Mariners
Notebook: M's say L.A., Anaheim most likely to sign Lee

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Lee Seung-Yeop has left Seattle, and the Mariners are not sure if he'll ever be back.

The 27-year-old Korean slugger, who hit an Asian record 56 home runs last season playing first base for the Samsung Lions, was the team's guest for two days this week.

"He landed in L.A. and came up and toured the ballpark and our facilities," said Roger Jongewaard, Seattle's vice president for player personnel. "Then he was going back to Los Angeles and he'll visit the teams there."

In Mariners minds, the left-handed Lee is likely to sign with either the Dodgers or Angels.

"Both of those clubs have money to sign foreign players and, more important, they are looking for guys to play first base," Jongewaard said.

Seattle has John Olerud for one more season at first base, thus Lee would likely spend at least a year in the minors.

"We'd probably send him to Triple-A to see if he is the real deal," Jongewaard said.

While the scouting report is that Lee is no Olerud on defense, few are.

Cynics play up the idea that Lee is not very big, and he played most of his games in a smallish Samsung park, only 311 feet down the lines, 386 to center.

Lee became the world's youngest player, at 26 years, 10 months and four days, to hit 300 homers on June 22 of this year.

M's after Cuban pitcher?

With the right answer to a question about his health, the Mariners could be as high on Maels (pronounced 'miles') Rodriguez as they are on Lee.

Rodriguez, a Cuban pitcher, is a 24-year-old right-handed closer who throws 100 mph.

"I saw him in (the World Cup) in Winnipeg," Jongewaard said. "When he's right, this guy comes in and throws a true 100 miles per hour."

However, there are questions about Rodriguez's arm and back, and Cuban baseball officials have said he lost 15 mph off his fastball. "But you never know," Jongewaard said. "The Cubans may be spreading the rumor to make it tough for him to defect."

Rodriguez is in an unspecified Latin American country, asking for asylum and hoping to sign while he's still there. If he comes to the United States before he signs, he would be subject to the major-league draft in June.

Melvin 'happy' in Seattle

In contacting the Mariners about Bob Melvin, the Red Sox may have been dissatisfied with their managerial search and/or they may have been doing a favor for a friend.

Melvin's name had been linked to the Boston vacancy for several weeks. The question was who had started the link.

Showing how a rumor can get out of hand, the story at the general managers' meetings in Arizona was that Melvin had been said to have inquired about a Boston interview to a friend, who apparently has influence in the Boston organization.

"He called me when (Bill) Bavasi had gotten the (GM) job in Seattle," Melvin said yesterday. "I kidded him that I may be looking for an interview. That's all it was and I was joking. But I'm perfectly happy where I am. I'm flattered they (Boston) called, but I am very happy in Seattle."

Seemingly, the friend failed to get the joke and the result weeks later was a call from Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, which puzzled the Mariners, who rejected the request.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company