By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – They haven’t started fitting James Baldwin with a uniform, but that may be one of the next steps as the Seattle Mariners get closer to making what could be their final offseason move.
Baldwin, the free agent right-handed pitcher who the Mariners have courted this winter, will undergo a physical exam on Monday. If Baldwin passes, the Mariners are expected to sign him to a one-year contract, possibly with a second option year, and stick him into the starting rotation.
After that, the Mariners will head into spring training content with an offseason in which they improved offensively and made some interesting changes in their pitching.
“We’re always going to be on the lookout for ways to get better,” assistant general manager Lee Pelekoudas said. “But if we get the pitcher done, there’s not a lot left for us to do. We would still like to have a left-handed reliever come into camp and see how he fits.”
The Mariners suffered a blow to the bullpen last week when an exam revealed a torn rotator cuff in Norm Charlton’s left shoulder. He is scheduled for surgery Monday and will miss the entire season.
“We’ve had calls from a lot of agents who have left-handed pitchers, but for a lot of reasons they don’t fit,” Pelekoudas said.
Otherwise, Pelekoudas said it has been a productive offseason.
“We improved the offense (with the acquisition of third baseman Jeff Cirillo and left fielder Ruben Sierra),” he said. “Plus we improved ourselves behind the plate with (Ben) Davis. That’s something we hadn’t planned on doing, but when the opportunity came up, we jumped on it.
“I think we’re right where we wanted to be.”
Ticket frenzy: Single-game tickets went on sale Saturday and the rush was immediate.
Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said the team sold about 39,000 tickets the first hour they went on sale, more than they sold the entire first day single-game tickets were available last year.
In addition, the Mariners’ lines were swamped with so many calls that their telephone system crashed for several minutes Saturday morning.
By day’s end, the Mariners had sold 100,446 tickets, a record for single-game tickets on the first day of sale. Last year the team sold about 52,000 tickets the first two days they were on sale.
More than 6,000 attended the first day of the annual FanFest on Saturday, topping last year’s single-day record of 5,500.
Better than 116? Paul Abbott doubts the 2002 Mariners have another 116 victories in them, but he’s sure of one thing about this team compared with last year:
“It’s hard to say we’re a better team after having a 116-win season, but I think we are,” Abbott said. “Our team was so well balanced last year and so internally strong. Everybody was on the same page, knowing their roles and playing those roles at such a high level that there was no way we could win 116 games without doing that.”
In an age when 90 victories constitute a great season, Abbott marvels at what the team accomplished last year.
“What’s amazing is that it was five more wins a month,” he said. “How to you find five more wins a month? You don’t. But still, there’s not a guy who wouldn’t trade the 116 wins for 90 if it means we can get to the World Series.”
Arbitration update: The trade on Friday that sent David Bell to the Giants also rid the Mariners of a pending arbitration case. They now have only two still unsettled, shortstop Carlos Guillen and Abbott.
“We’re moving,” Abbott said of his talks with the team. He has every hope of settling on a contract before the case goes before an arbitrator in February. “I’d like to think so.”
Play him anywhere: The Mariners acquired Desi Relaford as a backup infielder, but he’s capable of playing the outfield if needed.
Mariners third base coach Dave Myers, who managed Relaford for three seasons when the youngster was an M’s minor leaguer in the early 1990s, recalled being impressed with his athleticism all over the field.
“I think he can play the outfield if we ever need him to,” Myers said. “He was probably the best I’d seen at handling a ball in the air.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
