M’s unlikely to sign stars for ’09

By Geoff Baker | Seattle Times • Published September 05, 2008

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Forget about the Mariners loading up on free agents next season and going for it all.

Those days are over, at least for the time being, says team president Chuck Armstrong. Already saddled with expensive contracts owed Carlos Silva and Kenji Johjima, the Mariners will almost certainly pass on big-ticket free agents like Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia and fill most of their 2009 needs from within.

Armstrong said Thursday that the team’s major goal is to rebuild through "a comprehensive plan" and that any general-manager candidate will have to present one to him in applying for the job.

"If I have my way, the plan will be that we’re not going to make a splash in 2009," Armstrong said of new financial commitments. "We want the ability to contend on a continuing, year-by-year-by-year basis."

Such an approach signals a radical departure for the Mariners, who have added big free agents continuously in keeping their payroll near or above $100 million the past several seasons. This year, with a payroll nearing $118 million, the Mariners are trying to avoid being the first major-league team to spend nine figures while losing 100 games.

Besides signing Silva to a four-year, $48 million contract last winter, then extending Johjima by three years, $24 million in April, the Mariners also traded away five players for starting pitcher Erik Bedard on the eve of spring training. Armstrong insisted the team’s executive branch has learned plenty from this trying season and will try to avoid falling into a similar trap the next time.

"I’m not ready to concede anything," he said of next year’s chances for contention. "But my main thing is, we’re not going to put all of our chips on ’Red 79.’ We’re not going to put all our chips on 2009, because we put all of our chips on 2008 and it didn’t work out."

What that means is that any contending the Mariners might do next season will come from the bulk of the players already here. Any new additions would come from minor signings and trades, though future deals will have to be "value" swaps that help the team beyond just next season.