Steve Kelley / Times staff columnist
Garcia may be moved, but not now

SCOTT WACHTER / SEATTLE MARINERS Mariners right-hander Freddy Garcia has started the season strongly but has only one win.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most e-mailed articles

Who could blame Freddy Garcia for wanting to pitch for the New York Yankees?

Let's think about this for a couple of pitches.

He would be reunited with Alex Rodriguez, the best player in baseball. He would have Jason Giambi's eight home runs at first base, instead of John Olerud's one.

He would have Tom Gordon instead of Shigetoshi Hasegawa coming in as setup man in the late innings. He'd have real, live run support.

And, oh yeah, HE'D BE PLAYING FOR THE YANKEES!

Let's see — Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez, Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui — what's not to like?

He would play for an owner who will do whatever it takes, spend whatever it costs, to win, instead of an ownership that, well, doesn't.

Who wouldn't want to play for the Yankees?

Last weekend, in New York, Garcia committed the mistake of honesty. He told the sports anchor for a Spanish-language radio station he would love to play for the Yankees.

"It would make my day," Garcia said.
 
Who could argue with him wanting to leave Seattle?

The past couple of years he has been treated as if he were from California. He has been jeered as loudly as A-Rod or Wally Walker. He has been the focal point for the anger of Mariners fans who have grown tired of his inflated earned-run average and impatient with the team's late-summer fades.

Garcia's night-lifestyle has filled long hours of programming on sports talk shows, as if he were as wild as Paris Hilton or any member of Metallica. He has been ripped by sportswriters for his lack of preparation between starts and his lapses in concentration during starts.

And, although the booing and the criticisms often have been warranted — he was 12-14 last season — why would he want to stay here and take more of it?

The last two years in Seattle haven't been happy ones for Garcia. He has heard every trade rumor involving him since last July. He watched the Mariners trade his best friend, shortstop Carlos Guillen, to the Detroit Tigers.

Guillen exited the Tigers' win over Oakland last night hitting .314. His replacement, Rich Aurilia, is without a home run and batting .234.

You think the juxtaposition might anger Garcia just a little?

Garcia is getting even this season — with the management that traded his best friend, with the fans who have booed him, with the sportswriters who have ripped him — by getting outs.

Before last night's shaky start against Baltimore — five hits, three runs and 57 pitches in the first two innings, which almost made you wish he would be traded to Montreal that night — he had allowed 45 hits in 50 innings. He had struck out 37 and walked just 12.

His earned-run average was 2.34. He had gone into the seventh inning in each of his seven starts.

And he had all of one win.

Who could blame him for wanting to be a Yankee?

This is his salary drive. He is a free agent after the season. He knows all of baseball is watching him and there is a better chance Tampa Bay will make a September pennant drive than he will return to the Mariners.

So what are the M's to do?

The Yankees need another starter. Tanyon Sturtze? Are you kidding me? But New York's farm system is almost as empty of position players as Seattle's.

No trade to the Yankees in May makes sense for the Mariners.

Although they are 12-1/2 games behind Anaheim and have the third-worst record in the American League, the Mariners can't quit this early on the season and trade Garcia for prospects.

They won't win 90 games, won't make the postseason again, but at least until the trade deadline approaches, Garcia should stay in the Mariners' rotation every fifth day.

By July we'll know just how desperate the playoff contenders are for quality pitching. We'll know if Garcia has kept his concentration and his dedication to his craft, and the Mariners will have a better idea of his market value.

This July the Mariners will make a trade. Not because they're in the race, but because they aren't.

And Freddy Garcia will be the first serious test for general manager Bill Bavasi. The future of the Mariners will depend on how quickly Bavasi can restructure the everyday lineup. What he does with Garcia will give us our first look at his grand plan.

But for the next couple of months, pay little attention to the trade rumors. Until July, Freddy Garcia should be staying in Seattle.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com