PEORIA, Ariz.: Walk into the Mariners’ clubhouse and there is a noticeable abundance of — former Indians.
In alphabetical order: catcher Josh Bard, outfielder Milton Bradley, first baseman Ryan Garko, outfielder Franklin Gutierrez, reliever Mike Koplove and last but certainly not least, starting pitcher and former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee.
Koplove and Bard are invitees to camp with minor-league contracts. The other four players are certain to make the roster.
The surpise member of the group probably is Lee. Despite winning the Cy Young Award in 2008, he has been traded twice, by Cleveland to Philadelphia last July and by the Phillies to the Mariners during the offseason.
Lee verbalized what many Northeast Ohio fans think about trading him and C.C. Sabathia in consecutive seasons.
‘‘It’s hard to trade back-to-back Cy Young winners,” he said Tuesday. ‘‘It’s tough to make sense of that.”
Jake Westbrook said his surgically repaired right elbow was pain free in his first outing of the spring Monday, when he walked three and hit a batter in 1.1 innings. But he is uncertain whether the movement on his pitches has changed since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2008.
‘‘I wasn’t in the zone enough to tell how the hitters were reacting,” he said, referring to his lack of command. ‘‘I didn’t get too many guys swinging.”
David Huff says he’s not dwelling on the uncertainty of making the rotation. He is concentrating on getting ready for the season.
‘‘Tim Belcher (pitching coach) is a competitor,” he said. ‘‘He expects you to go out and compete. When he doesn’t seed that, he’s going to let you know.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, shut up Cliff. “Tough to make sense of that?” Really? You were already trashing the Tribe, resentful that you were shipped back to the minors in ’07, couldn’t stand Eric Wedge, and had Z-E-R-O intention of re-signing here. Same with C.C., except the trashing. You and he wanted to break the bank (I’m sure you still do!…good luck with that, Seattle).
And hey, I’m not saying you’re not a great pitcher….you’ve proven it over two seasons now. But let’s not pretend you don’t know why you were shipped out. You and your agent will be holding out for the highest bid after this campaign, and everyone knows it.
Sheldon, I’m unclear as to what you meant when you said Westbrook “is uncertain whether the movement on his pitches has changed since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2008.”
What kind of difference were you inquiring about? Better or worse?