Red-Hot Mariners Are One of Baseball 2000 Surprises

John Olerud had an inkling about these Mariners. Sure, they were being rebuilt and lost Ken Griffey. But the mastermind behind the new team is first-year general manager Pat Gillick.

All he’d done was win two World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992-93. Olerud has two rings to show for it.

‘He did a great job in Toronto,” said Olerud, the Mariners’ new first baseman. “We had a lot of success when he was there. There’s no reason we can’t have that kind of success in Seattle.”

A World Series for a team with two measly division titles in its previous 23 seasons in the American League?

Too soon to tell, of course, but if the Mariners keep it up, they could be playing deep into October as one of the biggest surprises of the 2000 season.

AL-West leading Seattle was 15 games over .500 after losing to the Angels in Anaheim on Thursday night, the best start in team history and second best record in the league behind the Chicago White SOX.

Many of the new faces have made key contributions. Gillick brought in free agents Arthur Rhodes, Aaron Sele, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Mark McLemore, Star Javier and Olerud.

And don’t forget about shortstop Alex Rodriguez, the league leader in runs scored, and 37-year-old designated hitter Edgar Martinez, who was leading the league in RBIs. Both were batting around .350.

‘Basically, it’s been our pitching, defense and team hitting,” said Gillick, who has a reputation for not revealing much.

Seattle also has solid ownership, a new CEO in Howard Lincoln, who isn’t afraid to spend money, and what the organization believes is the best ballpark in the majors, $517.6 million Safeco Field.

In one of his first big moves, Gillick salvaged something out of the Griffey debacle, trading the disgruntled center fielder to Cincinnati, which has struggled so far this season. The Mariners got center fielder Mike Cameron and pitcher Brett Tomko in return.

Gillick and Lincoln also turned another potential public relations disaster into a plus by deciding not to trade free-agent-to-be Rodriguez unless the team falls out of contention.

Rodriguez, the starting AL shortstop in the All-Star game on Tuesday, is expected to leave Seattle at the end of the season, but Mariners fans don’t seem to care as long as their team keeps winning.

The Mariners’ prospects of doing that, and staying in first place ahead of the Athletics, look promising.

‘We always felt Oakland was the ballclub we were going to have to beat,” Gillick said. “But if we can keep winning, we’re going to be OK.”

Seems that way, even with injuries to key players.

No. 1 pitcher Jamie Moyer is 5-2 after coming off a seven-week stint on the disabled list because of a strained shoulder muscle, and No. 2 pitcher Freddy Garcia was ready to return after being out since April with a broken leg.

The Mariners also were without No. 1 catcher Dan Wilson, who was on the disabled list with a pulled muscle, and backup catcher Tom Lampkin, lost for the season with a torn ligament in his throwing elbow, Journeyman catchers Joe Oliver and Robert Machado were filling in.

The starting pitching, even without Moyer and Garcia, has done the job two years after the staff lost Randy Johnson. Sele, the highest paid player on the Mariners at $7.5 million this season, started out 10-3.

The bullpen has done well, too. Sasaki has converted 17 of 19 saves as the closer, and Rhodes has given manager Lou Piniella the hard-throwing, veteran left-hander in the bullpen he didn’t have last season.

Rhodes was lured away from Baltimore with a $13-million, four-year contract. He had the best ERA on the team at 2.58 through Wednesday night.

‘It makes a big difference to have an Arthur Rhodes in your bullpen, a gigantic difference, Piniella said. “We can match up now. We couldn’t last year.”

The Mariners did have Griffey last year, but they couldn’t play .500 ball. This year they don’t have him and they have a chance to surpass the 1997 Mariners, who won a franchise-high 90 games.