Former All-Star hopes he can make Seattle’s rotation

Received by Newsfinder from APFeb 28, 2005 11:53 Eastern Time * Photo Advisory Y By JIM COURAP Sports WriterPEORIA, Ariz. (AP) _ Veteran right-hander Aaron Sele, a former All-Star who helped Seattle break the American League record with 116 victories in 2001, thinks he can help the Mariners again. Coming off 99 losses and a last-place finish, the Mariners can use all the help they can get this season. “If he’s pitching to his ability, we would be a better team with him in our rotation,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. Sele, 34, signed a contract in January that could earn him as much as $1.1 million. He’ll get a $700,000, one-year contract if he’s added to the major league roster and would be able to earn another $400,000 in performance bonuses. The big question for Sele: does he have enough left in his surgically repaired pitching shoulder to pitch to his ability? “They went in there and cleaned it up, and took care of all that,” he said, recalling an October 2002 operation he underwent to repair a torn rotator cuff and a couple of torn cuff muscles. Sele says he’s going to do his best to pitch a 13th season in the major leagues. He pitched with Boston from 1993-97, won 19 games with Texas in 1998 and 18 more with the Rangers in 1999. “My goal right now is to come out and show them that I’m healthy,” he said. “That’s what I was told, ‘Show us you’re healthy and we’ll make our decision from there.’ We’ll see what happens.” In Sele’s first stint with the Mariners in 2000-2001, he went 17-10 and became an All-Star for a second time in the first season. He went 15-5 in the second. Then Mariners let him go as a free agent, and he signed a $24 million, three-year contract with Anaheim. The Angels won the 2002 World Series, but Sele wasn’t on their postseason roster because of a shoulder injury that turned out to be torn rotator cuff. He was 8-9 in his first season in Anaheim. “I probably shouldn’t have been out there for the last month,” he said. “But when you want to help your team, it’s hard to really sit yourself down and be honest and say, ‘Hey, I need to have surgery.”’ The Mariners want Sele to start the season for them in April. “He has a track record of winning games,” Price said. “The expectation of him to come out there and put together an ERA of two and a half to make the team isn’t what we’re looking for. We’re really pleased to have him back.” After Sele’s shoulder surgery, he went 7-11 in 2003 and 9-4 in 2004 with the Angels, but his ERAs were 5.77 and 5.05, respectively. In 24 starts and 132 innings last season, the 6-foot-5, 230-pounder allowed a .310 batting average against him. When Sele pitched with the Mariners before, he topped out at 86-90 mph compared to 85-88 mph last season. “He’s pitching with a little less velocity, but with a lot more knowledge,” Price said. “I never threw hard so I don’t have to worry about that,” Sele said. “I’m not going to overpower anybody with my fastball. Pitching really comes down to location anyway.” Price thinks Sele tried to come back and pitch too soon after his surgery. He said Sele pitched well against the Mariners last season, but suffered because he went back and forth between the Angels’ rotation and the bullpen. “That’s tough for anybody,” Price said. Sele agreed. “I had very inconsistent opportunities,” he said. “Even if you’re 100 percent healthy, which I think I was, you’re not going to throw well.” Sele says he’s happy to be back in Seattle. He grew up in Poulsbo, pitched at Washington State and has lived in Bellevue for the past six years. “It was a little three-year vacation,” he said, “but we’re back.”