PEORIA, Ariz. — He remains the player most likely to be traded, even if he shouldn't be.

He was a player who didn't have a bad year last season along with everyone else, even if no one remembers.

I don't know why more people don't appreciate Randy Winn.

He seems strangely expendable for the Mariners, even though he drove in 81 runs last year and hit better than .300 with men in scoring position.

Even though he can bunt and stole 21 bases last season.

Even though he is hitting .333 this spring.

Only Bret Boone drove in more runs last season than Winn, and then only two more.

I suppose years from now Winn will most be remembered as the player traded for a manager, Lou Piniella.

He'd like to be remembered as someone who played a long time for the Mariners. But, as he knows, that might not be the case.

Winn always seems to be the odd man out. Tampa Bay made him a part of the Piniella deal even though the Mariners thought they would get only prospects as compensation, even though Winn had been Tampa's player in the All-Star Game.

"At every All-Star break since 2002 and in every offseason, my name has popped up concerning trades," he said. "I just get used to it."

The Mariners could live without Winn. They could trade him for pitching, or for Mike Cameron.

I think they ought to keep him.

There is no doubt the Mariners want rookie Jeremy Reed to play center field. And, of course, Raul Ibanez could play left field if Winn were traded.

But with Bucky Jacobsen unlikely to be ready to play at the start of the season, Ibanez has a position as the designated hitter.

And there is no guarantee that Reed will make the adjustment to the major leagues for a full season of play as he did for the last couple of months of last season, or that the pressure of batting No. 2 in the lineup might not get to him.

Winn would prefer to hit early in the order. He said he wants to make it easier for those batting behind him.

"I can be a better base runner, a better stealer, take an extra base on a ball in the gap, make sure I get to third with less than two outs," he said. "I did well last season, but I can do better."

You like Randy Winn because he handles things — all sorts of things — like being at bat with runners on second and third with two outs. Like not being bothered this year that the Mariners want him to play left field instead of center. Like maintaining his composure despite being involved in almost any Mariners trade scenario.

"I don't look at it like Seattle thinks I'm a terrible player," he said. "I look at it like they might want to go in a different direction. It's nothing I did.

"I mean, you see guys moved, released, waived and non-tendered. It doesn't mean they are bad players. It means for some of them that they just didn't fit in."

Winn was a scholar-athlete in high school. He played basketball and baseball at Santa Clara. He figured this game out long ago.

"When I was in the minors, I remember somebody telling me that there were scouts from 29 other teams out there watching you, too. If you play well, somebody will want you."

Maybe it was that Winn didn't have power at the plate when the Mariners needed it desperately. Or that he wasn't going to play center field the way Cameron did, as if anyone could.

But after a slow start last season, Winn hit better than .300 in the final four months. For the season, he hit .286, and the 81 RBI were a career high. The two full seasons before that he hit .295 and .298.

You can only wonder how well he might hit batting ahead of Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson and Boone, how high his average might go, how many runs he might score.

"I think we have a good club," said Winn, "one that could definitely win the American League West. But that still doesn't mean that the powers that be won't tinker with it."

Winn said he wants to stay in Seattle.

"I like the city, the guys on the team, the front office. They've all been good to me," he said. "Winning in 2003 was fun. That's why you play the game: to win."

Winn is signed through the season, with another season if he wants it. His pay ($3.75 million) is commensurate with his production. He makes sense for Seattle.

Although he and his wife, Blessings, grew up in Northern California, they have a home in Tampa, where they spend the winters. During the season, they rent an apartment in downtown Seattle.

"It's great," Winn said. "Tons of restaurants, a walk to the Pike Place Market. We're very happy, especially being close to both our families in California."

But he knows it is not forever.

"In five minutes, I could be traded," he said. "I mean, you play the game to win; you sacrifice yourself so your team can score a run and you feel good about it.

"But in the end, it is a business."

Blaine Newnham: 206-464-2364 or bnewnham@seattletimes.com