M's target star in Japan

Yesterday Matsui, no relation to the Yankees' Hideki Matsui but known as "Little Matsui," made it official: He will pursue a baseball career in North America.

"It's been my dream to play in the majors," Matsui said at a news conference in Japan. "It was a tough decision to make. I wondered whether I should play at home or go overseas.

"This represents a new challenge for me."

It represents a challenge for the Mariners, too, because Seattle figures to be in the market for Matsui. Mariners policy is not to comment on free agents, but several insiders have made it clear Matsui is a priority, maybe the top priority

Strictly speaking, the Mariners don't need a shortstop. Carlos Guillen, their shortstop for most of the past four years, is expected back at full health for 2004. But the Mariners do need power and punch in the lineup, and the addition of Matsui would allow Guillen to move to third base, where he played the final six weeks of the season to ease the pressure on his side when he came back after inflammation of the pelvis.

Matsui, who hit .305 with 33 homers and 84 RBIs for Seibu, probably wouldn't be expected to produce more than 15 homers in the majors.

But, given he's a three-time Gold Glove winner and two-time stolen base champ in Japan, Seattle would settle for that. If the Mariners could play him at short, move Guillen to third and sign another of their top priorities, Raul Ibanez, to play left field, they'd have improved power and fill three positions by adding two players.

Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi isn't willing to talk about the off-season wish list. But last week at the general managers meetings in Phoenix, he made it clear he viewed Matsui as a prize.

"He projects to be a very good major-league shortstop," Bavasi said. "If you wanted to sign him, you'd get a good player."

The Mariners won't be alone in their pursuit. Anaheim, Los Angeles, Boston and the New York Yankees have indicated an interest in Matsui. But the Red Sox have Nomar Garciaparra and the Yankees have Derek Jeter, All-Star shortstops who aren't going to be moved out. They also are unlikely to be traded, although Garciaparra is on slightly less solid ground than Jeter.

Matsui has said all along it's his goal to play shortstop and he's unwilling to move to second base, and that might push the Red Sox and the Yankees out of contention. But it's always unwise to count out free spenders like Boston and New York.

Seattle's top competition for Matsui could come from the Angels and Dodgers, who come into the off-season looking for offensive boosts at shortstop. The Dodgers are not flush with cash, but the Angels' new ownership is indicating a willingness to spend to improve.

The Mariners' other Matsui-related decision will be whether or not to pursue another shortstop, former AL MVP Miguel Tejada.

In Tejada, the Mariners would be getting an established offensive force and a sometimes-flighty defender.

More than one member of the Seattle front office likes the thought of going after Tejada, even though he'll probably cost more than Matsui.

"Tejada is a known quantity," one Mariners insider said. "If you sign him, you know what he can do. There's no adjustment for him. Matsui has a tremendous upside, but there is going to be a period of adjustment."

Either way, money is going to be a factor, even though the Mariners will have a payroll at or above $95 million for 2004.

The Mariners have cost certainty on eight players under contract for next year -- Dan Wilson ($3.5 million), John Olerud ($7.7 million), Bret Boone ($8 million), Jeff Cirillo ($5.72 million), Edgar Martinez ($4 million), Jamie Moyer ($6.5 million) Kazuhiro Sasaki ($8 million) and backup first baseman Greg Colbrunn ($2.5 million). That's $45.92 million devoted to less than one-third of the roster, although the Mariners hope to move Cirillo.

The Mariners have eight players eligible for salary arbitration -- Ben Davis, Guillen, Randy Winn, Ichiro Suzuki, Freddy Garcia, Joel Pineiro, Gil Meche and Ryan Franklin. They made a combined $15.365 last season. All will get raises, and that total easily could double.

Ichiro, who made $3 million last season, is in negotiations that could bring him more than $10 million a season. Garcia, who made $6.875 million, could tack on $2 million or so. He is available -- the White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies and others have shown interest -- but won't be given away.

If the arbitration cases come in at, say, $15 million more than their combined 2003 salaries, the Mariners will have 16 players under contract at a combined estimated $75.5 million with 10 spots to fill. (Editor's Note: That figure, and those that follow, were incorrectly calculated in the original version of this story.) Of those, backup infielder Willie Bloomquist, relievers Julio Mateo and Rafael Soriano won't cost much, relatively speaking, because none made much more than the minimum last year.

Those three get the payroll to $78 million. That leaves Seattle with about $18 million to pursue Matsui, Tejada, Ibanez, and relievers Arthur Rhodes and Shigetoshi Hasegawa.

P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or johnhickey@seattlepi.com

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