Mariners camp report
PEORIA, Ariz. -- Five things to know about the Seattle Mariners:
1. The Mariners think they're in better shape than in recent springs because of their rotation depth. Jeff Weaver, Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez give the Mariners experience behind projected ace Felix Hernandez and veteran Jarrod Washburn. Not only that, but the presence of Weaver, Batista and Ramirez also gives the Mariners the luxury of allowing Cha Seung Baek and Jacob Woods to develop at their own pace. And left-hander Ryan Feierabend, 21, is right behind them. "He's going to catch and pass those guys," general manager Bill Bavasi says. "He's good. Real good."
2. While most of the free world remains focused on the over-hyped opt-out clause in Alex Rodriguez's contract, Ichiro Suzuki's four-year, $44 million deal is up after this season and is every bit as pressing. He led the AL in hits for a third time last season (a major-league high 224) and broke the 200-hit mark for a sixth time. Wee Willie Keeler owns the major league record with eight consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits, and Wade Boggs owns the AL record with seven. Ichiro also was successful on 40 consecutive stolen base attempts -- he wasn't caught after April 19.
3. A bloop and a blast: While Ichiro was atop the hit charts, Richie Sexson had a terrific season with the bases loaded, crashing a club-record five grand slams. He just missed the major-league record of six, set by Don Mattingly in 1987 and equaled by Cleveland's Travis Hafner in 2006. Meanwhile, catcher Kenji Johjima is fitting in nicely -- his 76 RBI was the second-highest total ever by an AL rookie. Detroit's Matt Nokes had 87 in 1987.
4. Biggest things the Mariners are looking to accomplish this spring? Build their bullpen and find a backup catcher who will produce. The Mariners are looking for power arms in bullpen, and Brandon Morrow is opening eyes quickly this spring. Backing up Johjima? Well, ah, right now the best bet might be if Jamie Burke wins the job -- he at least hit .333 in 57 games with the 2004 White Sox. The other guy, Rene Rivera, hit .152 in 35 games as Johjima's backup last season. "We can't afford to have the backup catcher be a zero at the plate like last year," Bavasi says. "We can't have Kenji catch six days and then come to the seventh day and get zero production."
5. Oakland, Oakland, Oakland. The Mariners last season went a stunning 2-17 against the Athletics. "If we played .500 against Oakland, look at what our record would have been," Bavasi says. "Hell, if we just played .300 against Oakland look at what our record would have been." With 19 games, the Mariners couldn't have finished .500, but even give them one game under, 9-10 against the Athletics, and they would have gone 85-77 instead of 78-84.
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