New dimensions at Petco and Safeco offer new hopes

• Padres, Mariners hope shorter fences change fortunes
• Dimensions affect statistics, which affect contracts
• Padres hitters have openly complained about the ballpark since it opened in 2004

NASHVILLE -- No hitters have signed up to play in Seattle or San Diego for $138 million over the next eight years.

And neither the Mariners nor the Padres is counting on that happening at the winter meetings. But the two teams are banking on shorter fences next season to help their on-field fortunes.

Like the New York Mets before the 2012 season, the Mariners and Padres are moving their fences closer to home plate, a maneuver that won't suddenly turn their pitcher-friendly ballparks into hitter's havens.

But it will serve to put out a welcome mat of sorts for those who hit the long ball for a living.

"The one immediate result is that we're not dealing with the obstacle of trying to convince hitters to consider Safeco (Field)," says Jeff Kingston, Mariners assistant general manager. "They're more open-minded about coming to Seattle than they were. In the past, we felt like we were swimming upstream."

Fences from the left-field line to right-center field will be from 4 to 17 feet closer next season, a slightly more drastic alteration than the Mets tried last season at Citi Field.

While the Mets didn't exactly shoot up the National League East standings, it didn't hurt their recently completed negotiations on third baseman David Wright's eight-year, $138 million contract.

"Bringing in the fences last year made a big difference," Mets manager Terry Collins says. "I think the players had a lot more confidence."

And more production: Wright's homers at home increased to 12 from five the previous season, and his slugging percentage improved from .400 to .481.

General manager Sandy Alderson joked with Wright that the Citi Field dimensions were not an issue because, "We're moving them in another 150 feet."

Of course, dimensions matter. They affect statistics, which affect contracts.

"The players are aware of it," agent David Pepe says. "I've never had a player rule out a team because of the ballpark, but it can become a major factor. Will this help them (Mariners and Padres) entice free agents? Sure. But pitchers are going to be aware of it, too."

Kingston says the Seattle changes are focused first on existing players.

"Our guys come to spring training in Arizona, where the ball carries really well," he says. "They're feeling good about themselves. They come back to Seattle for a seven- or 10-game homestand. The balls they were hitting in Arizona over the fence or falling for hits now are becoming outs. It starts to wear on them psychologically to a point where they're frustrated, start tweaking their swing, try to muscle it up a little bit, their swing gets longer, and it's kind of a downward spiral from there."

The Mariners' plan is to make each part of the ballpark have neither a hitters' or pitchers' skew. That's why they didn't touch more hitter-friendly right field.

The Padres expect less impact from shortening the left-center field gap from 402 to 390 feet and making the wall in right and right-center 11 feet closer.

Padres hitters have openly complained about the ballpark since it opened in 2004. They've finished last or next-to-last in the majors in runs at home in six of those nine seasons.

"To use a golfing analogy, it's difficult if your home course is always kept at U.S. Open standards," Padres baseball operations director Josh Stein says.

Both teams have studied extensively balls hit in their parks over the past several years. They won't reveal specific statistical changes they expect to see and, in fact, foresee different results.

The Mariners' .220 home batting average last season was the worst in the major leagues, and their 56 homers at Safeco were an American League low.

"We made the announcement, and it's shot throughout the industry quite effectively," Kingston says. "Players and agents who have done their homework have asked us how we think it's going to play. We haven't had to bring it up ourselves."