The Associated Press

PEORIA, Ariz. - Randy Winn still can't get over that he was traded for Lou Piniella.

"I'll probably be some sort of a trivia question somewhere down the line," the Seattle Mariners' new left fielder said. "I really don't know how to take it. If you get traded for a player, that's the way it's done. But for a manager?"

The Oct. 28 trade that sent the All-Star to Seattle from Tampa Bay was contingent on Piniella signing as the Devil Rays' manager. New Mariners manager Bob Melvin thinks some players could feel pressure in this situation but doubts Winn is bothered.

"There's no pressure unless you let the pressure in," Melvin said. "Randy is a real even-keel guy. I don't think that will affect him."

Winn spent five years with the Devil Rays, hitting a career-high .298 last year with 14 homers, 75 RBI and 27 steals as the Devil Rays went 55-106.

"Losing is not fun at all," he said. "Every player's dream is to win and go to the playoffs and the World Series. So it's tough. I tried not to get down, but you want to win. So I think this is a great situation."

Because the Mariners have Mike Cameron in center, Winn is moving to left this year. He's expected to bat second behind Ichiro Suzuki.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to come over here and do well right away," Winn said. "You want your teammates to have faith in you. So the most important thing is to have some success. I'm looking at it, 'All right, I did that last year and now I want to build on it.' I want to come over here and play well and help this team win."

With Winn, Cameron and Suzuki, the Mariners figure to have one of the fastest outfield trios in the major leagues.

"It's going to be a very, very valuable asset playing at Safeco every single day," said Cameron, a Gold Glove winner in 2001. "Speed makes up for a lot of mistakes. Speed also causes a lot of mistakes on offense. It's a very important part of the game that gets overlooked because there's so much power going on in the game."