Hargrove: M's need aggression

PEORIA, Ariz. — Hearing that Carl Everett found his team a bit tentative last year, Mike Hargrove did not disagree.

In fact, the Mariners manager, whose second camp with the team is only days into full swing, was in total agreement.

Everett's observation of the 2005 Mariners was that they looked to be "hoping to win, not expecting to win."

Said Hargrove: "I think that's accurate. It's something we're setting about to change. I've set the bar higher this year. I've told the players we have to play to win. And we'll see how that plays out."

Hargrove added that his concurrence does not mean he feels last year's club did not play hard.

"I just found it to be more passive than I want, with less aggressiveness than I want a team to have," he said.

Hargrove said the 99 losses of 2004 carried into last year.

"You rarely go from 99 losses to a big year," he said. "When you get beat on the head with a hammer, after enough you start looking for the hammer."

In other words, Seattle got gun shy, as if waiting for something to go wrong rather than making something go right.

Hargrove's assessment was that his club played well enough on defense — Seattle tied with Oakland and the Angels for the American League lead in fielding — but did not do enough right on offense and on the mound.

Hargrove's teams are known to try to press the game on the bases, and he said he did not see last year's club "taking it to the place we wanted to be."

He cited the number of young players, including 14 rookies, on the 2005 club.

"So there was a certain rationale for not doing what we wanted to," Hargrove said. "But a little of that excuse goes by the board now."

There have been messages delivered already.

Pitchers have been told to throw first-pitch strikes, control the running game and give the catchers a chance to throw someone out.

It is no different for the position players. Hargrove and all coaches, including the dozen or so over from the minor-league side in to help with the camp, are emphasizing focus, mental preparation and mental toughness.

"I think our players are paying attention," he said. "Or I'll have to strangle someone, and that usually happens. It's not something we may talk of every day, but we'll always keep it at the forefront of our goals."

Hargrove has a week before his club takes these principles into games. Meantime, he has been fiddling with lineups.

"I've got two now," Hargrove said. "This winter I had 502."

Both lineups are largely set in 3 through 6, with Adrian Beltre hitting third, Raul Ibanez fourth, Richie Sexson fifth and Everett sixth.

"Our play is in the 2-hole, then 7, 8 and 9," he said. "I've thought of three guys for the 2-hole, including Kenji Johjima and Fernando Vina as well as Jeremy Reed. I've even mulled over Matt Lawton there.

"It doesn't have to be a left-handed hitter. You want a guy who can handle the bat."

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