Sasaki wants out of contract

Sasaki, the club's career saves leader with 129 in four seasons, has chosen his family over his contractual obligations, according to his agent, Tony Attanasio.



	Kazuhiro Sasaki wraps it up, ending his stint with the Mariners.

"There is no easy way to say it," Attanasio said yesterday. "There's a personal family situation. He has two kids and a wife who have to be taken into account, and that's what he intends to do.

"Kaz will not pitch in the U.S. next year. He'd like to pitch in Japan."

Sasaki's wife, Kaori, has never been comfortable living in the United States. As a result, she and the couple's two children, daughter Reina and son Shogo, spent much of 2003 in Japan. At one point last season, Sasaki left the team briefly to return to Japan.

Apparently, he's going to make that move permanent.

The Mariners were close to announcing a three-year contract for right-handed starting pitcher Joel Pineiro, but the club pushed back finalization of the deal until today once the Sasaki story broke.

Pineiro, who went 16-11 last season and who is 37-20 with a 3.38 career ERA, will take home about $14.5 million by the time the contract is complete. He has turned into a workhorse for Seattle the past two seasons, averaging 200 innings per year.

According to Attanasio, Sasaki's return to the Japanese leagues will depend in large measure upon the Mariners, who would be freed from a total financial obligation of $9.5 million over two years.

"We're still trying to figure this all out," one Mariners executive said. "This is as much a surprise to us as to anyone. We don't know yet what we'll do. What we know so far has come second-hand from the agent."

Seattle probably won't contest Sasaki's move, given general manager Bill Bavasi's statement last month that "we don't want to have anybody playing here who doesn't want to be here." Bavasi was talking at the time about since-traded third baseman Jeff Cirillo, but the principle remains the same.

"I don't know anything beyond there are personal family issues," Bavasi said last night, "and I really don't need anything else. Certain things are our business, and certain things are not. If he has personal family issues, we'll try to try accommodate him.

"He wants to sever the obligations the club has to him and he has to the club. My reaction is that I'm surprised. But life presents twists and turns along the way, and major league players are not immune to that. It's faint surprise; I'm not shocked by anything."

Seattle has ready backups in the closer's role in former Twins closer Eddie Guardado, setup man Rafael Soriano and Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who was the closer most of last year.

Bavasi said the signing of Guardado, who has 40 or more saves each of the past two years with Minnesota, was in no way an anticipation of a Sasaki departure.

"When we signed Guardado, we didn't think this was going to be the case," Bavasi said.

At least from a financial point of view, the Mariners have to like the prospect of freeing up $8 million. In addition to Sasaki's base salary, he has $500,000 in easily attainable incentives and a buyout for his option year in 2005.

The Mariners are maxed out on their payroll at about $95 million, and the money from the Sasaki contract is a windfall.

That doesn't mean the Mariners can go sign a free agent or use the money as leverage in a trade.

"The money attached to his contract is in place," Bavasi said. "He is still on our roster. That will remain so until such time as he is a free agent or he is released to sign with another club. At this point, (using the money elsewhere) is not part of the discussion."

There is much about the process that is unknown, given that players don't generally walk away from $8 million guaranteed contracts. Because of that, getting Sasaki his divorce from the Mariners is likely to take at least three or four weeks.

Pitchers and catchers report to Peoria, Ariz., on Feb. 20 for spring training. There's a chance Sasaki could still be a Mariner at that time.

"As a contracted player, he's reserved to us," Bavasi said. "As of today, he'll report to camp with the pitchers and catchers. But we know what his wishes are and we will do our best to accommodate him."

Until they know definitively that Sasaki, the 2000 American League Rookie of the Year, is not part of their future, the Mariners won't be able to look at other uses for the money.

Under baseball rules, even if the Mariners released him, they would still owe him the $8 million, which is guaranteed.

The other side of the coin, Sasaki can't pitch in Japan until the Mariners let him out of his contract.

"This is going to be long process," Attanasio said. "There's lots of procedure, lots of documentation that has be dealt with. This isn't a situation like any I've ever had to deal with."

In addition to the player, the club and the agent, other interested parties include the commissioner's office and the Major League Baseball Players Association, both of which will weigh in on the subject. Attanasio said he's already been in contact with the commissioner's office and the players' union.

"There's no precedent for this that I know of," Bavasi said. "I won't speculate as to what could happen."

Seattle could wait for Sasaki to not show up for spring training, then put him on the suspended list or the reserve list. They would then have no obligation to pay him, although the players' union has a long history of fighting suspensions.

"I don't think that's going to happen," Attanasio said. "The Mariners, to their credit, want to cooperate."

Bavasi has talked only to Attanasio and not to Sasaki, who is in Japan. But the GM seems convinced Sasaki won't be backtracking anytime soon.

Only 10 of Sasaki's 129 saves as a Mariner came in 2003. He was injured most of the year and lost the closer's job to Hasegawa.

Even after the club signed Guardado, the plan was for Sasaki to be the closer.

Guardado is the likely choice to do the closing, but that job could still go to Hasegawa, who had saves in 16 of 17 chances last year. Soriano, seen as the closer of the future, could find his future is now. Both Hasegawa and Soriano are right-handed.

Much will depend on whether the Mariners are satisfied with the rest of their left-handed relief corps. They don't want to go into the season with their only left-handed reliever being the closer.

NOTES: Assistant general manager Lee Pelekoudas wouldn't confirm the Pineiro deal was complete. "We haven't quite finalized it yet," Pelekoudas said. Nothing's official." ... When the Pineiro deal becomes official, the only unsigned arbitration-eligible player on the roster will be right-handed starter Gil Meche. The Mariners talked with Meche yesterday, and it's not inconceivable a deal could be worked out before arbitration figures have to be announced later today. ... Although Sasaki pitched his entire Japanese professional career with Yokohama, there was no immediate indication he wanted to return there, assuming he is free from his Mariners contract.

SO LONG, SASAKI

Kazuhiro Sasaki spent four seasons with the Mariners, posting a 7-16 career record, 3.14 earned-run average and 129 saves in 151 opportunities. His year-by-year performances and career highlights:

YR G W-L ERA SV

2000 63 2-5 3.16 37

2001 69 0-4 3.24 45

2002 61 4-5 2.52 37

2003 35 1-2 4.05 10

TOT 228 7-16 3.14 129