By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Last December, Mark McLemore wasn’t sure he wanted to play for the Seattle Mariners anymore.
The team had plucked Bret Boone out of the free agent market to play second base, the position McLemore had owned the previous season, and McLemore saw it as a sign of more bench time than he could handle. He reported to spring training a lost and angry soul.
“It was a little unsettling at the time,” remembered McLemore, who even suggested at spring training the team should trade him.
The last thing he could have imagined then was what happened Thursday.
McLemore, with an almost unbridled happiness about his role on the team as a player who can start in the outfield or infield, signed a two-year contract that will keep him in Seattle until he is 39 years old.
The deal is believed to be worth $6 million, but McLemore said he took less money to re-sign with the Mariners than he could have made elsewhere. He said several teams were interested, but he was never contacted by his hometown Texas Rangers.
“I definitely wanted to come back (to Seattle),” McLemore said Thursday from his home in Southlake, Texas. “I love it there. It was a great experience and I wanted to continue it. It’s not always about money. For me it’s about being wanted, being appreciated. That’s the way I’ve felt my two years in Seattle.”
Well, he didn’t feel so wanted a year ago.
When the team signed Boone last Dec. 22, it ended McLemore’s status as the everyday second baseman. He didn’t hide his unhappiness with the prospect of becoming a bench player, and it took manager Lou Piniella’s promise that he would play somewhere on a regular basis to keep McLemore satisfied.
In the end, McLemore fell in love with his role, even though it meant he might play the outfield one day and the infield the next.
He played 125 games, seventh most on the team, at six different positions and prospered with a .286 batting average, 57 RBI and a career-high 39 steals.
“I was an everyday player who played several positions,” he said. “Being called a utility player still doesn’t sit well with me. I played more games than some of the guys who had set positions.
“I’m playing and that’s all that matters. Wherever I was going to be at, my goal was to play. When I don’t play, then it will be time for me to go home.”
The question now is whether the Mariners will be able to utilize that versatility next season. If Boone doesn’t re-sign and the team doesn’t acquire anyone else to replace him, McLemore would become the regular second baseman.
“It would be nice to have some other pieces in place so Mark can be used to take advantage of his versatility, so we can rest guys and not lose a step,” assistant general manager Lee Pelekoudas said. “This gives us a lot of options. He was one of our priorities. Actually, he probably was THE priority because he covered us in a lot of areas.”
General manager Pat Gillick said Thursday that the Mariners aren’t any closer to bringing Boone back than they were when he rejected their reported offer of three years (plus an option) at about $23 million.
“We’ve made one proposal and that’s it,” Gillick said. “At this point, that’s going to be it.”
If it helps, McLemore said he would be glad to call Boone and lobby on the Mariners’ behalf.
“I’m going to recruit everybody who was there last year,” McLemore said. “I may even call (retired outfielder Stan) Javier and make him come back, too.”
McLemore said that among the lures back to Seattle was some unfinished personal business.
“A World Series championship. That’s personal,” he said. “You never know how many games you’re going to win. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to win a World Series. Arizona didn’t win 116 games but they won a World Series. I’d trade those 116 wins for that World Series ring and the trophy that they’re getting.”
Buhner decision: The Mariners had hoped to talk this week with Jay Buhner about his future, but the veteran outfielder is with his family in Texas.
“We’ll talk to Jay when he gets back,” Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said.
While there has been no official announcement, Buhner has made every indication that he will retire. The Herald reported last month that Buhner had told officials in the organization that he will retire.
Armstrong wouldn’t reveal the organization’s stance.
“We don’t discuss in the media what we’re going to talk with our players about,” he said.
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