Mariners pour us another half-full pitcher

Jarrod Washburn isn't the answer.

If you're looking for an ace who can lead you out of the bottom of the American League West, Washburn isn't it.

If you're looking for a guarantee every fifth day, Washburn isn't that. If you're looking for 15 to 18 wins, which is exactly what the Mariners need at the top of their rotation, Washburn's history says he isn't it.

This certainly isn't a matter of money. The Mariners are in a spending mood. Pending his passing a physical, the M's will pay Washburn $30 million to $38 million over the next four years to be the ace of their staff.

They overpaid.

They needed more. Needed a bonafide ace.

They needed Kevin Millwood, who had the best earned-run average in the American League last season. Add Millwood to a rotation that would include a full season of Felix Hernandez, another season of Jamie Moyer and, if he can return to form, a more consistent Joel Pineiro, and the Mariners would be markedly improved.

But Washburn?

Make no mistake. He's a proven pitcher. He won 18 games in 2002. His ERA last year was 3.20. He's a flyball pitcher who should benefit from the yawning Safeco Field dimensions.

He's a nice addition to a pitching-poor team. But he'll turn 32 next year and he's no longer a power pitcher. He's another No. 2 or No. 3 starter on a staff that desperately needs an ace, a job that someday will belong to Hernandez.

The Mariners needed to do something more dramatic this winter. They no longer can rely on the run they had from 1995 through 2001 to sell tickets. That team is dead and gone. Those days have been retired. And this team has become a tougher sell.

Jarrod Washburn is a good pitcher. But the Mariners' rotation needs a great pitcher.

Since the winter meetings, fans have gathered like the faithful in St. Peter's Square, waiting to hear what moves the Mariners would make.

They waited for Millwood. They got Washburn. They got something better, but not anything good enough to make them a legitimate challenger.

They won't lose 90 games next season. But they won't finish better than third in the American League West.

This is becoming the winter of discontent for Mariners fans. They have waited for news this offseason that there would be more pop in the outfield. They waited for a player they hoped would excite them.

They got switch-hitter Carl Everett instead.

Are the M's so desperate that they now don't consider citizenship as seriously as they once did? Do they really believe Everett will light a fire in their quiet clubhouse? Don't they see that this is a guy on the backside of his career, carrying more baggage than the bellhop at the Four Seasons?

This franchise wouldn't make a play for Ken Griffey Jr. because it thought he would be a bad influence in the clubhouse. It traded starter Freddy Garcia and shortstop Carlos Guillen because it believed both lacked off-the-field discipline.

Once upon a time the Mariners didn't chase bad guys. They filled their roster with Mike Camerons and Mark McLemores. They filled in the blanks with Stan Javiers and David Bells and John Oleruds.

This used to be a team where the players felt like neighbors. They were known by their first names, or even their nicknames — Junior, Bone, Boonie, Dan and Edgar. They had a manager they just called "Loooooooou."

Now this team is teetering, a long way from its glory years and stuck with a seriously clouded future.

Check out next season's lineup. You can look at it as half full or half empty.

Half full?

For the second year in a row first baseman Richie Sexson gives the M's the power they expect, a repeat of his 39 home runs and 121 runs batted in. And Adrian Beltre looks more like the All-Star they stole from the Dodgers. Slick-fielding Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt could become the double-play combination for the rest of the decade.

Ichiro looks like Ichiro again in right. Raul Ibanez continues to be the most underrated bat in baseball. Designated-hitter Everett is the trip wire that ignites the offense. Reed remains serviceable in center. And Kenji Johjima, clearly the best catcher in Japan, seamlessly makes the transition to America.

Half empty?

Sexson still strikes out at an alarming rate. Lopez and Bettancourt can't hit their way out of their new batting-practice jerseys. Beltre doesn't move closer to his 2004 numbers — 48 homers, 121 RBI.

Ichiro's production continues to slide and his relationship with manager Mike Hargrove goes south. Center field becomes a black hole. Ibanez's numbers aren't enough. Everett goes off like a Roman candle. And Johjima doesn't hit big-league pitching and can't communicate with his staff.

Half full?

Washburn somehow becomes the pitcher he was in 2002.

Half empty?

What you see, is what you get.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com.