Mariners Slumping in Seattle - NYTimes.com The Seattle Mariners entered the weekend ranking 13th among 14 American League teams in runs a game, at 4.01. Their production at first base and right field - two vital offensive spots - has been especially absent. Only two first basemen or right fielders had a combined on-base and slugging percentage of .650 or lower, with a minimum of 300 plate appearances, and both play for Seattle: first baseman Justin Smoak and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki. One productive major leaguer, who plays both positions, is a Mariners reject. He is Bryan LaHair of the Chicago Cubs, who has cooled off lately but entered the weekend with a .276 average, 14 home runs and an .850 O.P.S. LaHair played seven seasons in the Mariners organization, getting 3,050 plate appearances in the minors but only 150 in the majors. He hit .250 in that brief look, in 2008, and Seattle let him leave as a minor league free agent after 2009. LaHair was 27 and labeled a fringe prospect, and the Mariners, who were coming off a good season, signed the veteran Casey Kotchman to play first base. "I just used it as fuel," LaHair said. I wanted to prove to them that they made a bad decision, a wrong decision, and I wanted to prove to the Cubs that they made the right decision. It's all things mentally that push me to move forward. A 39th-round draft pick in 2002, LaHair acknowledged that his ascension has surprised even himself. His O.P.S. improved each season at Class AAA from 2007 through 2011, and he finally won a starting role with the Cubs this spring. "I keep working hard and good things happen," he said. Right now, I'm just doing what I've always done, having quality at-bats, long at-bats. There's adjustments I need to make, and a lot of room for me to get better at the major league level. Hopefully like in the minors, I'll get better each year. Suzuki is facing free agency after this season, his 11th with the Mariners and by far his worst. Jay Buhner, a former Mariners right fielder, gave a blunt assessment when asked on Seattle radio last week if the team should bring back Suzuki with a three-year contract in the range of $35 million to $40 million. "I'd vomit," Buhner told ESPN 710. I mean, really, no offense. No offense, we've got to get this organization turned around. You can't be spending all the money on one guy. As the Mariners head for their seventh last-place finish in nine seasons, some hopeful signs, at least, can be found in their local minor league affiliates. The left-hander Danny Hultzen, the second overall pick in the 2011 draft, had 30 strikeouts in 23 innings in his first five starts for Class AAA Tacoma. Catcher Mike Zunino, the third overall pick in the draft this June, was 10 for 22 with three home runs in his first six games for Class A Everett. At the Futures Game this month in Kansas City, Mo., Hultzen seemed eager to pitch at spacious Safeco Field. "When I went out there to sign the contract, I got to watch a game and got to watch batting practice," he said. It was pretty crazy because these guys would absolutely crush balls, and there would be an outfielder 10 feet in front of the track catching it. So that kind of put it in your head that, yeah, it could be a pitcher's ballpark.