Ties that bind

EVERETT – When Seattle Mariner pitchers Joel Pineiro and Gil Meche were teammates with the Everett AquaSox in 1997, the two would talk about the day they would make it to the majors.

“That’s where those dreams started,” Pineiro said. “We would talk about four, five, six years from then and how we would be pitching in the big leagues together.

“Who knows, maybe if I hadn’t pitched there, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Pineiro and Meche are two of more than a dozen players who passed through Everett on their way to playing in Seattle since the teams began their affiliation in 1995. Now in the 10th year of their partnership with the Mariners, the AquaSox are taking the opportunity to celebrate and reflect upon what’s been a long and fruitful relationship.

“It’s been a great relationship,” Everett owner Mark Sperandio said. “It’s been a very successful one for both the Everett AquaSox and also for the Seattle Mariners.”

When Everett joined the short-season single-A Northwest League in 1984, it did so as an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and the franchise was known as the Giants. But in 1995, Everett switched its affiliation to the Mariners, turned a frog into a mascot and were born again as the AquaSox.

Ten seasons later, the relationship between the AquaSox and the Mariners is still going strong.

“We’ve had a great relationship,” Benny Looper, the Mariners’ vice president for player development and scouting, said. “There’s a lot of plusses about being there. They have great fans up there. And first and foremost is the ownership. Mark and his wife (Joan) are great to work with.”

But the partnership never would have happened if not for some timely interference from then-Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent, combined with a chance meeting between former AquaSox owner Bob Bavasi and a member of the Mariners’ new ownership group.

“Our affiliation started out with the Giants and we were very happy with them,” said Bavasi, who owned the AquaSox at the time of the affiliation switch. “Every five years the agreement between Major League Baseball and the minor leagues comes up, and for eons that was very easy. Well around that time the commissioner was Fay Vincent, and during negotiations he created a huge rift between the majors and the minors. One of the things he did was cut all the contracts in existence, so our deal with the Giants was cut.

“About that time the new ownership group came about with the Mariners,” Bavasi continued. “We got to know them, particularly Chris Larson, who we met one day when we had an overflow crowd and he was sitting on the grass behind the foul line with his parents.

“I thought that any major-league owner who would sit on the grass is OK with me. Since the commissioner decided to terminate the contracts, we decided we’d go with the Mariners. Otherwise (the AquaSox) would still be with the Giants today.”

It turns out the switch was the best thing that could have happened for the AquaSox, and Everett has reaped the benefits of being so geographically close to its major league parent.

“It’s been great for us,” Sperandio said. “What a natural marketing tie-in to say the future of the Mariners, the very first place they play, is right here in Everett. Each year you come out to see the team play there’s three or four guys on that team that are going to play Major League Baseball. The Mariners do a pretty good job of keeping the minor-league talent in the system, so there’s a great chance you’ll see them play at Safeco Field.

“The other part of the relationship that’s been great for us has been all the various rehab assignments that we’ve gotten since 1996,” Sperandio added. “The second year of our affiliation Randy Johnson pitched for us. In 2000 it was Dan Wilson and Freddy Garcia. In 2001 it was the Jay Buhner Express with three games in a row.

“It always seems like we get somebody on injury assignment and it’s great for the fans in Everett because they get to see a Mariner up close. And they’ve all been gracious guys. They’ve all given a lot of their time and effort while they were here in signing autographs and spending time with the fans. That’s something you really can’t do at Safeco Field.”

But the AquaSox aren’t the only ones who have benefitted from the relationship. The Mariners also gain advantages from having Everett as a minor-league affiliate.

“The location being so close to the people in the front office, it makes it easier for us to see the club,” Looper said. “It’s also easy to fly people in here. In some areas it’s harder to transport players because sometimes you need a player that night. Having a major airport nearby is a major advantage.

“The ownership group, the fans, the location, the location near a major airport, the ease with which the front office can see the team play – it’s all helped the relationship work out very well.”

The proximity also serves as added motivation for Everett’s players, who play a mere half-hour drive away from the big-league club.

“Often ballplayers, when we were the Giants, would never see where they were going to end up playing,” Bavasi said. “It’s interesting for the players from Everett to go – back then to the Kingdome, but now to Safeco Field – and meet the players and tour the facilities. It makes them feel more a part of the family.”

Sperandio has found that being affiliated with the Mariners organization has perks that aren’t necessarily shared by other teams in the Northwest League.

“When the league meets, all the owners sit around and we talk about our major-league affiliates,” Sperandio said. “People say, ‘The Mariners do that for you?’ They’re like, ‘Wow.’

“They buy sponsorship at the ballpark every year: billboards, season-ticket print adds, radio pieces,” Sperandio explained. “Why do they do that? They do that because it’s a gesture by saying, ‘Hey, we appreciate the relationship. You helped to develop our talent.’ It’s not uncommon to see a major-league team do that. It is uncommon to see it in that kind of dollar amount.”

In December, the AquaSox and Mariners signed a contract extension to continue their affiliation through the 2006 season. If it was left to Sperandio, their partnership would last a lot longer than that.

“I’d have to think from a business standpoint and just dealing with the people that I deal with, if that stays the same or the way they interact with their affiliates stay the same, I see no reason ever to leave the Mariners.”