'A little swagger'

Mariners counting on Henderson as leadoff man

Posted: Thursday May 18, 2000 05:59 PM SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners believe something the New York Mets didn't: Rickey Henderson is still good enough to help a team win a championship. Badly in need of help in their bid for the AL West title following the departure of Ken Griffey Jr., the Mariners brought in baseball's all-time leading base-stealer. Henderson, 41, who agreed to terms on a contract for the remainder of the season, is expected to join the Mariners Saturday or Sunday at Safeco Field against Tampa Bay. "We just feel he has something left," general manager Pat Gillick said Wednesday night during Seattle's 4-0 victory over Minnesota that gave the division-leading Mariners a 13-5 record at home. "I'm happy to see him coming over here," manager Lou Piniella said. "He's had a great career." Said Mariners star shortstop Alex Rodriguez: "He will give us a little swagger that we maybe didn't have." Henderson owns two World Series rings and has played in seven postseasons, including last year with the Mets, when he hit .315, scored 89 runs and had 37 stolen bases. The Mets released him last Saturday after he got off to a .219 start with two RBIs. It's a gamble by the Mariners, but not a financial one. The Mets will be responsible for most of Henderson's $1.9 million salary this season, with the Mariner paying a prorated percentage of the major league minimum of $200,000, about $150,000. The Mariners have a $59 million payroll and team CEO Howard Lincoln has said the team will spend between $65 million to $70 million to try to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 1997. In New York, Henderson was booed at Shea Stadium this season and wasn't a favorite of manager Bobby Valentine, a fact acknowledged by Gillick, who was Henderson's general manager in Toronto in 1993. "We know he and Bobby Valentine didn't see eye to eye," Gillick said. No problem, said Piniella, who managed Henderson in New York with the Yankees from 1986-88. "When I managed him before, he was very good with his teammates," Piniella said. For the Mariners, the only concern is whether Henderson has a future. "That's the big question," said former Mets teammate John Olerud, who left New York to become Seattle's first baseman in December. "But if he plays like he did last year, he'll definitely help us out." When Henderson arrives in Seattle, he will be immediately inserted in the lineup by Piniella as the Mariners' leadoff hitter, a role that has been filled by Mike Cameron and Mark McLemore this season. Piniella will use him as much as he can use someone of his age in left field. Stan Javier and McLemore have played that position most of the season for the Mariners. "I guess this means that I'll be batting ninth all the time now, huh?" said Cameron, who came to Seattle from Cincinnati in the Griffey trade and now has replaced Griffey in center. The fleet Cameron will play in the outfield next to Henderson. A year ago, they were National League opponents. "Bring him on, man," said Cameron, who heartily endorsed Gillick's decision to sign Henderson. "I have an opportunity to learn from a guy who leads baseball in stolen bases. He's been around long enough to know every pitcher." Henderson, a 10-time All-Star, comes to Seattle, his seventh major league team, with 2,837 career hits and 1,339 career stolen bases. "His credentials are amazing," Rodriguez said.