The Mariners' 10 worst free-agent signings

In the Mariners' early days, when the roof was permanent and the grass was fake, owner George Argyros had a foolproof method of avoiding the sort of free-agent flameout that threatens to make Jeff Weaver an $8.3 million albatross.

He didn't sign them. Worked beautifully, too.

And even when Argyros did try to lure a big free agent, Seattle was considered such a vast baseball wasteland in those days that few even entertained the notion.

His owner brethren, emboldened by visions of buying their way to the World Series, were quickly bemoaning foolhardy signings that brought tears to their eyes, and red ink to their checkbooks.

Eventually, the Mariners caved in to reality and began venturing into the free-agent market with the same gusto as everyone else. And while they have some solid success stories — Bret Boone worked out quite nicely, as have Raul Ibanez and Kenji Johjima, and Pat Gillick's six-man free-agent class of 2000 was a 6-for-6 masterstroke — they have the inevitable clunkers to rue.

In the spirit of Weaver — trying to resurrect his season after an 0-6 start that made him Public Enemy No. 1 to Mariners fans — we offer the 10 worst free-agent signings in franchise history.

"It's like buying a pre-owned car," former manager Dusty Baker once said of free agency. "You're taking a chance on the transmission going bad, or that the car was in a car wreck. Or you can get an outstanding car with low mileage. You just don't know."

We're not concerned with gleaming Ferraris and mint Porsches. Not today. It's time to take a look at the Mariners' dented Pintos and beat-up Gremlins.

Just about their only free agent of prominence in the early Argyros era was Gaylord Perry, signed in 1982 in a blatant attempt to piggyback on the attention given Perry's pursuit of his 300th victory. Argyros also explored signing Pete Rose in 1984, when Rose was close to Ty Cobb's career-hit record, but Argyros was talked out of it.

Perry did indeed rack up his 300th for the Mariners, but that historic occasion was outdrawn at the Kingdome — true story — by their funny- nose-and-glasses promotion. Perhaps it was a harbinger of the often-false expectations that a newly minted free agent will turn around a team's fortunes and lure fans to the park in droves.

The Mariners, mind you, have never had one of those spectacular, big-money washouts that live in the annals of baseball history as a cautionary tale.

Yes, Carl Pavano, we're talking about you. And you, Darren Dreifort, Denny Neagle, Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park, Mike Hampton, Nick Esasky, Mark Davis, Jaime Navarro, Bobby Bonilla, Kevin Appier and Don Stanhouse.

But the Mariners have had more than their share of keen disappointments, chronic underachievers, and pure flameouts.

First, a few words about who's not on the list.

Some fans will be surprised to not see Richie Sexson, but despite his current struggles and perpetual slow starts, it's hard to label someone a "bust" when he averaged 37 home runs and 114 runs batted in over his first two seasons. Overvalued, yes. Bust, no. But check back if he doesn't pull out of his current tailspin.

Same goes for Adrian Beltre, whose statistics his first two years were about on par with, if not better than, the bulk of his Dodgers career, save for 2004, when he erupted to hit .334, with 48 homers and 121 RBI. Based on that standard, perhaps he's a bust, but that's an unrealistic standard.

You won't find Jeff Cirillo on this list, even though his acquisition in a December 2001 trade — in which the Mariners assumed his recent four-year, $29 million contract extension — was close to a de facto signing.

For their troubles, the Mariners got two perplexing, underachieving seasons from Cirillo — and the extra distress of giving up an eventual All-Star closer in Brian Fuentes in the trade.

And you won't find Richie Zisk, who arrived in Seattle under similar circumstances to Cirillo, as part of a trade with Texas (which also brought the soon-to-be-legendary Mario Mendoza).

The Mariners assumed Zisk's 10-year contract — yes, 10 years! They got two solid seasons, and one not-solid season, from Zisk before a serious knee injury ended his career after 1983. The Mariners ate the remainder of his contract, one of their first tastes of bust à la mode.

There is a temptation to put Dave Stapleton on the list, just to point out one of the most impressive downward career arcs in baseball history: After hitting .321 in 1980 for the Red Sox, Stapleton's average declined every season in his seven-year career, bottoming out at .128 in 1986.

The Mariners signed him in 1987, and in a way the trend continued. He never made it out of camp before being released, and eventually retiring. Stapleton, however, cost Seattle little. Furthermore, he was never counted on by the Mariners, and thereby doesn't meet even the minimal standards of flophood.

In compiling this list, we weighed more than just money, because the salary explosion in the past decade makes it hard to compare busts across eras. Expectations played a big factor — players who were counted upon to be major contributors and instead were major disappointments.

And here they are:

10 Dennis Martinez

1997. One year, $250,000, plus incentives.

With an offensive team for the ages — Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner, all in their prime — the Mariners were desperate to round out the starting rotation.

So they took a flyer on the 41-year-old El Presidente, a veteran of 20 major-league seasons with 240 wins to his credit.

"Sure, the Mariners are taking a chance," Dennis Martinez told reporters in Peoria, Ariz. "But what if I win between 10 and 15 games and help us get into the World Series? Everyone will say it's a bargain."

As it turned out, Martinez won between 0 and 2 games, and no one said he was a bargain. Specifically, Martinez was 1-5 with a 7.71 earned-run average in nine starts. And on May 24, El Presidente was impeached, given his unconditional release and replaced on the staff by Maddux.

Mike Maddux, that is.

9 Milt Wilcox

1986. One year, $150,000, plus incentives.

With a promising young pitching staff that included Mark Langston, Mike Moore and Matt Young, the Mariners envisioned Wilcox giving them solid veteran leadership.

"If I pitch like I did in 1984, I think I can help make up a 10-game deficit in the standings," Wilcox said.

But just two years removed from winning 17 games for the World Series champion Tigers in 1984, Wilcox was miserable — an 0-8 record and 5.50 ERA — and so were the Mariners.

When Chuck Cottier was fired in May and replaced by Dick Williams, it was apparent Wilcox was a goner. First relegated to the bullpen, he was released in June as part of a veteran purge that saw Gorman Thomas and Al Cowens also get the ax.

8 Jarrod Washburn

2006. Four years, $37.5 million

It's premature to call Washburn a washout based just on his initial, 14-loss season with the Mariners. He has had a promising start to 2007 and still has time to vindicate this signing.

But it's fair to question the wisdom, even in today's wacky market, of giving a four-year, top-of-the-rotation deal to a pitcher who had only one true standout season — in 2002.

7 Mike "Tiny" Felder

1993. Two years, $1.8 million.

General manager Woody Woodward trumpeted the signings of Felder and pitcher Chris Bosio as the dawn of a new Mariners era.

"The mentality that Seattle isn't the best place to be has changed," Woodward said.

Bosio pitched a no-hitter and was a key factor in 1995. Tiny Felder came up small. Signed to be the leadoff man and everyday left fielder 20 days after Lou Piniella was hired as manager ("Let me tell you, he's an exciting player," Piniella gushed), Felder hit .211, lost his job, and was traded to Houston in an ill-fated trade for Eric Anthony.

The Mariners threw into that deal minor-league pitcher Mike Hampton, who blossomed into an All-Star, before becoming a legendary free-agent bust himself with the Rockies.

6 (tie) Rich Aurilia

2003. One year, $3.5 million.

Carl Everett

2006. One year, $4 million.

Neither player made it through a year. Aurilia was supposed to bring veteran leadership, Everett was to be a fiery presence to shake up the clubhouse. What really mattered, in the end, was that neither one hit.

Aurilia was designated for assignment in July and traded (given away) to the Padres. He eventually resurrected his career with two solid years in Cincinnati. When Everett was cut in July, he ranked 85th out of 86 American League players in batting average, at .227. He has resurfaced recently with the independent Long Island Ducks.

5 Pete O'Brien

1990. Four years, $7.6 million.

It's fair to say that O'Brien was the Mariners' first big-money free agent as new owner Jeff Smulyan tried to prove his regime was serious about competing.

Yes, this was big money in 1990. And O'Brien was mostly, but not completely, a big disappointment. His first year, he started out 4 for 31, missed a month with a broken thumb and finished at .224, with a mere 27 runs batted in.

O'Brien rebounded to drive in 88 runs in 1991, but slumped to .222 in '92, was released in July 1993, then retired.

On a brighter note, he was credited with nurturing Ken Griffey Jr. in his early years. And O'Brien's roster spot was taken by a kid third baseman named Edgar Martinez, coming off the disabled list.

4 Pokey Reese

2005. One year, $1.2 million.

Reese deserves special recognition for never playing a single game with the Mariners. In fact, his entire presence in the organization might have been a mirage.

A brilliant defensive shortstop fresh off winning Boston's first World Series in 86 years, Reese was expected to combine with Bret Boone to form a dynamite double-play combo.

But Boone himself was cut in July, while Reese never got over a shoulder injury that originally was believed to be relatively minor. Two surgeries later, his year was wiped out and his Mariners tenure ended without a single at-bat.

In 2006, the Florida Marlins signed Reese with similar visions, but he abruptly left their camp during spring training, causing the Marlins to terminate his contract. Pokey hasn't been seen since.

3 Jeff Weaver

2007. One year, $8.3 million.

Not much explanation needed. A look at the stats tells the story: an 0-6 record with a 14.32 ERA in his first six starts. Rarely in Mariners history has one player coalesced so much negative energy in his direction — perhaps not since Bobby Ayala.

The Mariners still hope for a revival from Weaver, who in two starts since a month-long stint on the disabled list has a 3.60 ERA over 10 innings in a pair of no-decisions.

2 Scott Spiezio

2003. Three years, $9.15 million

Spiezio was monumentally unproductive from beginning to end of his Seattle tenure. He lost his third-base job in '03, when he hit .215, then shrank into oblivion in '04, when he hit .064 before the Mariners ate more than $3 million by giving Spiezio his release.

"We'd wrung the rag of opportunity dry," said GM Bill Bavasi, unwittingly coining a great name for a rock band: The Rags of Opportunity.

Spiezio hasn't stopped bad-mouthing the Mariners since, either. Spiezio has resurrected his career in St. Louis, winning a second World Series ring in 2006 and getting a two-year, $4.5 million contract. In spring training this year, he said he advised Weaver not to sign with Seattle.

"I flat-out told him he was going to hate it," Spiezio said. "I don't know what he was thinking. Based on my experience, he will hate it. He'll hate everything about it."

1 Greg Hibbard

1994. Three years, $6.75 million.

"The Mariners are going to love him," enthused pitching coach Billy Connors, who watched Hibbard win 15 games for the Cubs in 1993.

And they might have, too, had Hibbard not been undone by a torn rotator cuff midway through his first season in Seattle.

At that point, Hibbard was 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA trying to play through the pain. He never threw another pitch in the majors.

Hibbard inadvertently made a small contribution to the magic of 1995 when the Mariners cleverly manipulated the roster rules during the postseason. They replaced his spot with rookie Bob Wolcott, who won Game 1 of the AL Championship Series over Cleveland.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com