M's celebrate in win over Indians

A smiling Jose Guillen sat by his locker after a game in which his first-inning home run had put the Mariners ahead to stay.

But with his team's manager and general manager having been confirmed for 2008 earlier in the day, Guillen was already looking ahead to next year. Needing one more run batted in for 100, the pending free agent's value is rising, and he wants a multiyear deal from the Mariners before he hits the market.

His agent, Adam Katz, was at Safeco Field on Thursday and chatted for 15 minutes with newly extended GM Bill Bavasi before the game.

And with the season winding down, Guillen has an interesting take on manager John McLaren and the team moving forward.

Guillen was among those who applauded McLaren in a closed-door meeting before the Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians 4-2 on Thursday. But happy as he says he is for McLaren, he wants to see more from him as a manager.

"Hopefully, we got the right man for the job, but we'll see," Guillen said. "We're going to have to wait and see next year what kind of manager he's going to be.

"He's too nice to everybody. I want to see him get tougher and get mean to a lot of people. That's what I want to see from him, and I told him. I don't care. That's what I want to see from him."

The two-run homer by Guillen and another by Jose Lopez in the fourth inning, both off Indians starter Paul Byrd, helped Mariners starter Cha Seung Baek notch his first victory in three months.

Baek allowed just one run over six innings in his first major-league start since a shoulder injury sidelined him in late June. The Korean pitcher is one of several less-experienced arms, including Ryan Feierabend, Brandon Morrow and Ryan Rowland-Smith, who will compete for a starting job next spring.

Cleveland scored a run in the ninth off Morrow and had two on with two out when catcher Kenji Johjima picked Grady Sizemore off first base. The throw notched a save for George Sherrill and enabled the Mariners to reach 85 wins.

That's more than many of the 21,285 fans taking in the game Thursday night at Safeco Field likely thought possible back in April. But not nearly as many as Guillen and company had hoped for in August.

"He's here and that means that next year, we're going to have to win." Guillen said of McLaren. "It's not like we're going to be a .500 team. We have to win. Hopefully, Bavasi's going to give him the pieces we need and hopefully, we'll win a championship.

"I want to win with these guys. This is a veteran club and it's been a lot of fun this year."

Some of McLaren's biggest strengths, cited by team higher-ups on Thursday, involve his one-on-one relationships with players. But some Mariners fans and critics have wondered whether McLaren was too patient and friendly with some players after taking July 2.

Raul Ibanez, who had a pair of hits Thursday and was aboard for Guillen's homer to left center, said he was relieved to hear McLaren was coming back.

"I think he did a great job," Ibanez said. "He's got great qualities as a leader and he's a stand-up guy. He looks you in the eye and tells you the truth. What you see is what you get with him and I really appreciate that, not just as a boss but as a human being."

Sherrill, who notched the save Thursday without retiring a hitter thanks to Johjima's pickoff, said players were behind both McLaren and Bavasi.

"Since Bavasi's been here, the record's gotten better," he said. "Hearing you [media] guys talk, some people out there aren't real happy with how we run stuff but I think our record speaks for itself."

On McLaren, he said: "He knows everybody in here and knows how everybody clicks. It's just a matter of bringing in the right pieces and doing something special next year."

Ibanez was one of the players McLaren worked on early in his tenure. They met privately on several occasions, with the manager offering constant reassurance as Ibanez overcame a horrible July to post a second straight season of at least 20 homers and 100 RBI.

"You're managing people," Ibanez said. "Twenty-five different personalities. You're managing different people than in other industries. You're managing personnel. Intense, driven. There's an obsessive drive with that. So it's not an easy job to come into."

Note

• McLaren wasn't sure before the game whether SS Yuniesky Betancourt was done for the season. Betancourt has a slight sprain of the muscle group inside his elbow. McLaren was to consult with a team doctor on what to do with the shortstop and injured 1B Richie Sexson.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com