Two M's forgive time when they were no angels

PEORIA, Ariz. -- How fitting that the first familiar face to greet pitcher Jarrod Washburn on Wednesday was one he figured he'd seen the last of years ago.

Washburn is one of only two survivors from a Mariners starting rotation that was overhauled this winter. So it wasn't a surprise when the 32-year-old, fresh off several months of seclusion in the Wisconsin hinterlands, arrived at the Peoria Sports Complex and found himself surrounded by strangers.

That is, until new right fielder Jose Guillen walked by. He and Washburn quickly set about repairing a three-year-old rift that began as teammates with the Anaheim Angels in 2004.

"He was one of the first guys I saw when I got here today," Washburn said as Mariners pitchers and catchers arrived for mandatory physicals ahead of the scheduled workouts today. "I don't foresee any problems. I think it's water under the bridge and you move on. We're both grown men. What's in the past is in the past. You can't do anything about it now."

Washburn openly criticized Guillen when the latter was booted off the Angels in the final weeks of the 2004 season. Guillen had ripped manager Mike Scioscia for sitting him, a move that came after Guillen criticized the team's pitching staff earlier that summer for not "protecting" hitters by retaliating to beanballs thrown by opposing hurlers.

Upon signing with the Mariners, Guillen said he wanted to forget the past and mend fences with Washburn.

"Now, I think we still have pretty much the same goal in mind," Washburn said Wednesday. "Win the division and beat out the Angels."

To do that, all of those new faces surrounding Washburn and Felix Hernandez in the rotation will likely have to accomplish more than critics feel they're capable of. It says plenty about the changes Washburn has endured from being the team's most-talked-about starter a year ago to a guy who has drawn the least attention in the rotation as camp opens this year.

Much of the 2006 buzz had to do with Washburn's newly minted, four-year, $37.5 million contract. Nowadays, all the talk seems to be about the merits of newcomers Jeff Weaver, Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez, as well as whether a slimmed-down Hernandez can win at least 15 games.

Washburn will be expected to improve on a dismal 8-14 showing that saw him go winless after August and miss the season's final two weeks with a pulled calf muscle. Back home in Wisconsin, he ignored most television, Internet and newspaper coverage of the team and focused on rehabilitating his injury, deer hunting and fishing.

"To be honest, I didn't care to follow it," Washburn said of all the offseason moves. "And I don't hear about it until someone tells me 'The Mariners got this guy or that guy.' I was in the middle of nowhere. News doesn't travel as fast up there."

But the news didn't shock him.

"It's very different," he said of the rotation. "But we finished in last place last year, so changes needed to be made."

Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima, who also arrived Wednesday, had his hands full once word filtered back to Japan about each new move. Johjima tried to acquire video of each new pitcher, or, failing that, sought out information about their respective styles from teammates and coaches.

"It's not like last year where I had to study the whole pitching staff," Johjima said through an interpreter. "But I've still been busy."

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove, who passed a routine "stress test" upon arriving at camp, hopes he doesn't go through a second one once his rotation takes the mound. Hargrove is leaning heavily upon the fact all of his starters, other than Hernandez, have at least one season of 200 innings behind them to help ease the burden of the bullpen and closer J.J. Putz.

"I expect to get more consistent innings out of our starters," Hargrove said. "That'll take the pressure off our bullpen and allow us not to use three or four guys a night to get to J.J.

"That's what I expect. I expect our starters to give us innings."

NOTES

• One of the early arrivals in camp, second baseman Jose Lopez, had some good news after meeting with the team's medical staff. Lopez sprained his ankle while making a tough throw from behind the bag at second during a winter-league game last month in his native Venezuela. "They told me I'll be ready to play in games in two or three weeks," he said. That would leave Lopez close to being ready for the start of Cactus League games March 2. He hopes to start hitting again Monday.

• Hargrove will spend the early part of this morning talking to pitchers about what he expects from them this season. "We'll get them on line and then, once the entire club is here, we'll tell the whole crew," Hargrove said. "You always wonder how far to go with your talk to your pitchers because you know they're probably going to hear the same thing over again. And you want them listening the first time."

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com