included in the rotation
for next year, going 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in six starts. His season
ended early because of arm fatigue, but the team expects him to be
fine.

Serious injuries were avoided, and all the pitchers should be ready to
go next spring.

"One of my biggest goals was to stay healthy, and for the most part the
injuries we had were freak injuries and not throwing injuries," Chaves
said. "That's with the exception of Lowe, which was pretty
disappointing, because he was pitching so good. Green had the pulled
muscle, but after that, knocking on wood, we haven't had any major
injuries. I'm pleased about that."