Mariners
Arms from the farm: M's well-stocked with homegrown pitching

By Bob Sherwin
Seattle Times staff reporter

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES Fresh up: Clint Nageotte made his starting debut last week and threw six shutout innings against the Houston Astros.

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How's this for a Mariners rotation? Joel Pineiro, Gil Meche, Ryan Franklin, Clint Nageotte and Travis Blackley?

Or perhaps others could fit in, such as Cha Seung Baek, Jeff Heaverlo or even up-and-coming Felix Hernandez?

They are all promising arms in the organization, some already with the Mariners, some in the minors. They are generally in their mid-20s, between bookends Franklin, who is 31, and Hernandez, 18. All but Blackley are right-handers. They come from all over the country and the world: Australia, South Korea, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

There is one common thread: They're all homegrown. All were either drafted or signed as undrafted free agents by the Mariners.

Nageotte, who made his first major-league start last week, will start again tomorrow in the second game of a three-game series at Milwaukee. Franklin will start Thursday.

"It's a testament to the scouting people and player-development people to get them to this level," Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price said. "I know that back in the early 1990s when the pitching here really struggled, back in the Kingdome, the scouting department and the front office decided we were going to focus on pitching. For the first 10 rounds of the draft they were really going to focus on pitching.

"A lot of guys who have come up, from '93, '94 on, were part of those drafts. Some of the best prospects have been in the late 1990s and early 2000 drafts."

	JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES An old hand: Ryan Franklin arrived in the majors in 1999 and is the team's No. 4 starter.

With the addition of Nageotte to the staff two weeks ago, six of the current 11 pitchers came through the Mariners' system. That includes Ron Villone, the team's No. 1 pick in 1992 who started his career in Seattle, then played for seven teams before returning this season. The list increases when injured Rafael Soriano is included, and is without Meche, who has been sent back to the minors to regain his form.

Three-fifths of the rotation are former farmhands — Franklin, Pineiro and Nageotte (in Meche's spot). The other system survivors on staff are right-handed relievers Julio Mateo and J.J. Putz.

"I don't know who brought it up, but everyone was in agreement that we were going to try to emphasize pitching for a while," said Benny Looper, the Mariners' vice president of player development and scouting. "We stuck with that and it led from there."

In a 10-year cycle from 1991 to 2000, the club used its first pick to take pitchers six times: left-hander Shawn Estes (1991), left-hander Villone ('92), right-hander Meche ('96), left-hander Ryan Anderson ('97), left-hander Matt Thornton ('98) and left-hander Sam Hays (2000). Also, Heaverlo was a supplemental first-round pick (33rd overall) in 1999.

The club generally has used two-thirds of its 50 draft picks on pitchers. Some of those have reached the big time. Pineiro was a 12th-rounder in 1997. Nageotte was a fifth-rounder and Putz a sixth-rounder in 1999.

During those 10 years, the first 10 picks of the Mariners' drafts were pitcher dominated. Of the 100 players taken, 64 were pitchers.

Some made it to Seattle. Many never did. Some made it to other teams after trades or releases, such as Mike Hampton, Derek Lowe, Jim Mecir, Joe Mays, Denny Stark, Steve Kent, Aquilino Lopez, Brian Sweeney, Damaso Marte and Matt Mantei.

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES Julio Mateo, a middle reliever, "had to pass a lot of pitchers" in the minor leagues before finally earning a roster spot with the Mariners.

"Every team that I've played on, we've always had real good pitchers," said Nageotte, who pitched six shutout innings last week in a win over Houston. "We feed off one another and work off one another."

In addition, the club was aggressive in the international market well before most teams. The Mariners paid first-round money to Baek in 1998. They landed Mateo and Soriano as undrafted signees in 1996. Soriano was signed as a first baseman and two years later converted to a pitcher. They've signed left-handers Craig Anderson and Blackley out of Australia and hard-throwing teenager Hernandez from Venezuela.

"We're going out on the international market and signing the Latin players. We're putting more money into the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, the Pacific Rim," Price said. "Because we've signed more free agents than we've (had signed by other teams), we've lost more high draft picks. We've been able to recover because we've gone to the international market. That makes a huge difference."

Once they are in the system, the Mariners pay attention.

"I came in as raw as anyone," Nageotte said. "I really wasn't in the picture. I had a pretty good arm, I guess. Every pitching coach I've had to this point has been nothing but great. They're not afraid to work with you and let you know that sometimes you need to take a step back to take two steps forward. It definitely paid off for me."

Looper gives credit to "outstanding pitching guys in the minors" entrusted to bring the arms along. Price was pitching coordinator for a time in the late 1990s. Steve Peck had served in that role. The current coordinator is Pat Rice. Former Tacoma pitching coach Jim Slaton is the special-assignment coach. Rainiers pitching coach Rafael Chaves has been credited with polishing them before the final step.

"They've been a great help all around," Pineiro said. "You try to pick out something from each pitching coach because it's not just one thing that's going to help you."

Mateo said the competition for spots throughout the system was so thick that he had trouble wading through it.

"I had to pass a lot of pitchers. There's a lot of good guys in the minor leagues," Mateo said. "I remember Mario Melvin Soto told me, 'No matter who's in front of you, if you work hard, your opportunity will come.'

"When I was down there, a lot of people told me, 'If you were in another organization, you'd already be in the major leagues.' But that's not what I am. I'm a Seattle Mariner. I have to do my job for them. They are the team paying me."

	DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES On the way: Left-hander Travis Blackley could be a September callup from Tacoma.

Franklin is unlike most of the other pitchers. He was taken in the 23rd round in 1992. Not many players reach the majors from that far back in the field. And, in fact, it put him at a distinct disadvantage.

"I saw high-round draft picks were getting moved past me and I was having better years than they were. I didn't think that was fair at all. I still don't. I just don't think it's right," Franklin said. "Everywhere I go I had to prove myself. I keep proving myself, so why should I keep having to?

"If I had been in another organization, I would have been up since 1999. Or 1997 or '98, just because they've always had pitching here. Any other organization that wasn't as pitching-rich, I would have six, seven, eight years in the big leagues already."

After six years in the M's system and a 50-55 record, Franklin was taken off the 40-man roster before the 1999 season. He had his choice to re-sign with Seattle or take his chances with another team. He came back.

"I think, no doubt, I took the right road," he said.

That road could lead others to Seattle in a short time, such as Blackley, Thornton, Heaverlo, right-hander Rett Johnson and the prize of the system, Hernandez, an 18-year-old now with Class A Inland Empire.

"I don't think our depth is quite as good as it was, but we have more guys closer to the big leagues," Looper said.

Bob Sherwin: 206-464-8286 or bsherwin@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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