Tino-To-Yanks Deal Appears Off

Just when it appeared the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners were close to a deal involving slugger Tino Martinez, talks fell apart late Sunday night.

The deal in its original form - which was expected to be consummated today - would have sent pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, third baseman Russell Davis and catcher Jorge Posada to the Mariners for first baseman Martinez, reliever Jeff Nelson and a minor-league pitcher.

But at midafternoon Sunday, Yankees general manager Bob Watson called Seattle counterpart Woody Woodward and amended the deal by withdrawing Davis. The new offer had Hitchcock and Posada for Martinez and reliever Bobby Ayala.

But the M’s, who need a third baseman after last week’s trade of Mike Blowers to the Dodgers, nixed that offer. And Sunday night, Woodward declared the Martinez-to-Yankees deal a dead issue.

“Right now, the trade is off,” Woodward said. “The Yankees decided to take a different approach and go in another direction. I didn’t like the deal that was proposed. I told them this was my offer, and if we couldn’t work around these parameters, there would be no deal.

“My No. 1 objective was to get our payroll down and make us competitive for next year. With the approach the Yankees took, this would’ve accomplished only one of those goals.”

Watson, reached Sunday night in his Tampa, Fla., hotel room, downplayed the significance of the Martinez talks and insisted the Yankees have several avenues open in their quest to find Don Mattingly’s replacement.

“Tino Martinez was part of our conversations, but there never was a deal close to being made,” Watson said. “We’re exploring all our options. We never zeroed in on Tino Martinez. He was just one of a number of first basemen we’re looking at. You can take what (Woodward) says (the deal being off) as gospel. It never was strictly a Tino Martinez thing.”