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 The Mariners sent closer J.J. Putz to the Mets in a three-team trade with Cleveland late Wednesday night. AP
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Putz had sensed he'd be leaving Seattle
Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:35 PM PST
By Gregg Bell
The Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleSEATTLE — J.J. Putz sensed he was gone almost a month ago. Standing along the sidelines at Husky Stadium before Washington hosted UCLA in a college football game, Putz sounded both earnest and concerned.
“I’m hearing I’m going to get traded,” he said.
Though the one-time All-Star closer barely knew Jack Zduriencik, Putz already understood the sweeping powers of Seattle’s new general manager.
Within days of Putz’s premonition, Zduriencik was on the phone weighing offers for him to improve Seattle’s outfield defense. Those weeks of talks ended Wednesday night with the latest bold stroke to remake the sunken Mariners: the three-team, 12-player trade that sent Putz to the New York Mets to be a reluctant setup man to Francisco Rodriguez, and defensive whiz Franklin Gutierrez from Cleveland to Seattle to be the Mariners’ new center fielder.
In the final hours before the trade, Putz still was far from thrilled to be on his way to leaving the team that drafted him in 1999. His agent, Craig Landis, said Putz wanted to remain a closer.
“He’s one of the top five or 10 closers in the game,” Landis said earlier Wednesday. “No, he would not want to be a setup man.”
So much for that. The Mets just signed Rodriguez to a $37 million contract. He set the major league record for saves in a season with 62 for the Los Angeles Angels this year.
“I talked to J.J. (Wednesday). And what I told him was: ’J.J., I can’t control other clubs calling me and expressing individual desire for you,”’ Zduriencik said from Las Vegas, site of baseball’s annual winter meetings. “You know, clubs that are in a pennant race are always going to desire to have a strong bullpen. That’s the case here.
“I think he should be honored and flattered that they pursued him as hard as they did.”
Putz’s departure would seem to put Brandon Morrow as Seattle’s closer and cancel the team’s latest conversion of the 24-year-old into a starter.
But Zduriencik said, “No, it doesn’t mean that.”
This has been Morrow’s dizzying career path: From reliever in Seattle as an impressive rookie in 2007, to starter in the winter leagues 12 months ago, to reliever again to begin last season, to part of the Mariners’ starting rotation by September.
Though Morrow is the only heir apparent to Putz right now in Seattle, Zduriencik said that decision will be made by first-time manager Don Wakamatsu and his entirely new staff in spring training.
“The things that have been said to Brandon will hold true,” the GM said. “And we’ll have to see how Don and his staff view these players in spring training and decide what their best role is.”
What’s clear now is that beyond Ichiro Suzuki, the Mariner Moose and the uniforms, the 2009 team will look and feel completely different. Then again, it had to — Seattle lost 101 games last season.
And that’s exactly why the Mariners made the 57-year-old Zduriencik a GM for the first time in late October.
He’s remade the scouting staff. He’s introduced a new way to evaluate players by bringing a CPA colleague from his old job as a special assistant with the Milwaukee Brewers with him to create a department of statistical analysis in Seattle.
He’s hired a relatively unknown, Wakamatsu, to be his manager. Wakamatsu’s staff is the exact opposite of the one John McLaren had to begin 2008. McLaren had renowned veterans such as pitching guru Mel Stottlemyre and former managers Jim Riggleman and Sam Perlozzo on his staff. They are all gone now. Relative unknowns such as Ty Van Burkleo, Lee Tinsley and Alan Cockrell are in.
And now Zduriencik is working on the roster.
First came the signing of relatively cheap free-agent slugger Russell Branyan to play first base.
Wednesday’s trade also brings versatile outfielder Endy Chavez, whom Zduriencik wouldn’t commit to as an everyday player, plus pitcher Aaron Heilman. Zduriencik tepidly said Heilman “might have a chance to make our ballclub.” Seattle also got four other minor leaguers from the Mets.
The deal gives Seattle more players under contractual control for longer. Putz was entering the final year of a $13.1 million, three-year contract and could have left after this season.
“It helps us short term and long term,” Zduriencik said.
“We needed left-handed power, we’ve added that. We needed to improve our outfield defense, we’ve added that. We wanted to get prospects in our system, we’ve added that.”
And Zduriencik is not done. He has to decide by Friday night whether to tender a contract to Erik Bedard or let the failed, injured ace starter go. RBI-leader Raul Ibanez is about to leave in free agency, so Seattle needs an everyday left fielder plus a designated hitter.
“We’ll have to see what other deals we’ll do from here,” he said.
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