Aurilia designated for assignment; Melvin says more moves coming

CHICAGO -- The Mariners made another in a series of moves toward the future Saturday when they designated veteran shortstop Rich Aurilia for assignment, opening a spot on the roster to activate left fielder Raul Ibanez from the disabled list.

The club now has 10 days to trade nine-year veteran Aurilia, release him or outright him to the minor leagues. Unless he lands with another big league club, Aurilia will continue to receive the rest of his one-year, $3.15 million contract from Seattle.

Manager Bob Melvin said that this move and the trade of Freddy Garcia 10 days ago aren't the end. More turnover can be expected.

"This means we've started a process we needed to start. We've got a black cloud over us and we have to get from under it," Melvin said. "We're going to look at kids and find out who is part of next year, and we're going to do it in the next few months. We're fortunate, because we don't need to have a three-year plan. This team can compete - next season."

That being said, Melvin noted that for the right team - a potential post-season team -- Aurilia could be a good fit.

"For me, we're starting a process we need to start," Melvin said. "There's nothing against Rich. I hope Rich lands on his feet, with maybe a National League club that's competing. I hope he gets into a situation where he is in a pennant race."

Aurilia said he'd been expecting this for about a week when the Mariners got to July without any improvement in their overall level of play.

He'd been playing better, but that improvement hasn't been reflected in the team's performance and the club has decided it needs to look at rookie Justin Leone at shortstop as Seattle gears up toward 2005.

"I've hit better the last month or six weeks, and I think I've hit like .300 the last three weeks," Aurilia said. "I think I can help someone who's contending, and I hope they'll take a chance."

As for the Mariners, Aurilia remains as confused as ever as to why the team has not been able to win.

"It's a good clubhouse, a bunch of good players and a good coaching staff," Aurilia said. "I don't know why it all didn't fit. I enjoyed being here. I enjoyed playing for Bob Melvin and his staff. It's such a combination of things.

"Anyone who criticizes Bob hasn't played the game. The bottom line, always, is the players win or lose, and we all know that in this clubhouse there are 25 guys who didn't perform like they could have. We didn't do the job. If we'd played the way we're capable of, if we'd won the games we should have won, this would never have happened."

For their part, the Mariners didn't try to make Aurilia take more blame for the team's 20-games-under-.500 performance than was his due. General manager Bill Bavasi said this move dated back to the Mariners' decision to trade away the shortstop of the last three seasons, Carlos Guillen, in the hope of getting more veteran experience and more power with Aurilia.

"It was tough to tell him (of the move) for a lot of reasons," Bavasi said. "Richie is a nice guy; he's an accomplished veteran. I told him he wasn't in the mix for next year, and that we've got to look young.

"Going into the season, we believed Carlos and Richie were similar players and that Carlos hadn't stayed healthy. We gambled and lost, and that's not fun."

Guillen has been enjoying the best year of his career with Detroit while Aurilia was hitting .241 with four homers and 28 RBIs at the time of the move.

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