PEORIA, Ariz. -- There was a noticeable lack of tension and a decidedly upbeat atmosphere in Mariners camp Wednesday. How can this be? The M's lost their third future Hall of Famer in three years, and this one, Alex Rodriguez, might be impossible to replace.
"A one-in-a-million player," says Seattle catcher Dan Wilson. How can a team be optimistic having lost 41 homers at shortstop?
"We've been through this before," Wilson says. "We've found ways to win before. We're just going to have to find more ways to win."
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We've been
through this before. We've found ways to win before. We're just going to have to find
more ways to
win. ” |
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— Dan Wilson, Mariners catcher |
Without Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr., the Mariners made it to the American League Championship Series last season. This year will be their biggest test, however, as they attempt to absorb the exit of the best player in the game.
"It's going to be very hard," says manager Lou Piniella. But unlike this time last spring, after Griffey had been dealt to Cincinnati, at least there is some closure. This is their team. They won't have to spend spring training, or all season, wondering if A-Rod is coming back.
"He's one of the greatest players ever," says utilityman Mark McLemore. "We'll have to adjust."
The Mariners will replace Rodriguez with Carlos Guillen, 25, who already has spent more days on the disabled list than some 35-year-olds. He might not hit and he might get hurt crossing the street in spring training, but we know this: he can play shortstop. He comes from a long line of Venezuelan shortstops, including Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Ozzie Guillen and Omar Vizquel. Defensively, Guillen is good, but he is not A-Rod, who is terrific, better than Derek Jeter, better than anyone in the AL except for the magnificent Vizquel.
Offensively, Guillen will be replacing perhaps the greatest hitting shortstop since Honus Wagner. Guillen has a total of eight homers and 50 RBI in his career; Rodriguez hit nine homers and drove in 29 runs last September and finished the season with 41 homers and 132 RBI. He joins Joe Cronin as the only shortstops in history to switch teams following a 100-RBI season. Cronin was traded from Washington to Boston in 1935 for Lyn Lary; Cronin, a Hall of Famer, had six seasons of 90+ RBI for the Red Sox, Lary didn't finish the season with Washington, then was traded again.
|  | | With Alex Rodriguez gone, the Mariners turn to Carlos Guillen to be their shortstop. |
The Mariners hope the move from Rodriguez to Guillen turns out better for them. If Guillen hits .260 with 50 RBI, that will be plenty. The Mariners will never make up Rodriguez's production, but they're trying.
New second baseman Bret Boone, who hit 19 homers last year for San Diego, reported to camp so big and so buffed, Piniella said "he looks like Tarzan." Boone should help offensively unless, with that long swing of his, he tries to hit the ball out of Safeco Field, the best pitcher's park in the league.
Without big power at first or third base, the Mariners infield may not hit as many homers this season as A-Rod himself. It's unlikely that they'll deal for Padres third baseman Phil Nevin as they're down on his defense.
The Mariners will get a boost from new right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, the best player in Japan, a speedster whom scouts say will hit .300 and steal 30 bases in his first season. Piniella calls Suzuki "a cross between Johnny Damon and Kenny Lofton," but another major-league manager says, "Oh, he's better than Kenny Lofton."
Suzuki will hit leadoff or second -- Piniella says he has considered hitting him third, but says that's "a stretch" -- and should energize the top of the order. Meanwhile, GM Pat Gillick will continue to search for another bat. But it's doubtful that the Mariners will do anything major before the end of spring training.
They will try to win with what they won with last year: pitching and defense. It's really the only way to win at spacious Safeco Field -- last season, the Mariners and their opponents hit .249 there, .286 on the road.
Seattle has quality pitching even without Gil Meche, who is expected to miss most of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Seattle's defense should be marvelous. Suzuki is not a polished outfielder, but he is well above average defensively and will have one of the best throwing arms in the league. Lenn Sakata, a former major leaguer who has scouted Japanese players for 10 years, says Suzuki throws like Dwight Evans.
The Mariners, however, will have to scrap for runs this year. "In the American League," says center fielder Mike Cameron, "you can't expect to win 2-1 and 3-2 all the time. You have to score runs."
Piniella says his team will run and bunt more often which, he says, "is what we started doing last year. We have to in our park. We're working a lot on the hit-and-run this spring."
Last year, the Mariners were the only team in baseball that didn't execute a successful squeeze bunt (until Carlos Guillen's bunt won the ALCS). Without A-Rod, the squeeze will be on.
ESPN The Magazine's Tim Kurkjian is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
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