02/06/2006
SEATTLE -- The Mariners came into the 2005 season with a new manager, a rebuilt lineup, a pitching staff they liked, great prospects and high hopes to get back into contention in the American League West after a dismal 2004.
They spent on free agents Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, got a lot of good preseason press, and then watched it all unravel for the second year in a row.
Buried in the 93 losses of 2005 were plenty of questions: Why was the offense so stagnant? Where was the starting pitching everyone expected? When would they start putting some wins together with what appeared to be a talented group of players?
If you listen to manager Mike Hargrove, a veteran skipper who helped build the Cleveland Indians into a powerhouse in the 1990s, it was all about one factor: Consistency, and the Mariners' lack of it across the board.
"Certainly there are some things that we can do differently that we'll do differently, but there will be some things that we continue to do the same way, things that I believe in that had worked before and they will work again," Hargrove said. "We just have to be consistent with it and that's probably the biggest thing.
"Just be consistent in whatever we do, just be consistent from Day 1."
On the offensive side, the Mariners will look for Sexson to repeat an excellent 2005 (39 home runs, 121 RBIs), but they need Beltre to be better.
Beltre almost won the National League MVP Award in 2004 when he hit .334 with 48 homers and 121 RBIs, but last year was a difficult period of adjustment for the third baseman, who hit .255 with 19 homers and 87 RBIs.
New Mariners hitting coach Jeff Pentland said recently that he's convinced Beltre is not far from his 2004 form and just needs to be reminded how talented he is.
"It's mostly confidence," Pentland says. "From a technical standpoint, you look at last year's tape and compare it to the year he had with Dodgers, and there's not a lot of outstanding problems. He's close technically, with maybe a little tinkering or refining needed here and there."
The same could be said for Jeremy Reed, the center fielder who dazzled with his glove and disappointed with his bat (.254, three homers) in 2005, his first full big-league season.
Again, Pentland has reason to be confident that Reed, like Beltre, will turn it around. The two recently got together in Arizona to meet, get comfortable and get a jump on workouts.
"We spent a lot of time on communicating with one another, getting a feel for one another, and understanding that the best thing that happened for him in 2005 was that he got his first year in the big leagues under him," Pentland says.
If Beltre and Reed catch fire, Seattle's offense could be very surprising. The Mariners still have one of the game's best leadoff men in Ichiro Suzuki, a solid, dependable left fielder in Raul Ibanez, and they added some oomph by signing veteran designated hitter/outfielders Carl Everett and Matt Lawton.
Catcher Kenji Johjima, a Japanese import, was brought in on a three-year contract to solidify the backstop position, which had eroded into a seven-player, non-productive mess last year.
"We're real excited about this," general manager Bill Bavasi said of Johjima's signing. "This is a big change in a real important position on our club. We're going from a position of weakness behind the plate to one of strength."
Another strength should be the defense.
Even if he doesn't hit much, the Mariners love second-year shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt's range, arm and athleticism, and he showed a little bit of pop at the plate last year while hitting .256 in 211 at-bats. Mike Morse showed potential at the plate and figures to back him up.
The Mariners also like the upside of young infielder Jose Lopez, who probably will start at second.
Of course, nothing good will happen with the 2006 Mariners if they don't get improved pitching, another point of inconsistency that plagued the team last year. The bullpen, anchored by closer Eddie Guardado and a now-healthy Rafael Soriano, should be fine. The starters need to become a more cohesive unit.
Enter Jarrod Washburn, the left-hander from the Angels who finished fourth in the AL with a 3.20 ERA last year and fits into the No. 3 spot in the rotation as the second lefty behind ace Jamie Moyer.
Moyer, 42, went 10-0 at home last year and never seems to get old. Washburn should provide a step up from the unsuccessful Aaron Sele experiment in 2005, while 19-year-old Felix Hernandez stormed onto the scene as one of the most exciting rookie pitchers in the big leagues in years.
The Mariners will be careful to monitor Hernandez's pitch counts and innings, but his presence for a full year could be invaluable to the staff and to the Safeco Field faithful.
Meanwhile, Seattle needs to get a lot more from the other two projected members of the starting staff, Joel Pineiro and Gil Meche, both of whom are right-handed and occasionally as baffling with their inconsistency as they can be with their stuff.
Rafael Chaves, a longtime Minor League coach in the Mariners' system, has taken over the big-league pitching coach job, and he's eager to prove that he can get the best out of his longtime buddies Pineiro and Meche.
"We should all keep in mind that Joel has not been pitching healthy for the last two years, with the exception of the last month of last year, when he got his stuff back and looked like the old Joel Pineiro," Chaves said. "There's no doubt that he's going to have a good year this year."
As for Meche, Chaves has one main suggestion: Pick a routine and stick with it.
"I've seen it happen before where Gil needs to have that commitment with one thing and one thing only," Chaves said. "It's hard to find consistency when you're trying something new every week, and that's basically something he's done over the last few years. He needs to stop that."
Overall, the Mariners have plenty to do this spring to build that consistency and contend in an apparently improved AL West.
One thing that impresses Hargrove, however, is that the team has never been lacking in the effort department.
"I was encouraged by the fact that our ballclub showed up to play every day," Hargrove said when assessing 2005. "The main thing was the fact that we showed up every day and played hard.
"So I see nothing that [makes me] think we're not moving in the right direction. ... I'm encouraged by what we've got."
Source: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/