CHICAGO — Randy Johnson left and so did Ken Griffey Jr. Instead of being devastated and depleted, the Seattle Mariners are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1997, and it's A-Rod's team now.

        “In '98 we lost the Big Unit. In '99, we lose Griffey and now we're in the playoffs. It doesn't quite figure out right,” Alex Rodriguez said Monday, a day before Seattle's first-round opener against the Chicago White Sox.

        “But we have a better team, a more balanced team,” he said. “It's not a knock against those two guys, it's a compliment for us.”

        With veteran Edgar Martinez and additions such as John Olerud and Mike Cameron, the Mariners won a club-record 91 games and played pressure baseball the final two weeks.

        “As far as getting it done without Junior, we've added people over the winter that had experience, that know how to play,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said Monday. “I've mentioned it to my players a few times this year that I've enjoyed managing this team as much or more than any other. And I mean it.”

        Seattle won the wild card on the final day after falling a half-game behind first-place Oakland in West.

        “A lot of times when you lose a superstar, a lot of other people emerge and evolve and take on bigger roles,” Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said. “I think that is what has happened. They put some good men together, added Olerud and (Mark) McLemore and Mike Cameron. That leads to the chemistry, not that Griffey took anything away from it.”

        One of the pitchers the Mariners acquired in the Johnson trade more than two years ago was Freddy Garcia, who starts today's opener of the best-of-5 series.

        He's 3-1 in his career against the White Sox and was 5-1 with a 3.20 ERA in September, when the Mariners fought the Athletics and Indians for a playoff berth.

        Chicago's starter wasn't decided until Monday's workout. Jim Parque will get the Game 1 nod after projected starter Mike Sirotka, a 15-game winner, tested his sore elbow in the bullpen, saying he felt OK but wanted to wait another day. Sirotka was rescheduled for Game 2.

        James Baldwin, who's had a sore shoulder, will go in Game 3 and Sean Lowe if a fourth game is needed.

        Parque won 13 games — he didn't face the Mariners this season — but was shaky in his last outing, allowing eight hits in three innings. And like most of the youthful White Sox, he'll be in the postseason for the first time.

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