Mariners top $100 million payroll for first time

Spring training by its nature is a time of light-heartedness and languid rhythms. But for the Mariners this year, it's also the start of grimly serious business.

So much is at stake -- jobs, reputations, the future of local icon Ichiro, the flagging status of Seattle as a baseball-crazy town.

It won't take long for an air of tension to mix in with the frivolity as pitchers and catchers hit the diamonds today in Peoria, Ariz. Not since 1995 have the Mariners had such a visceral need for the pieces to come together -- and quickly.

As the wildest financial winter in baseball history lurches to a close, give the Mariners recognition for this much: In one category, they are indisputably competing with the big boys.

For the first time in franchise history, the Mariners' payroll will be above the $100 million mark, putting them in rarified company of the industry's high-revenue teams.

The signing of pitcher Jeff Weaver late last month to a one-year deal worth more than $8 million put the finishing touches on their nine-figure tab.

The team is using a working budget figure of $111 million, which includes about $103 million in raw salaries, another $6 million or so in pro-rated signing bonuses, and their annual "contingency fund" of $2 million for prospective deals and minor-league callups.

They still will be far out-distanced in spending by the Yankees and Red Sox, but no team in their right minds would aspire to that level of profligacy.

Last year, the M's started the year with the eighth-highest payroll in baseball and, after dumping the salary of Jamie Moyer, finished 11th at about $93 million.

This year, it appears, they will start the year ranked in or near the top five, behind the mighty Yankees (more than $200 million again) and Red Sox ($140 millionish), but right up there with the Cubs, Mets, Dodgers and Angels, the other teams projected to exceed $100 million. The Phillies, Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Orioles, Blue Jays and White Sox will be right up against the big 1-0-0, but likely on the south side.

Now, you can dispute the wisdom of how the Mariners are spending the money; put me among the multitudes underwhelmed by the bang they have gotten for their bucks.

Yet you can't knock them as cheapskates, which used to be the rote criticism of this franchise. They have backed the vision of general manager Bill Bavasi, however fuzzy you might judge it to be, with some serious coin.

To CEO Howard Lincoln and team president Chuck Armstrong, naturally, it's a sign of the commitment of ownership -- specifically, Hiroshi Yamauchi in Japan -- to getting the Mariners out of the cellar, their dwelling for three years.

"We had to do that [raise the payroll] in order to accomplish the objectives we had, which was to get things turned around," Lincoln said from Peoria.

It's also a likely indication that the team made a profit last year, despite another decline in attendance to 2.4 million (down from 3.5 million in 2001 and 2002). Like all teams in baseball, the Mariners received a windfall from the sale of the Washington Nationals, but that will be an aberrational gain if the attendance declines again. And that, almost certainly, depends on the team's success.

Armstrong says the Mariners went over their projected budget, reacting on the run as opportunities presented themselves, like the late availability of Weaver.

Had the team signed Barry Zito to the six-year, $99-million deal they reportedly offered, the budget would have raised even higher. The Mariners believe that their Zito offer -- which reportedly included a huge signing bonus and front-loaded salary -- trumped the Giants' back-loaded offer in present-dollar value. Perhaps to Seattle's ultimate long-term benefit, Zito chose to remain in the Bay Area with San Francisco.

"I don't think our ownership wants to operate at a loss, but they want to do what they can to get back to the top of the AL West as quickly as we can without throwing caution to the wind," Armstrong said.

Lincoln's comments last year that manager Mike Hargrove, Bavasi -- and himself -- were on the hot seat have gotten a lot of mileage, and will continue to.

You can make the case the Mariners have now given their baseball people the financial tools to dig out of this mess. If it doesn't work out, it will be a very expensive failure. As the Mariners hit the desert sun today, that backdrop will make things downright sizzling.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com