Mariners
Melvin voices opinion after his dismissal

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Asked why he fired Mariners manager Bob Melvin, when only an hour later he was apparently calling Arizona to recommend him, Bill Bavasi would not say.

"I regard that as private, but if Bob wants to be specific, he can," the Mariners' general manager said Monday.

With 24 hours to get his emotions straight after he got the thumbs-down, Melvin was ready to be specific.

"I appreciate Bill respecting my privacy," Melvin said yesterday. "But I have no problem telling you that, among other things, what he said was the primary reason (for the manager's dismissal) was that the players who left here did better, and the players we brought in didn't.

"I have great respect for Bill, we got along well and he treated me well, but I had to disagree with their assessment. Maybe I didn't get as much out of some players as I should have. Maybe some did a bit better when they left. Each of the guys who left had periods where they did better, but I didn't feel there was any significant improvement."

You could call it a mixed bag: John Olerud hit better in a stronger lineup with the New York Yankees; Rich Aurilia hit for a slightly higher batting average in San Diego; and Ben Davis improved on his .091 average with the Chicago White Sox. But Dave Hansen struggled with the Padres, and Freddy Garcia's earned-run average was more than a run higher in Chicago, although he turned a losing record into a winning one. Mike Myers' ERA improved in Boston.

The one who came and played for Seattle was catcher Miguel Olivo (acquired in the deal for Garcia and Davis) and he went from batting .270 with the White Sox to .200 here, and he struggled with every phase of his game.

Same is true of Aurilia and Scott Spiezio, who were both big free-agent disappointments, and Raul Ibanez, who fell off a bit after tearing a hamstring in June.

In the final analysis, Melvin got caught in a change of cycles for the Mariners. Longtime standouts were not productive, and after a decade of success, there was not much help from players developed within the farm system. Rather than accept the decline, Mariners officials chose to bring in veterans for this season.

"If you want to take a hard look, I'd say the start of the decline might have been toward the end of the 2002 season," Melvin said. "It continued through 2003, when maybe we overachieved (and won 93 games). It culminated with the fall this year."
 
In his news conference Monday, Bavasi admitted there probably was not enough talent to win this season, and if he can't create a turnaround, "you'll be talking with someone else this time next year."

Asked if he saw Bavasi get caught in the same cycle turn, Melvin said, "No question."

The Mariners failed to acquire shortstop Miguel Tejada, who signed with Baltimore and led the majors with 150 runs batted in.

"Bill knew what had to be done, and when we couldn't get Tejada, we went out and got experienced guys to continue the cycle of contending. They just didn't work out."

Of all the talk that plagued the manager in 2003, when few knew him, and this year, when the club failed him, Melvin was disturbed by the idea that he was not as forceful as he should have been when dealing with issues that arose.

"I was not the anti-Lou," he said, still frustrated by the persistent talk that he did not stand up to upper management when he had differences with them, as former manager Lou Piniella did publicly. "I did my thing, one on one, no matter who I was dealing with or what it was about — players or anyone else."

Yet he does accept that succeeding Piniella probably made it tougher for him, the bar set high with the talent level lowering.

"Lou has giant shoes and it was going to be tough for whoever came in here," Melvin said. "I might have been the buffer for the next guy. Well, someone had to do it. Not for one second do I wish I had not done it."

If speculation proves correct, his second chance might come quickly. Arizona newspapers are reporting that Melvin, who came to Seattle after being the Diamondbacks' bench coach, is high on that club's list of managerial candidates.

Word is Arizona president Jerry Colangelo called Melvin yesterday, but whether he gets the job or another one, he is expected to make Bryan Price his pitching coach.

If that happens, it would create a second hole in Seattle's pitching mentoring ranks, because Jim Slaton refused a change in minor-league assignments and left the organization recently.

While the Mariners are expected to fill both slots, with the possible return of Chris Bosio playing a factor, all eyes will be on filling the manager's seat.

"I thanked the Mariners for the opportunity," Melvin said. "I will always be grateful to them for giving me my first job managing."

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

Moving on
Several Mariners were released or traded this season, ending up with other clubs. A look at how they did with the Mariners and with their new teams:
John Olerud	G	Avg	HR	RBI
Seattle	78	.245	5	22
NYY	49	.280	4	26
Freddy Garcia	IP	H	W-L	ERA
Seattle	107.0	96	4-7	3.20
CWS	103.0	96	9-4	4.46
Rich Aurilia	G	Avg	HR	RBI
Seattle	73	.241	4	28
San Diego	51	.254	2	16
Dave Hansen	G	Avg	HR	RBI
Seattle	57	.282	2	12
San Diego	29	.143	0	0
Ben Davis	G	Avg	HR	RBI
Seattle	14	.091	0	2
CWS	54	.231	6	16
Mike Myers	IP	H	W-L	ERA
Seattle	27-2/3	29	4-1	4.88
Boston	15.0	16	0-1	4.20
Not included in this chart: Quinton McCracken (Arizona) and Pat Borders (Minnesota) each played sparingly with the Mariners. Kevin Jarvis was released early in the season, picked up then released by Colorado, and signed by Pittsburgh, pitching for the Pirates' Class AAA team.