Goodbye Adrian, hello future

Mariners: Beltre declines arbitration, allowing Seattle to intensify free-agent pursuit

LARRY LARUE; The News Tribune | • Published December 08, 2009

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INDIANAPOLIS - The first day of the winter meetings was more than 16 hours old before the Seattle Mariners got the word they'd waited for since last week - whether third baseman Adrian Beltre was going to accept their offer of arbitration.

The decision, which Beltre and agent Scott Boras had seven days to make, wasn’t shared with the Mariners until 9 p.m. Monday, baseball’s deadline.

In the end, the man who’d played third for the last five years declined Seattle’s arbitration offer.

Talks with free agents, negotiations with other teams, a day of give-and-take by general manager Jack Zduriencik and his staff was in essence held hostage by Beltre, that decision.

“Adrian was a factor,” Zduriencik said.

Today, the Mariners will likely finalize and announce the signing of free agent third baseman Chone Figgins and continue their pursuit of others, such as right-handed pitcher Rich Harden.

On Monday, however, Seattle needed to know what Beltre was going to do before it could move much further on most fronts.

Reports originating here tied the Mariners to virtually all major free agents – Jason Bay, John Lackey, even Matt Holliday – and to even more mid-level players, like Miguel Olivo, Joel Piñeiro, Marlon Byrd, Hideki Matsui and Randy Wolf.

“It’s enjoyable seeing the team talked about with so many players,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “It tells you we’re active, and it tells you other teams are aware of us.”

Until they knew Beltre’s status, however, the Mariners couldn’t make an offer that would add salary.

“Everything you do impacts everything else,” Zduriencik said. “It’s like dominoes, you make a move and it effects all that follows.”

Beltre, who was paid $12.5 million in 2009, could have asked for – and perhaps gotten – the same salary for 2010 had he accepted, then won his arbitration case. The Mariners had to plan for that contingency.

After agreeing to sign Figgins to a four-year, $36 million deal, Seattle had a reported $15 million or so left to fill a number of holes. Had Beltre’s $12 million come out of that, there wouldn’t have been much left.

Not enough, certainly, for a big-ticket purchase like outfielder Bay or starting pitcher Lackey. And maybe not enough for someone like the 28-year-old Harden.

The Mariners touched base with most of the other 29 teams in the majors Monday, some more intense conversations than others. They chatted up free agents, from first baseman Nick Johnson to the agents for Harden and Erik Bedard.

Anything close to fruition?

“Possibly,” Zduriencik said. “We listened. We had creative discussions.”

Even with the addition of Figgins, the Mariners acknowledge there’s a lot to be done between now and spring training.

“Could I make out a starting lineup today as we sit here?” Wakamatsu asked, repeating a question. “No. Not really. Between now and spring training is an eternity, though.”

The addition of a player like Figgins, who led off for the Angels, could change that lineup considerably. Wakamatsu said moving Ichiro Suzuki from first to third in the batting order wasn’t out of the question.

Would Ichiro move if asked?

“I think Ichiro would do just about anything for the Seattle Mariners,” Wakamatsu said. “I think he proves that by the way he plays. Those are things that would have to be discussed with him in private first. And we’re not there yet. We may not be the same team when we leave Indianapolis.

“We almost certainly won’t be the same team when we leave spring training.”

Zduriencik inched a little further.

“We’ll know a lot more in 24 hours than we know tonight,” he said.

He said that about 8:30 p.m. Indianapolis time, when it would still be 31/2 hours before he heard what Beltre’s decision would be. Nothing may get done today, but the Mariners know this much.

Yes, it was Beltre’s right to wait until midnight. Lots of other players around baseball had the same right, and told their teams hours earlier.

Now the Mariners can get serious.

Felix update: As promised, Seattle sat down and talked with Alan Nero, the agent representing Felix Hernandez.

Nothing concrete happened. Neither side expected it to.

“The one thing I’d like to stress is that Felix is happy right now, with the team and his situation,” Nero said. “We had a good conversation and we’ll have others.”

Chasing Harden: The Mariners are one of a handful of teams in pursuit of free agent Harden, who went 9-9 with a 4.09 earned run average in 26 starts for the Chicago Cubs.

Former Seattle and current Cubs manager Lou Piniella was asked for a scouting report on the 28-year-old Harden.

“He’s not going to give you complete games, and you have to watch his pitch count,” Piniella said. “He throws a lot of pitches because he strikes out a lot of guys. They might swing at the first pitch he throws, but they don’t hit it.

“He pitched well for me. We shut him down in mid-September, and he was a little tired, but if we’d still been in the race he’d have pitched, believe me.”

Harden has battled injuries, but won when healthy, building a 50-29 career record with a 3.39 ERA.

Catching up with Sele: Aaron Sele is now a roving minor league pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and happy to be in the game after a career that took him through a handful of teams – including Seattle.

“I was never a bad quote, I never misled anyone with an answer that wasn’t true,” Sele said, “but I was boring. In a clubhouse you need a few guys who’ll fill your notebook up – and a bunch of guys who won’t. I was one of those guys who didn’t.”

In retrospect, Sele said, he was a better pitcher than he believed at the time.

“Looking back now,” the former North Kitsap High and Washington State star said, “every pitch I ever threw was a strike.”

Around the meetings

Rumors persist this time of year that former Mariners GM Pat Gillick will give up his job as a consultant for the Phillies and return to full-time work running a ball club. “I live in Seattle now and enjoy that,” Gillick said. “I love the Phillies, they’re just a first-class franchise, and I’ll probably finish my career with them. I suppose if the perfect situation came up I’d consider it, but I’m really happy where I’m at.” … The Mariners may not be in the chase for Lackey or Bay, but the Angels say they are. GM Tony Reagins said he found Bay “intriguing” and had already head “constructive” conversations with Lackey Oh, and the Angels say they’re still talking to Toronto about Roy Halladay. … Free agent infielder Adam Kennedy will have choices this winter. The Mets want him as a possible starter at second base – and three other teams reportedly have talked to the veteran about coming off the bench. … Baltimore is looking for pitching, and Texas is open to discussing a deal for veteran Kevin Millwood. … Carl Pavano wanted to test the free agent market and did, only to find it didn’t exist for him. So he agreed to arbitration with the Minnesota Twins. …Feeling frisky, the Rockies offered arbitration-eligible closer Huston Street a three-year, $24 million contract – and he said “no.” His counteroffer: three years, $30 million.