SEATTLE Average Mariners could use a boost

GM Pat Gillick can bolster his team by making a key trade down the stretch.
By LARRY STONE
THE SEATTLE TIMES
SEATTLE -- A few years ago, Pat Gillick recalled a conversation he had with Paul Molitor about the impact of one his most significant trades.
Late in the 1992 season, Gillick -- then general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays -- acquired ace David Cone from the Mets. To that point, the Blue Jays were a team knocking on the door of the World Series, but they couldn't quite bust in, losing out in the playoffs in '85, '89 and '91.
But with Cone pitching well down the stretch and in the postseason, the Blue Jays finally got into the World Series in '92 -- and won it, beating the Braves in six games.
Molitor's Brewers were a contender that year in the American League's Eastern Division, but he told Gillick years later what a demoralizing blow it was when the Blue Jays acquired Cone. Milwaukee won 92 games but still lost the division by four to Toronto.
"He said it really deflated them," Gillick recalled in 2000. "They couldn't believe we got Cone."
Making a statement
As this year's trade deadline approaches, Gillick needs to remember the moral of that story. He needs to factor in the bounce archrival Oakland has received from recent stretch-drive blockbusters.
He needs to recall the comment of Paul Beeston, former Blue Jays team president, who once told me, admiringly, "Pat would always make a trade to put us over the top, and he was making a statement. You're telling the team, 'We [the front office] are trying, too.' "
The players aren't the only group that sometimes needs to receive that message. The fans do, too. Especially fans who have paid increasingly hefty prices to fill Safeco Field. Attendance is down 200,000 this year, but that's relative. The Mariners are coming off a record attendance year (3.5 million) and should have no problem surpassing 3 million fans for the fourth consecutive year.
Granted, the Mariners are taking a huge hit in revenue-sharing payments this year, which under the new labor agreement increased by $11 million, to a staggering $31 million. But that's the byproduct of their financial success. Last year, the Mariners claimed a $10.7 million profit.
More than money
The Mariners, under the watch of Howard Lincoln, chairman and chief executive officer, cling zealously to their budgets, which is good business. But it's not such good business to leave fans with the impression they are unwilling to pay the price for a championship-caliber club, which Lincoln has done, rightly or wrongly, with various comments about the sanctity of the bottom line.
In business, perception is reality. The Mariners, in the next few weeks, have a golden opportunity to change that perception. More important, however, they have an opportunity to give the team a boost heading into the stretch drive.
In three years at Seattle's helm, Gillick has yet to make an impactful stretch-drive deal, such as the ones in Toronto that netted the likes of Mookie Wilson, Mike Flanagan, Rickey Henderson and Cone.
In 2000, with the M's needing an offensive boost, Gillick went hard after Juan Gonzalez, then with Detroit, and thought he had reached a deal, reportedly for John Halama and two minor-league pitchers. But Detroit pulled out at the last minute.
The Mariners instead settled upon San Diego outfielder Al Martin. The cost wasn't high -- little-used John Mabry and minor-league pitcher Tom Davey -- but Martin contributed minimally and saddled the Mariners with his $5 million contract the following season.
In 2001, en route to their record-tying 116 victories and running away with the division, the Mariners made the justifiable decision to make no changes. Gillick wisely decided to hold on to his most marketable player, pitcher Joel Pineiro, nixing a reported deal for Detroit outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
Last year, despite manager Lou Piniella stumping hard for a trade to add offense, the M's again failed to make a significant deal. They were reported to have flirted with Jose Cruz Jr., Milton Bradley and Paul Byrd, but in the end settled for light-impact additions Ismael Valdes, Jose Offerman and Doug Creek.
Need a boost
There is little doubt this year's Mariners, to avoid another post-All Star nosedive, could use a boost, psychologically as well as talent-wise. They could use one more power bat at the infield corners or left field. If Kazu Sasaki's recovery sidetracks, they could use one more short reliever. They could use a second left-hander in the bullpen.
Unlike last year, when the bulk of their top minor-league prospects were injured, the Mariners have the trading chips that teams covet -- lots and lots of quality young pitching. It's agonizing to give up a prospect that might burn you down the road, but most GMs will tell you that when you have a chance to win a World Series, you seize it.
Players are already beginning to whisper in the clubhouse about the need to bring in some new blood. Reliever Jeff Nelson, asked recently if the team needs a second left-handed reliever, said, "I think we need one, if we have any thoughts of making the playoffs, and going further. . . . It's just an idea of what they're going to do, or if they're willing to do it."
That is the burning question in this town. The team, and its fans, are waiting to see the answer.