M’s fill lefty need in bullpen with Villone

Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 9, 2004

Veteran left-handed pitcher Ron Villone was deep into another offseason with his bags packed and nowhere to go when something caught his attention a few weeks ago.

Kazuhiro Sasaki had decided to go back to Japan, opening a big hole in the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen.

“As soon as that happened, I think my eyes widened a little bit,” Villone said.

On Monday, he filled that opening by agreeing to a one-year contract with the Mariners. The deal brings Villone back to the club that drafted him in the first round in 1992, and into a relief role the M’s have been desperate to fill.

With Sasaki gone and left-hander Eddie Guardado replacing him in the closer’s role, the Mariners’ two-year search for a second lefty in the bullpen became a must-sign situation.

The Mariners zeroed in on Villone, a 34-year-old veteran of nine seasons and eight different teams, because of his experience and versatility. He started 19 games last year with the Houston Astros, but said he’ll gladly accept any role with the M’s.

“I’m pretty versatile,” he said. “I’m ready to do whatever it takes to help this team and be a little piece of the puzzle. I can start; that’s one of my strengths. But being in the bullpen is second nature to me because I did that at least half of my career.”

It’s been a much-traveled career.

Villone made his major league debut in1995 with the Mariners before they traded him to San Diego in exchange for Andy Benes. He also has pitched for Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Colorado, Pittsburgh and Houston.

“Just traveling around with a suitcase,” he said. “I’m sort of used to it. It would be weird if I had to stay someplace a couple of years.”

He has done that just once, with the Reds in 1998 and 1999.

Villone went 6-4 with a 4.13 earned run average last year in Houston. Overall, he’s 39-43 with a career 4.91 ERA.

He’s not necessarily a specialist against left-handed hitters – with Houston last year, he had a 5.67 ERA and allowed 27 hits in 27 – but he posted a 3.62 ERA against righties, and the Mariners don’t expect to use him that way.

“He gives us flexibility in any situation we want to use him,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. “That’s not just to say we’re going to use him against left-handers. We feel good we can bring him in at any time.

“This is a guy who has a lot of experience. He can pitch in a long role, pitch in a shorter role, and he gives us some security because he can pitch as a starter as well.”

Monday’s signing filled the final spot on the Mariners’ 40-man major league roster entering spring training and all but settled the last remaining uncertainty on the 25-man regular-season roster.

“You’d hate to say that everything is set because you want to have competition,” Melvin said.

Before they landed Villone, the Mariners were prepared to look seriously at seven pitchers during spring training for the second lefty job in the bullpen. That group features five minor league invitees, including veteran Mike Myers.

That competition may be dead if Villone pitches well in relief and doesn’t yield to his desire to be a starter.

“Obviously, I want the chance to start in one sense,” he said. “But I’d rather go to a team who needs somebody to fill a role and who has a chance to win.”