With the Mariners languishing in last place in the American League West and seeming to have little real hope of making much of this season, the team yesterday parted ways with the best second baseman in its history — Bret Boone — and called up 21-year-old Jose Lopez to take his place.

It was a textbook "play for the future" move.

But Mariners brass insisted this wasn't about preparing the team for 2006 but trying to make one last run at salvaging 2005.

"We feel that the moves we are making today will make us a better club for right now," said Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi after announcing the team had designated Boone for assignment. The team has 10 days to trade Boone or he becomes a free agent.

Bavasi, who was GM of the Angels in 1995 when the Mariners made their miracle comeback that was the focus of a reunion this weekend, invoked that season as a reason for making this move.

"I was on the other end of that in 1995, so things can happen," he said. "Now, we don't have a whole lot of time — this has to be turned around in a big way. But last year we started to make moves to look more toward the future at the end of June. We are not doing that at this point. ... This was something to improve our club right now."

Asked why the team didn't trade Boone first, Bavasi said the Mariners have had trouble coming up with a satisfactory deal. Designating Boone sets a deadline for teams that are interested in him.

"Boonie" by the numbers

251 — Career home runs (of his 252) as a second baseman, fifth most in history.

116 — Record-setting win total by M's in 2001, with Boone playing 158 games.

37 — Home runs in 2001, as he broke the AL record for a second baseman.

4 — Gold Glove trophies.

3 — All-Star Game invites.

2 — Silver Slugger awards.

"Very little happens in baseball without a deadline," Bavasi said.

However it occurs, Boone is sure to find a new team — and likely a contender such as the San Diego Padres or New York Yankees.

It was that prospect that held him up through what he admitted was one of his toughest days.

Boone broke down crying several times during a postgame news conference as he talked of leaving behind the team and city where he had his best days as a pro.

"It's definitely tough," Boone said. "But when I look at it, I think it's all for the better, really. I think it's time for me to go."

And Boone, whose grandfather and father each played pro baseball, said he understood the Mariners' motives.

"We're underachieving greatly, myself being right there," Boone said. "Guys aren't playing up to their capability."

Bavasi said "it was a real difficult thing to do" to designate Boone. But he also said the reality of the team's situation left him no choice.

Boone, who turned 36 in April, ranks in Seattle's all-time top 10 in hits, home runs, extra-base hits, doubles, runs batted in and runs scored, among other categories. But he has struggled all season, continuing a slide that began last year. Boone is hitting .231 with seven home runs and 34 RBI.

The team took the somewhat drastic step of benching him briefly two weeks ago so he could work on the mechanics of his swing with batting coach Don Baylor.

The move appeared to pay off when Boone played well in a series last weekend at San Diego. Boone had two hits in the final game of that series, including a homer, and turned in a superb defensive play.

But when the team traveled to Oakland and then came home to play Texas, Boone's struggles returned — he was in a 3-for-19 skid before being designated for assignment.

"He reverted back to where he was before," said Mariners manager Mike Hargrove.

Bavasi, meanwhile, said the move was as much about bringing up Lopez — who has long been regarded as a key part of the team's future — as it was getting rid of Boone.

Lopez, who turned 21 in November, hit .232 in 57 games last year when he played almost exclusively at shortstop. His 2005 season got off to a delayed start after he suffered a fractured hook of the hamate bone in his left hand in a workout on March 29. He hit .264 with four homers and 11 RBI for Tacoma this year, including two three-run homers on Friday night. He had a double in three at-bats yesterday.

Bavasi insisted that the Mariners had not lost any leverage by designating Boone, saying teams that are interested now know that if they want him, the best way to get him is to trade with the Mariners rather than take a chance in free agency.

The Mariners were rumored to be working on a deal last weekend that would have sent Boone to San Diego. It's thought that deal fell through when the Padres wouldn't pay as much of Boone's remaining salary as Seattle had asked. Boone is due to make $9.2 million this year and with half the season remaining, is still owed about $4.6 million. It's thought Seattle wanted San Diego to pick up about $4 million, while the Mariners wanted to split it.

Boone said he only wants to go to a team where he will play every day.

Seattle also announced it had recalled outfielder Chris Snelling — whose career has been derailed by injuries the past few seasons — from Tacoma while placing infielder Dave Hansen on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left elbow.

Finally healthy this season after missing much of the past two years with injuries, Snelling was hitting .363 at Tacoma with seven homers and 40 RBI.

Hargrove said Snelling will be used primarily as a left-handed bat off the bench and will fill in occasionally for left-fielder Randy Winn, who also has been the subject of trade rumors.

Boone, meanwhile, leaves Seattle as the best second baseman in franchise history.

Along with his hitting exploits, he also won Gold Glove awards for fielding excellence the past three seasons.

Boone had two stints with the Mariners, being drafted by the team in 1990 out of USC and eventually making the big club in 1993. He was traded after that season along with Erik Hanson to Cincinnati. After also playing for Atlanta and San Diego, Boone re-signed with Seattle before the 2001 season.

He then turned in the best year of his career in leading the Mariners to 116 wins, hitting 37 homers and driving in 141 runs, becoming the first second baseman in American League history to hit better than .300 with 30-plus homers in the same season.

He signed a new four-year deal with Seattle after that season and continued to put up solid numbers, though never again reaching the heights of 2001.

"This has been the best time of my career," Boone said. "But all good things come to an end."