Mariners
Mariners might have pursued A-Rod

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

	DAVID KADLUBOWSKI / AP Even if the Mariners could have worked out a deal for Alex Rodriguez, he still would have had to waive his no-trade clause.
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PEORIA, Ariz. — Alex Rodriguez is in Yankees pinstripes. Let the Bronx cheers begin.

In a marriage built for booing, the player Seattle fans like least is with the team they love to hate.

Yet it might have been different.

The Mariners say they would have jumped in, spikes up, if they had known the Texas Rangers would be so generous in getting rid of the former Seattle shortstop.

Asked if Seattle would have gone after Rodriguez, Mariners president Chuck Armstrong called it "a no-brainer."

"It is a great deal for the Yankees," Armstrong said of last week's trade that sent Rodriguez to New York for Alfonso Soriano. "It's not even the $16 million a year everyone is talking about. When you back out the money they'd have paid Soriano ($5 million), it's $11 million this year and potentially less in other years when you take into account the money you'd be paying Soriano, since his salary might go up more than the money scheduled to go to Alex."

Then, Armstrong added, if you back out the money that was supposed to go to Drew Henson, who walked away from baseball, and the salary that Aaron Boone is expected to forfeit for getting hurt in a pickup basketball game, the Yankees' additional outlay to A-Rod is less than $2 million.

"For the best player in the game," Armstrong marveled. "I would think that if Boston had been able to work that deal, they'd have taken him for that.

"Like I said, if we had a chance at it, it's a no-brainer."

The deal is so sweet it passes the Lincoln litmus test.

"We offered him more than that, in terms of salary," said Seattle CEO Howard Lincoln of the short-circuited negotiations to keep Rodriguez after the 2000 season.

"If it had been a wider, more-open situation, I don't think it would have been just the Mariners to get involved," Lincoln said. "A lot of teams would be willing to step up to that."

Why didn't the Mariners try to work out a deal like that with the Rangers?

"We would have, but we had no idea Tom Hicks would take on that much money," Armstrong said of the Texas owner. "After seeing the Red Sox unable to work out a deal, we didn't think Hicks would want to pay that much. In fact, our reports were that he wasn't willing to take on that much money."

The other reason, uncertain but almost undoubted, is that A-Rod would not have given up his no-trade clause to return to the Pacific Northwest as he did to go to Gotham.

He left the Mariners in clouded circumstances. That created bad feelings, which in Safeco's jammed stands created boos every time Rodriguez went to the on-deck circle the past three years.

How did it come to this with a once-favorite son?

The Mariners told agent Scott Boras they would be willing to offer Rodriguez eight years in a deal reaching $20 million per year.

While club officials now shy from reopening old wounds, Rodriguez was said to never be aware of that much willingness on Seattle's part. The Mariners' opening offer was $95 million over five years.

One old, but unconfirmed story is that Boras, who was unavailable to comment, recommended the club shorten its offer, so that his player would not be tied up so long and have a chance at a subsequent contract.

Club officials refused to speculate what happened three years ago when Rodriguez said he was "in disbelief" at a mere five-year offer from Seattle, "the only team of eight not to offer 10 years."

Lincoln tore into the contract at that time, and criticized Hicks, and his words then come back as prescient.

"Does he (Rodriguez) really want to play his entire career in Dallas?" Lincoln said. "Why did he sign with Texas? Obviously, some fool stepped out of the woodwork to pay him so much he couldn't refuse."

Lincoln also was prophetic when he added, "I think it is impossible to field a winning team when you pay a player as much as Texas is paying Rodriguez."

However, with Hicks paying some $67 million of the $179 million still owed A-Rod, the deal the Yankees got is much more feasible.

"But it's all academic for us," Lincoln said this week. "Obviously, Hicks was not going to move Rodriguez to another team in the division."

Yet, it would be no surprise if the Mariners did not approach the Rangers in a spinoff of their Yankees deal. Known to be seeking to upgrade their offense, Seattle could be interested in Soriano, who hit .290 for the Yankees with 38 home runs, 91 runs batted in and 35 stolen bases.

With Michael Young reportedly refusing a move from second base to shortstop to make room for Soriano, Texas could either shift its new player to center field or trade him.

The Mariners, who were unable to swap Jose Paniagua for Soriano two springs back, have long projected the former Yankees standout as a center fielder.

"I can't say yes or no," Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said when asked if he'd be talking to Texas about any newly acquired players. "I sure wouldn't say no, since we will be talking to them, because we will talk to every club this spring."

The Mariners are so eager to add offense that they're willing to deal now, without waiting to see how the club looks in Cactus League games.

In recent weeks, they came close to signing Ellis Burks, who took less money from Boston to be close to family, and talked to agent Jeff Moorad about Raul Mondesi, who reportedly is close to a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"If something came along for more offense, we'd do it," Bavasi said. "But it probably wouldn't happen, since others want to see their clubs in games before they might make a trade."

Bob Finnigan: 206-464-8276 or bfinnigan@seattletimes.com

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