Mariners' transformation startlingly quick

SEATTLE - The Mariners took a victory lap around their stadium following their season finale. They carried superstars Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki off the field on their shoulders. They drenched each other in beer while screaming inside the clubhouse shower room.

Wait ... did Seattle just win a pennant?

No, it was just a raucous celebration for a third-place team that was one of only 13 teams since 1901 to finish with a winning record the year after losing 100 games.

"A whole lot of love. A whole lot of feeling of support," said a soaked 39-year-old Griffey, whose return to Seattle was a success far beyond 19 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .214 average in 117 games mostly as a designated hitter with a bad knee. "I don't know how to describe it. It's unbelievable."

Of those other dozen turnaround teams, only the 1989 Baltimore Orioles and the 1967 Chicago Cubs had more than Seattle's 85 victories this season. Those Orioles and Cubs had 87 wins.

"This season makes me not even remember last season," said Suzuki. The franchise's cornerstone was miserable in 2008 while his Mariners lost 101 games, fired their general manager and manager and bickered inside a fractured clubhouse.

First-time GM Jack Zduriencik remade the roster, revitalizing the franchise by cleansing a formerly toxic team chemistry.

"There wasn't one guy on this roster that someone didn't like," Griffey said. "You can tell by how many beer showers there were."

Suzuki finished another exquisite season with a major league-leading 225 hits. He set a major league record with his ninth straight 200-hit season, surpassing Hall of Famer Willie Keeler (1894-1901). Suzuki is the only player in major league history with five consecutive 220-hit years.

Yet he was more fulfilled by the environment Griffey and veteran Mike Sweeney created inside the clubhouse.

"We have great teammates, a great manager -- great everyone," Suzuki said through an interpreter Sunday.

Zduriencik's trade of former All-Star closer J.J. Putz netted Franklin Gutierrez, a defensive whiz who had a career year offensively.

He signed nomadic Russell Branyan, whose career high of 31 home runs gave Seattle desperately needed power.

A deal that was a one-line transaction last winter -- trading a minor leaguer to Boston for reliever David Aardsma -- resulted in Aardsma saving 38 games. That was third-most in Seattle history, behind Putz's 40 in 2007 and the 45 by Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2001, Seattle's last time in the postseason.

Zduriencik brought back Griffey with a one-year deal, and signed Sweeney after most thought his career was over following an injury-shortened 2008 in Oakland.

He hired Don Wakamatsu, who had been the bench coach in Oakland.

Wakamatsu turned Seattle into a team built on pitching, defense and the manufacturing of runs. The Mariners led the AL in sacrifice bunts and set a team record with 34 one-run wins.

Wakamatsu called out ace Felix Hernandez in spring training for being sloppy and again in mid-May for not stepping up in a lackadaisical loss to the Angels.

The 23-year-old responded by going 15-2 with a 1.98 ERA over the rest of the season. He finished 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA, second in the AL to the 2.16 of Kansas City's Zack Greinke, among his competitors in the Cy Young Award race.

Wakamatsu became the third manager in team history to finish with a winning record in his first season with Seattle, after Lou Piniella in 1993 and Bob Melvin in 2003.

"The hardest thing of managing is just gaining the trust of the players," Wakamatsu said. "I think we were able to do that."

OK, so now what?

Will Griffey return, and do the Mariners have a place for him again? He turns 40 next month and almost chose Atlanta over Seattle last winter because he didn't want to be so far away from his wife and their 15-, 13-, and 7-year-olds in Orlando, Fla.

"I have to go back, talk to my family and find out what's best for all of us," said baseball's active leading slugger with 630 home runs, who began as a teen star in Seattle in 1989.

He hopes to decide in the next few weeks whether he'll play again or retire.

The only positions set for 2010 are right field with Suzuki, center field with Gutierrez and second base with Jose Lopez, who also had a career year with 25 home runs, 42 doubles and 96 RBIs.

Branyan can become a free agent, and he ended his season out for more than a month with a disk issue in his back. The Mariners have set him up with a physical therapist for the winter near his home in Nashville, Tenn., and the 33-year-old joked Sunday he'd like to play "the next seven years" with Seattle.

Gold Glove defender Adrian Beltre is almost certainly leaving as a free agent, leaving a void at third base.

The team also needs to find a top-end starter or two behind Hernandez. No regular starter who finished the season with the team had more than five wins behind Hernandez.

Griffey thinks Zduriencik will figure it all out, Wakamatsu will make it work and the Mariners are on their way back to the playoffs.

"With Jack and Don, it's going to be a lot of fun for years to come," Griffey said, "whether I'm in their plans or not."