NEW YORK — It's looking uglier by the day, this mangled mess of a Mariners season.

And to quote Yogi Berra, who was honored at Yankee Stadium yesterday on his 80th birthday, it's getting late early.

If this free-fall goes on much longer, in fact, the year will be a lost cause before the All-Star break, just as it was last year. And the Mariners' hold on their once-ironclad fan base — an impatient, finger-pointing group at the moment, justifiably so — will slip even further, like attendance at Safeco Field already has.

The time seems ripe for a blowup, a shakeup, a call-up — anything to coax them out of their slump, which hit 10 losses in 11 games with a sloppy 13-9 defeat to the Yankees.

And yet the sobering realization should be settling in that the Mariners' options to turn this around are limited, and largely centered on the same people that have gotten them into this predicament.

They've soiled their bed, and now they have to lie in it.

Oh, Aaron Sele's future hangs in the balance, with the growing possibility of cutting him loose and bringing up a younger arm from Tacoma — but probably not the 19-year-old phenom, Felix Hernandez. Not yet, anyway. The organizational inclination still seems to be to bide their time with King Felix, rather than risk the psychological blow of a rocky major-league beginning.

So the likelier bet is Jorge Campillo, who can be helpful, but shouldn't be expected to be an instant Johan Santana.

Jamie Moyer has given up a staggering 27 hits over 8-2/3 innings in his last three starts, all Seattle losses, and yesterday couldn't hold the 5-0 lead he was given by virtue of a rare offensive explosion in the first inning. But it's hard to see any major change involving Moyer in the immediate future.

Yesterday's 14-hit, four-homer effort notwithstanding, the Mariners' offense has been hugely disappointing, but the options available to manager Mike Hargrove are minimal.

He has tweaked the lineup, but that's not going to get him a shortstop or catcher who can hit. Wiki Gonzalez and Willie Bloomquist seem unlikely saviors, and there's no Bucky Jacobsen type readily apparent in the minors to stir things up. Even the real Bucky Jacobsen isn't available, scheduled for additional knee surgery tomorrow.

They can make a trade, but most teams aren't ready to deal at this point, before it's clear whether they're contenders or also-rans. They could fire someone, but that's a Steinbrenneresque panic response that's too drastic for mid-May.

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said after the game that he and general manager Bill Bavasi would discuss their options, probably on the flight home from New York.

Hargrove was asked before the game if he could envision getting so frustrated he started throwing things around.

"I've done that before," he replied.

Did it work?

"I felt better."

But Hargrove has clearly chosen to take the stoic approach to this slide, attempting to thwart desperation in his team through strong, positive leadership. The upshot is that the attitude is good, but the performance still stinks.

"Mike has been a very calming persona in the dugout," said Bret Boone. "Very poised. He's been great through this. I know how frustrated I am, and I know how frustrated players are. I can imagine how frustrated Skip is. But he's kept a pretty good demeanor in that dugout, as far as showing poise."

Hargrove dismissed the notion that the team needed to be aired out.

"Today we played sloppy," he said. "We haven't before. If the reason we get beat is because we're not focusing on what we're doing and not busting our butt, then everyone deserves a butt-chewing. But I don't see that."

Tantrums for the sake of tantrums don't work, said Richie Sexson.

"You're talking about something that's premeditated," Sexson said. "It's one thing if you're not hustling or trying, or not trying to get better and turn this thing around, just being really sloppy, not playing hard. But we're not doing that. There's no reason to yell at people just because we're losing games."

The solution is as obvious as it is elusive — start winning games.

"It's a long season," Sexson said. "We can win 10 of 11, too, and get back. The main thing is, we've all got to be men, and move on. We've just got to pitch and hit on the same day. That's how we're going to turn it around."

As ugly as it has gotten through six weeks, as comforting as the notion of some kind of major shakeup might be, it looks like that's their best hope right now.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists

Two seasons, same results
Comparing the Mariners after 34 games in 2004 and 34 games in 2005:
2004	Category	2005
12-22	W-L	13-21
Fourth	AL West	Fourth
10 ½	GB	6
.256	Batting avg.	.246
23	Home runs	23
.319	On-base avg.	.309
4.62	Team ERA	4.52
.301	Ichiro avg.	.340