Jason Schmidt eyeing change of scenery

When Gil Meche beat Jason Schmidt and San Francisco last Saturday at Safeco Field, the game featured a sidelight that might not come to light until November — if ever.

It might not be the last time the pitchers are matched. With close races in both the American League West and National League West, maybe they will see each other in the World Series.

The more realistic matchup might come in free agency.

Both right-handers will be free agents after the season. Schmidt, who grew up in Kelso and speaks often about fulfilling a dream to play for the Mariners, could replace Meche on the Seattle staff.

Schmidt has said he would like to play for the Mariners, but has also said he has been happy with the Giants. The bottom line is that he will "keep an open mind," in free agency.

Neither Meche nor the Mariners have spoken of the future. With the pitcher's ability, never shown more than in last Saturday's four-hit effort in an 8-1 win over the Giants and Schmidt, he projects as a premier possibility in the market.

Meche had won his last three starts before Friday's no decision against San Diego in which he allowed one run and four hits in 5-2/3 innings.

But with his struggles to consistently make that ability translate into performances, some teams, including the Mariners, might not take the bidding as far as Meche might want.

With a lifetime record of 51-40 and seemingly en route to a third season (of the past four) of double-digit wins for a team that has not won, Meche could draw some serious attention as well as serious money. His career win-loss record is better than that of A.J. Burnett (49-51), who got $55 million for five years from Toronto last season.

Thus, Schmidt becomes an intriguing possibility. Discounting his substandard outing Saturday, in which Richie Sexson, an old high-school basketball opponent, hit a home run off him, Schmidt carries no questions about his production.

Not that Schmidt will be cheap. His 6-3 record, with a 2.82 ERA, gives him a 73-31 mark for his four-plus years with the Giants, a span in which he has evolved into one of the premier pitchers in the game.

He has been much more consistent than most pitchers and is now a bona fide rarity — an opening day horse, an asset that may have a dozen teams bidding, something Seattle hasn't had since they dumped Freddy Garcia.

Curiously, Schmidt's time in the Bay Area is a period that could create mixed emotions for the Mariners. They knew Schmidt wanted to play for them the last time he was a free agent, after the 2001 season when he had been traded from Pittsburgh to San Francisco and gone 7-1 for the Giants.

They offered him $32 million for four years, and yet Schmidt went to San Francisco for $31 million.

Missing Schmidt, Seattle spent the money by trading for third baseman Jeff Cirillo, a move that might have been the catalyst for the Mariners' collapse since.

Speaking of his 2001 winter negotiations, Schmidt has said he was troubled back then by a deadline the Mariners had given him to make a decision. "It was supposed to be noon on a certain day," he recalled.

Eventually, he spoke with family members who said he might be better not pitching close to home.

But Mariners club officials insist they have no knowledge of any deadline, and if there was one, it was not of their making.

At one point after Schmidt signed with the Giants, the Mariners worried they had been merely a stalking horse in the negotiations to help get the price up.

One cannot tell if Seattle feels the same concerns today, because any comment would be tampering.

"I don't second guess my decision back then," Schmidt said. "I felt the Giants had a chance to go to the World Series, and we did in 2002. I will say I was close-minded then, it was going to be the Mariners or the Giants. This time, I will be open-minded."

Schmidt said he would have no problem pitching close to home, and that had nothing to do with his poor performance last weekend.

"I think I expected it to feel like Game 1 of the World Series," he said after the game, laughing. "And maybe subconsciously I felt the drama leading up to the game. But once I got into it I felt no pressure. I thought I made only one bad pitch, the one Richie [Sexson] crushed.

"I knew about Ichiro and Raul Ibanez as quality hitters, but really, Seattle has a better offense than I heard. It's not a bad-looking club at all." Would he be a part of it?

"Sure I would," Schmidt said. "That little-kid dream will always be a part of me."

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