"In a gesture that helped explain his reputation as a good guy with an agreeably upbeat disposition, Chone Figgins' first order of business upon being introduced by his new team was to give thanks and praise to his former team.

Noting how the Los Angeles Angels enabled him to achieve his dream of making it to the big leagues, Figgins recalled so many names – everybody from the franchise owner to the communications department manager – that I halfway expected the Academy Awards orchestra to break in on the hosannas.

Finally, when his roll-call list of acknowledgements was finished, Figgins smiled Tuesday. "OK," he said, "enough of those guys."

Which could be a Seattle Mariners T-shirt slogan as the pages turn in their ever-thickening plot to wrest the Angels' grip on the American League West: Enough Of Those Guys.

The balance-of-power shift in the division began when the Angels lost Figgins, valued for the speed he provided at the top of the batting order and the pro's-pro demeanor he exuded in the clubhouse.

"We got it done in about 48 hours," general manager Jack Zduriencik said of the pursuit of the versatile free agent. "We were aggressive on our part, and he was aggressive on his part."

Figgins will move to the No. 2 spot in the Mariners' lineup, behind Ichiro Suzuki, while playing, uh, somewhere. Third base? Second base? Zduriencik has assured Figgins his position will be determined by the time spring camp convenes in late February. For now, it's fun to contemplate the three-phase realignment of the Mariners – a process Zduriencik, with a cue from Seattle marketing maven Kevin Martinez, likened to Earth, Wind and Fire.

The earth stands for a defense built around shortstop Jack Wilson, a fixture of ESPN's nightly Web Gems segment, and center fielder Franklin "Death to Flying Things" Gutierrez. The fire figures to be supplied by ace Felix Hernandez and some power arms in the bullpen, while the wind represents the fleet tandem of Ichiro and Figgins on the basepaths.

"Earth, Wind and Fire," Zduriencik said as he met with reporters after the formal portion of the press conference. "You know, like the band."

Because Figgins has been on board with the Mariners for almost two weeks, the buzz Tuesday concerned not the free agent nor his four-year contract but the possibility – make that inevitability – of 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee landing in Seattle as part of a three-team deal with the Phillies and Blue Jays. "