SEATTLE (AP) -Through three miserable months, the woeful Mariners have fired their general manager, their manager, their hitting coach and their first baseman.
They have played 95 games, and won just 37 of them. Their top two starters and last year’s All-Star closer have all been on the disabled list, if not ineffective.
And with four days off for the All-Star break instead of the usual three, that means the worst team in the AL is guaranteed four days without a loss.
“It’s been a long first half. There’s been a lot of transition. It’s been really tough as a team,” said left fielder Raul Ibanez, the RBI leader of a team that thought it was going to the playoffs this year – but is 20 games out of first place.
“We’ve been through a lot this season. And now getting this first half behind us … is going to be huge.”
So huge, the players rushed to pack for their break Sunday as if they were late for the last flight out of Kansas City.
Earlier Sunday, interim manager Jim Riggleman held a team meeting, the umpteenth such session since this season began with high expectations. Riggleman, the promoted bench coach, pressed his players to play the game smarter. Don’t run into foolish outs. Move runners along the bases with productive at-bats, if not hits.
John McLaren gave the same preaching in vain before Seattle fired the likable players’ manager on June 19.
Interim GM Lee Pelekoudas said he fired McLaren to give the Mariners a different voice. But they are just 12-11 listening to Riggleman, the former manager of the Cubs and Padres who will be a candidate for the job for 2009 at season’s end.
“It’s hard to get too excited about that,” Riggleman said of his team being over .500 with him.
He knows Seattle has lost six of eight, hardly proof he has righted his wayward team.
“We’ve wasted a lot of good pitching,” he said.
Well, not a lot.
Most of it has come from Felix Hernandez, who will start Friday against Cleveland. The 22-year-old was sharp Friday in his first start since coming off the disabled list following a sprained ankle. Even with his injury, Hernandez has pre-All-Star game career highs of 101 strikeouts and 113 innings pitched. He is 4-1, with a 1.66 ERA over his last six games.
Hernandez has a 2.95 ERA in 17 starts, but poor run support has his record at 6-6.
Jarrod Washburn (4-8) has allowed 13 earned runs in his last seven starts, but has just two wins in that span. He is just 22-37 in 2 1/2 seasons since then-GM Bill Bavasi signed him to a $37 million, four-year contract. But Washburn’s recent improvement, and the fact he is left-handed, make the 33-year-old attractive to contenders in a possible trade.
Carlos Silva got $48 million from the Mariners as a free agent last winter. Despite allowing just two earned runs in each of his last two starts, Silva has won just once since April 17. He is 4-11, tied for the second-most losses in the major leagues.
Closer J.J. Putz missed most of April with a rib cage injury, came back to blow more saves and walk more batters than he did all last season, and is now back on the DL with an elbow injury. He is scheduled for a rehabilitation outing in Arizona on Tuesday and at Triple-A Tacoma on Friday.
Then there’s Erik Bedard, on the disabled list for the second time, with a tight shoulder. The ace of few words, wins and innings has just six victories in 15 starts. He has continually asked out of games early, frustrating an already miserable team.
Meanwhile, one of the five players Seattle traded to Baltimore in February for Bedard is in Tuesday night’s All-Star game. Left-hander George Sherrill is tied for second in the AL with 28 saves for the Orioles.
Bedard is tentatively scheduled to return July 22 against Boston, which would give him perhaps two starts before the July 31 trading deadline. The Mariners would move Bedard, who is signed through 2009 – but only for much needed top prospects.
McLaren said on his way out of town that infighting between pitchers and hitters over the lack of offense helped doomed this season.
No wonder the pitchers are mad. That offense has had fading Jose Vidro, the league’s weakest designated hitter, batting cleanup. Vidro and light-hitting Miguel Cairo have been playing first base since Seattle released Richie Sexson last week, swallowing the roughly $6 million remaining on his salary.
The only .300 hitter is Ichiro Suzuki, an All-Star for the eighth consecutive season. He has had to bat .397 over 16 games to go from .285 to .304.
Ibanez, who is reportedly being pursued by Arizona, says some veterans “possibly and probably” will be gone soon.
Not soon enough to save this lost season.
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AP Sports Writer Doug Tucker in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.
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