Injuries Are Quite a Test for Piniella

At 55, he’s not exactly the ancient Mariner, but Lou Piniella could be aging fast. The Seattle manager lost his shortstop and second baseman in the opening home stand of the season, has two rookies in a starting rotation that doesn’t inspire confidence and must choose from an inexperienced bullpen in which the fatal closer problem of the last two years has yet to be totally resolved.

A man of sometimes volatile emotions, Piniella was asked how he controls them while coping with the unsettled situation.

“There’s only so much a manager can do, I know that,” Piniella said at Edison Field, where his Mariners complete a series against the Angels tonight. “I have to stay positive, keep my sense of humor and keep the team playing hard. Just because we’ve had some adversity, we still expect to play well.”

Adversity hit hard. Shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who had 42 homers and 46 stolen bases last year, suffered an opening week knee injury that required surgery and will sideline him at least four weeks. Carlos Guillen moved from second base and promptly suffered a knee injury of his own, ending his rookie season.

Make no mistake, Piniella said, “it hurts. One of our big strengths was up the middle. With [catcher Dan] Wilson, Rodriguez, Guillen and [center fielder Ken] Griffey, we were as strong as any team in baseball at four vital positions. No team has the kind of depth [that compensates for the loss of a Rodriguez and Guillen].”

In addition to the defensive jolt, the absence of Rodriguez and Guillen from the top half of a still strong lineup deprives the Mariners of the ability to manufacture runs, Piniella said. “It’s been bang or nothing. We have to impress on our hitters the need to take what the pitcher gives you. The home runs will come.”

Until Rodriguez returns, the infield is what it is, but pitching is the long-term issue for a team that had 27 blown saves last year (when Randy Johnson was traded in midseason) and was yielding more than seven runs a game through Friday.

The Mariners need length and reliability from veterans Jeff Fassero, Jamie Moyer (both hit hard in early starts) and Butch Henry in a rotation that is counting on rookies Freddy Garcia and Brett Hinchcliffe.

They need free-agent acquisition Jose Mesa--in a bit of wishful thinking, perhaps--to regain his Cleveland closer form of 1995 and ’96 and for veteran Mark Leiter, who was acquired in trade from Philadelphia and has been on the disabled list because of shoulder tendinitis, to provide stability from an otherwise young bullpen.

“The Dodgers pay Kevin Brown $15 million a year,” Piniella said. “Our whole staff makes slightly more than $16 million.

“Hopefully, we’ll have three or four young pitchers do well enough that they can make a lot more money next year.”

In the meantime, Piniella said, the goal is to stay respectable in the division race until they sort out the pitching and get Rodriguez back.

As for that old volatility? It’s still there.

In Friday night’s loss to the Angels, Piniella was restrained from going into the stands after a heckling fan whose arm-waving challenges and pseudo display of courage may have quickly wilted if he hadn’t been separated from the Mariner manager by about 10 feet of concrete dugout.

There have been rumors of a Seattle trade with the New York Yankees involving Fassero and Hideki Irabu, but Mariner General Manager Woody Woodward said:

“I’m not trading Fassero and I don’t want Irabu. I’ve got enough problems.”