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Friday, January 9, 2004
M's add offense in Aurilia
Seattle signs ex-Giants shortstop, then trades Guillen to Detroit
The Mariners yesterday signed free-agent shortstop Rich Aurilia to a one-year, $3.5 million contract and then traded shortstop Carlos Guillen to the Detroit Tigers.
Guillen, who was limited to 109 games last season because of injuries, was exchanged for shortstop Ramon Santiago and minor-league shortstop Juan Gonzalez.
Mariners executive vice president and general manager Bill Bavasi said the addition of Aurilia brings postseason experience to the Mariners and improves the team's offense.
Aurilia, a nine-year veteran, played in the 2000 divisional series with the San Francisco Giants and hit .367 in 49 postseason at-bats in a 2002 run that ended when Anaheim won the seventh game of the World Series.
"I don't know if you could have gotten closer to winning the World Series," Aurilia said yesterday at Safeco Field. "As a person so close, you want to go somewhere where you can get back and hopefully win."
Guillen, 28, has hit .264 in six major league seasons, all with the Mariners. But injuries limited him to just two complete seasons.
The Mariners re-signed Guillen -- who came to Seattle in the 1998 trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Houston Astros -- to a one-year, $2.5 million contract Dec. 14.
"It's apparent that Carlos is not afraid to play. He's not soft, he's not any of those things except not lucky health-wise," Bavasi said. "When we signed him it was to be our starting shortstop. This is not a way to run Carlos out of here."
The Mariners did, however, pursue free-agent shortstop Miguel Tejada and agreed to trade Guillen to Cleveland for Omar Vizquel. But the deal was called off because Vizquel failed a physical.
Aurilia's best season was 2001, when he hit .324 with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs. He had health problems last season (a dry-eye condition and an appendectomy). Still, he hit .277 with 13 home runs in 129 games.
The dry eye, Aurilia said, had to do with his contacts and the air quality and wind in San Francisco. Doctors cauterized a tear duct as a quick-fix during the season, but Aurilia said he underwent laser eye surgery three months ago to correct his vision and no longer wears contacts.
Santiago, a 24-year-old who hit .225 with two homers and 29 RBIs in 141 games, will back up Aurilia.
"The tandem there allows us to move Carlos to a club and it creates a situation where we have a shortstop (Aurilia) and a backup (Santiago), and it brings more players into the system for inventory," Bavasi said.
The move also puts the final touch on the overhauled left side of the field. The team added third baseman Scott Spiezio and left fielder Raul Ibanez.
Last year's left fielder, Randy Winn, will move to center.
With the trade of Guillen and the Mariners' decision to not re-sign center fielder Mike Cameron, Bavasi's moves may have downgraded the defense, which last year set major-league season records for fewest errors (65) and highest fielding percentage (.989).
"You're going to have a pretty successful time arguing that, if you want," Bavasi said. "The left side of the infield is real similar -- different faces and different styles. With Randy, until he goes out there and plays every day, until June probably, he's going to get short-changed."
Aurilia, who committed 13 errors last year in 129 games to Guillen's 14, considers himself an "above-average" fielder.
"What does the media say? Limited range, average arm. I'm not going to be the type of shortstop to make top-10 plays on ESPN," he said. "But I study our own pitchers and the hitters on the other team. I position myself well. I take a lot of pride in my defense, and I work hard at it."
Bavasi said he believes any defensive drop-off will be offset by better offense.
"(Aurilia) is a pretty good player. His numbers per at-bat are good. I think maybe on a one-year upside, Rich might bring a little more (than Guillen), but a lot of it is just experience and bringing new life to the infield, to the lineup and also adding the other player," he said.
In 2001, Aurilia joined Ernie Banks, Cal Ripken Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra as the only shortstops to hit .300 with 30 HRs.
"My own personal expectation is to be somewhere between (2001) and last year," Aurilia said. "It's nice to know I was capable of that, though. But I expect to be one of the top offensive shortstops in baseball."
RICH AURILIA'S MAJOR-LEAGUE CAREER
| YEAR | TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1995 | Giants | 9 | 19 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .474 | .476 | .947 | 1.423 |
| 1996 | Giants | 105 | 318 | 27 | 76 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 25 | 52 | 4 | .239 | .295 | .296 | .591 |
| 1997 | Giants | 46 | 102 | 16 | 28 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 1 | .275 | .321 | .500 | .821 |
| 1998 | Giants | 122 | 413 | 54 | 110 | 27 | 2 | 9 | 49 | 31 | 62 | 3 | .266 | .319 | .407 | .726 |
| 1999 | Giants | 152 | 558 | 68 | 157 | 23 | 1 | 22 | 80 | 43 | 71 | 2 | .281 | .336 | .444 | .780 |
| 2000 | Giants | 141 | 509 | 67 | 138 | 24 | 2 | 20 | 79 | 54 | 90 | 1 | .271 | .339 | .444 | .783 |
| 2001 | Giants | 156 | 636 | 114 | 206 | 37 | 5 | 37 | 97 | 47 | 83 | 1 | .324 | .369 | .572 | .941 |
| 2002 | Giants | 133 | 538 | 76 | 138 | 35 | 2 | 15 | 61 | 37 | 90 | 1 | .257 | .305 | .413 | .718 |
| 2003 | Giants | 129 | 505 | 65 | 140 | 26 | 1 | 13 | 58 | 36 | 82 | 2 | .277 | .325 | .410 | .735 |
| Total | Giants | 993 | 3598 | 491 | 1002 | 190 | 14 | 126 | 473 | 282 | 547 | 16 | .278 | .331 | .444 | .775 |
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