SEATTLE, Washington, 10 January 2004 — The Seattle Mariners completed their upgrade at shortstop Thursday by signing free agent Rich Aurilia to a one-year, $3.5 million contract.
The Mariners will use Aurilia in place of Carlos Guillen, who was traded to the Detroit Tigers for infielders Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez.
Guillen signed a one-year contract with the Mariners last month but became expendable with the addition of Aurilia.
“When we signed Carlos, it was with the idea that he would be our starting shortstop. The Rich Aurilia signing today changes that,” Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said. “And with that in mind, we thought the fairest thing we could do was move him to an everyday player opportunity while protecting ourselves.”
Aurilia, 32, was paid $5.25 million last season by the San Francisco Giants and hit .277 with 13 homers and 58 RBI while battling through a trio of ailments.
The Giants were 81-42 when Aurilia was in the lineup, but he missed time with a contact lens problem, an abdominal strain and an emergency appendectomy. He did not commit an error in 105 of the final 111 games he played and hit .312 after the All-Star break.
Aurilia is four years older than Guillen but has a higher career batting average (.278 to .264) and has more homers (126) and RBI (473). The Mariners have been pursuing Aurilia since mid-December, when a potential trade with Cleveland for Omar Vizquel was nullified when Vizquel failed a physical. Aurilia has spent his entire career with the Giants and had his best season in 2001, when he hit .324 with 37 homers and 97 RBI and was voted to the National League All-Star team.
Aurilia helped San Francisco win the 2002 NL pennant, hitting .333 in the NL Championship Series against St. Louis and .250 in the World Series against Anaheim.
Knee Ailment Could Spell End of Vaughn’s Baseball Career
Meanwhile, veteran first baseman Mo Vaughn will miss the 2004 baseball season with a degenerative knee condition that could spell the end of his major league career. The New York Mets announced Thursday that Vaughn won’t play this year, and the player himself appeared to hold only a remote hope of returning at all. “I don’t want to mislead anyone,” Vaughn said. “It doesn’t look good at all for playing, but you never know.”
Vaughn, 36, appeared in just 27 games last season and did not play after May 2. He hit just .190 with three homers and 15 RBI. Vaughn originally was scheduled to report to spring training next month, but he and the Mets decided against that when it became apparent that he had no chance of playing this season. But Vaughn’s agent, Jeff Moorad, refused to say his client had officially retired. “We are not holding out great hope Mo will play again, but we stop short of announcing he is retiring,” Moorad said. “It may ultimately be that.”
Devil Rays Sign Huff to Three-Year Contract
Aubrey Huff, who produced the best offensive season in Tampa Devil Rays history in 2003, was rewarded with a three-year, $14.5 million contract Thursday. The deal marks the largest commitment by the Devil Rays to one of their homegrown players. The 27-year-old Huff set franchise records for batting average (.311) and RBI (107) and tied the club record with 34 homers in 2003, his first full year in baseball’s major leagues.
