Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
When: 4:15 p.m.
Television: KSTW (Ch. 11)
Radio: KOMO, 1000
Probable starters: Seattle right-hander Ryan Franklin (3-10, 5.12) vs. right-hander Dewon Brazelton (4-3, 2.89).
Players love Piniella
Trying to respond to any question Thursday proved a problem for Lou Piniella – Seattle Mariners players kept interrupting him with a hug.
After 10 years in Seattle, Piniella is in his second season managing the Devil Rays, and a team that has never won as many as 70 games began the night 51-56.
Or 12 games better than the Mariners.
“When you have a team that has a great run, it’s hard not to fall in love with the players,” Piniella said. “All teams go through it, and I think Seattle did. With their resources, I think they can be right back in two years.
“Everyone has a run like that, then has to reload – except the Yankees. If they get old or get injured they just bring in more players.”
Piniella, who played and managed with New York, has seen more than enough of the powerhouses in his American League East. Tampa is a much-improved team with a $22 million payroll. That’s $100 million less than Boston’s – and at least $170 million less than New York’s.
“If we could jump up to $45 million, we could contend for the wild card spot,” Piniella said. “We couldn’t this year, and I think next season we’re jumping to $28 million.”
Piniella managed Mariners like Bret Boone, Edgar Martinez, Dan Wilson, Jamie Moyer, Ryan Franklin, Willie Bloomquist and Ichiro Suzuki, and each found a way to spend a little pre-game time with him.
And this season, Piniella has his own Seattle East connection – ex-Mariners coaches John McLaren, Lee Elia and Matt Sinatro and former Mariners players Tino Martinez, John Halama and Jose Cruz Jr.
Was Piniella stunned by Seattle’s struggles this season? According to both men, he told then-incoming manager Bob Melvin two years ago that the Mariners roster had grown old and needed refreshing.
“It’s hard to move players who have done the job for you,” Piniella said. “The Mariners are no different than most teams, that way. You see a lot of players who stay with a team one year too long, and you don’t see nearly as many who leave a year too soon.”
As for the AL East race and his improved team, Piniella was no less candid.
“We play hard, we got at it the right way and we’ve played most teams pretty well,” he said. “Then we play New York or Boston and they kick our butts. To beat them, we have to have the stars aligned just right and play perfectly.”
Larry LaRue, The News Tribune
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