Mariners' moves, direction leave Ichiro hopeful

PEORIA, Ariz. -- When he agreed at the 2007 All-Star break to a five-year contract extension, Ichiro Suzuki did it with an implicit understanding the front office would make the Mariners a better team.

· Photo Gallery: Mariners at spring training

He was more than willing to stay, but he didn't want to play for a losing franchise. To that point, the Mariners had had three consecutive losing seasons but were halfway through a season that ended with them 14 games over .500.

The offseason saw the Mariners lose their right fielder, Jose Guillen, to free agency and top hitting prospect, Adam Jones, in a trade. Those moves set up the additions of starting pitchers Carlos Silva in free agency and Erik Bedard in the Jones trade.

So have the Mariners lived up to their end of the bargain?

There was no hesitation in Ichiro's answer Wednesday: Yes.

"I definitely ... feel that," the Mariners center fielder and leadoff hitter said on the first full day of workouts at spring training. "Especially with what's been done this offseason. They made the big trade, the biggest of my career as a Mariner."

To acquire Bedard, the Mariners sent Jones, lefty reliever George Sherrill and three minor league pitchers, Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio, to Baltimore. The consensus is the Orioles got excellent value for a pitcher who was a Cy Young Award candidate for most of 2007. Jones was scheduled to play right field alongside Ichiro. Now that role will be filled by free agent Brad Wilkerson, a decent hitter but a player whose upside doesn't rival that of Jones.

"In making a trade like that, we're not trying to avoid risk," Ichiro said through interpreter Ken Barron. "In my seven years here, not counting the first year (2001), this year I feel the most this club is coming together.

"It's not just because of the moves, but because of the feelings behind the moves and the understanding behind the moves."

Simply put, for the first time in a long time, Ichiro senses the Mariners have a commitment to win the AL West, not just to rebuild or try to compete.

Management believes, and Ichiro seems to concur, that Bedard, Felix Hernandez, Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn and Silva form a rotation as good as the Angels'.

Starting pitching spelled the difference in the head-to-head matchups a year ago, when the Angels finished six games up on the Mariners. Los Angeles starters were 11-5 with a 4.00 ERA against Seattle. Mariners starters were 4-12 with a 6.84 against the Angels.

"You can feel the awareness of the consequences by everyone in the organization," Ichiro said approvingly. "Usually everybody wants to win, but win for themselves.

"I feel this team wants to win for the skipper (John McLaren), the fans and for the other teammates. That feeling is vital to success."

If Ichiro sounds geared up about the 2008 season, his team is geared up about him, too.

"When you're the best player and have something to say, it means a lot," McLaren said. "I think Ichiro has moved up to where he's comfortable talking to his teammates. Before, I think he just worried about getting himself prepared for the game, not really getting into anyone else's business.

"I think now he can share things with his teammates and they can share things with him."

McLaren talked this spring about Ichiro possibly stealing 70 bases this season.

Ichiro, whose career-best 56 steals came seven years ago, chided his manager slightly, saying: "Mac has a tendency to overexaggerate and say big things. I hope he cools it."

"I could steal 70 bases. That's a definite possibility," Ichiro said. "It's a possibility if I would get thrown out 70 times. If you ran 80 times to steal 70 bases, that's not possible."

Well, actually, it is possible. Over the past two seasons, Ichiro has 82 stolen-base attempts. He's been successful 72 times. His point is that if he starts running like Rickey Henderson in his prime, he'll get lots of steals, but also run into lots of outs.

"You can change the tempo of the game," he said. "You can do it for good. Or you can do it for bad."

For the moment, Ichiro isn't willing to entertain any bad thoughts when he's feeling so good about his team.