After low-cost makeover, Mariners find their mojo
Cano-led team enjoys under-theradar rise to relevancy
JOE NICHOLSON, USA TODAY SPORTS “We just want to go game by game and go low profile,” says the Mariners’ Leonys Martin, above.
The Seattle Mariners have had a profusion of star power this last quarter-century, but the problem is they’ve had no real team to go along with it, not since their glorious 116-win season of 2001.
It was last time the Mariners reached the playoffs — now the longest drought in baseball.
Today, after a winter in which they didn’t make a single sexy move, overhauling their roster with minor trades and inexpensive free agent signings, the Mariners finally have an honest-to-goodness team, and this time with staying power.
It’s no fluke that the Mariners are sitting just a half-game out of first place in the American League West, hoping no one notices until the playoffs begin in October.
“Nobody even thinks about the Mariners, but we like that,” center fielder Leonys Martin told USA TODAY Sports. “We don’t want anybody to talk about us.
We don’t want anybody to say we’re going to win the division. We just want to go game by game and go low profile.
“Maybe at the end of the year they can talk about us, but not now. Really, we like it this way.”
You walk into the Mariners clubhouse these days, and it’s as if your GPS accidentally directed you to fraternity row. A pool table was just set up in the middle of the clubhouse. There’s a basketball hoop, fully adjustable, on the far end, purchased for $35 on Amazon by pitcher Wade Miley. And there’s a virtual custom tailor shop on the near side, where Robinson Cano had three designer suits shipped in from New York for dazzling shortstop Ketel Marte.
“He looks so good on the field,” said Cano, who’s having an MVPcaliber season. “We need him to look good off the field, too.”
The Mariners, 21-16 after being swept by the Los Angeles Angels last weekend, have lurked in first place later than in any other season since 2002.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had,” Miley said. Ever? “Well, since I was 12,” he says. “OK, maybe college. But this has been great. ... We’ve got a nice big ballpark where I can just throw the ball and not really worry about having to get ground balls. I love this place.
“We’re just going out playing the game, having fun and winning. And we’re so far away that nobody even notices.”
This is a team that has only eight holdovers from a year ago, with new general manager Jerry Dipoto making sure not to tinker with the structure but remodeling and refurbishing everything else.
“I learned there really is no such thing as rebuilding in the major leagues,” said Dipoto, who was hired three months after his July resignation from the Angels after having a falling-out with manager Mike Scioscia and staff. “You can rebuild organizations, but you’re here to win at the bigleague level. We wanted to rebuild and replenish our player de- velopment system, but when you have Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez and Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz, why would you ever rebuild?
“We had a good core. We just needed to go out and get the players that we felt could accent it. The ownership gave us freedom to be pretty creative and make a lot of changes. Most importantly, we wanted to have the conga line mentality where we had guys that can run deep at-bats, that can get on base, and, once we got on base, have an element of speed. We wanted a strong bullpen. And depth in our rotation.”
Dipoto brought in eight relievers, including Steve Cishek, who lost his closer’s job with the Mi- ami Marlins a year ago but is tied for the AL lead with 11 saves. They traded for starters Nate Karns and Miley. Catchers Chris Iannetta and Steve Clevenger are new. So are first basemen Adam Lind and Dae-Ho Lee and left fielder Nori Aoki.
Dipoto turned over the new assemblage to Scott Servais, who had no coaching or managerial experience but was secure enough to defer to veteran leaders Cano, Hernandez, Cruz and Seager.
Even when the Mariners struggled early, losing five games in a row on their first homestand, it was the players who called a meeting, reminding each other to relax.
“Scott has done a great job with us,” says Hernandez, the staff ace who ranks seventh in the AL with a 2.47 ERA. “That’s what we’re doing, just being ourselves. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve ever felt this good about our team.”
The Mariners, preaching onbase percentage at spacious Safeco Field, are averaging the fourthmost runs in the AL, after finishing last in the major leagues a year ago. They rank second in home runs and third in slugging percentage.
They are getting terrific pitching, ranking third in the league with a 3.37 ERA.
And they are playing solid defense, with Marte and Cano forming a dazzling double-play combo and Martin chasing down everything between the foul lines in center field.
They also happen to have rejuvenated Cano, who had offseason double hernia surgery and is resurrecting memories of his glory days with the New York Yankees, hitting 12 home runs and leading the majors with 34 RBI.
“I’ve seen him a lot over the years,” said Lind, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, “and this might be the best I’ve seen him look. It’s been amazing.”
The Mariners drew 117,000 for their weekend series against the Angels. And despite losing their first series since April 13, they think they’ll be having more fun this summer beyond simply counting down the days to Ken Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame induction.
“It’s been so long since we’ve been part of the postseason, but that can’t be the center of the dartboard,” Dipoto said. “You have to focus on a culture, a winning culture, and that’s what we’re building.
“We never thought we would run away from the crowd when we built this team — maybe more in the mid-80s-win range — but I don’t see any reason why we won’t be a contender all season and have a real chance to win this division.
“I’m not a scientist, but momentum is real. And that’s what we’ve got going here.”
Shhh, just don’t tell anybody.
“We had a good core. We just needed to go out and get the players that we felt could accent it.” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, on the team’s offseason moves