Poll his fellow agents and they will acknowledge Scott Boras is among the smartest men in baseball. Ask general managers he consistently pins to the mat in contract tussles and they will say the same.
Players, coaches, managers, and sportswriters who have spent substantial time talking with Boras all grow tongue-tied when asked to name a smarter man in the industry.
Yet, even Boras, the former minor leaguer who makes a habit of negotiating record-breaking contracts was way off the mark in forecasting the fortunes of the 2001 Mariners.
Based on the above remark, Boras anticipated the Mariners would crash and burn after losing A-Rod via free agency to the Texas Rangers. He wasn’t alone.
Here were are, a few days from the halfway point of the 162-game baseball season and wonder of wonders, the Mariners remain in contention . . . for the most regular-season wins in baseball history.
The 1906 Chicago Cubs went 116-36 for a winning percentage of .763. Heading into the weekend, the Mariners, playing a 162-game schedule, were on pace to win 119 games, a recent slump notwithstanding.
The architect of Seattle’s most remarkable wonder since the Space Needle is Pat Gillick. He is something of a mysterious man whose slow, side-to-side gait more than hints at self-satisfaction, even arrogance. His walk is as misleading as the forecasts of doom were for the 2001 Mariners.
In a profession packed with thin-skinned, egomaniacal, relentless self-promoters, Gillick grows almost bashful and sincerely so when others throw bouquets of credit his way. He built the Blue Jays into back-to-back World Champions, constructed an Orioles powerhouse, and moved onto Seattle, charged with making sure the franchise didn’t go the way of the Kingdome and implode.
Most stories told about the 2001 Mariners, baseball’s first team to win 20 games in the month of April, begin with a nod to how they have managed this remarkable start “despite” losing superstars Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez in a four-year period.
A better way to say it would be they have done so in part because of losing the superstars whose talent demanded they tie up too large a chunk of the payroll.
Woody Woodward started the new-look Mariners in motion by dealing Randy Johnson to the Astros during the 1998 season.
Gillick took the baton from there and man did he run with it. He ran neither from criticism nor toward credit. He always stuck with his plan, which was to give Lou Piniella a roster customized to fit spacious Safeco Field and the style the manager prefers.
Gillick acquired speedy outfielders and packed the bullpen, once the bane of the Mariners’ championship hopes, with power arms.
Gillick spread Japanese ownership’s money saved on parting ways with superstars all the way into Japan to pick up closer Kazuhiro Sasaki and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, a pair of sure All-Stars.
“Lou really likes this type of club,” Gillick said. “I think because of the Kingdome and A-Rod, Griffey, (Jay) Buhner and Edgar (Martinez), a lot of people thought Lou was a guy wanted to shoot it out all the time. Lou is more of a speed hit and run type guy. With this park, you’ve got to be more of a line drive, put the ball in play hitter. If you swing for the fences, you’re going to come up short.”
Defensively, the team suits Safeco as well.
“You’ve got to be pretty athletic to play here,” Gillick said. “The guy in right is an excellent defensive player and the guy in center is better than we anticipated defensively and offensively.”
The guy in right is Suzuki, on pace to get 256 hits. Unlike Griffey and A-Rod, he has no problem with hitting at Safeco. The guy in center is Mike Cameron, a man who produces highlights chasing flies in all directions.
Griffey took far less than the market price to play for his hometown Reds. Even so, he earns a higher salary than Cameron and Suzuki combined, which is just one illustration of how the M’s were able to get better, not worse in the wake of losing the three biggest stars in franchise history.
In exchange for Johnson, the Mariners received front-line starter Freddy Garcia, back-end-of-the-rotation left-hander John Halama and shortstop Carlos Guillen.
For Griffey, the M’s received Cameron and flop Brett Tomko.
A-Rod received $252 million over 10 seasons from the Rangers.
With the money freed by the departure of marquee players, Gillick the past two winters signed the following major free agents, listed in order of value to the team: Suzuki, Sasaki, Bret Boone, Aaron Sele, John Olerud, Jeff Nelson, Arthur Rhodes.
Brilliant moves, every one of them.
(Chart: Ichiro by the Numbers)