Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 29th-September 4th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners appear to have given up on the season as they finished the week losing four games in a row to go 2-5 on the week. After splitting at home with the rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Mariners were swept down in Oakland to the Oakland Athletics. The Mariners have lost 7 of their last 10 games and appear headed towards another last place finish with 90 plus losses. The Mariners once strong pitching staff has fallen apart with the exception of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda. The Mariners hitting just isn't hitting anymore besides a few youngsters. The Mariners are playing like a team who is just playing out their season as they were swept by a team they had dominated all season long. The Mariners fall to 58-81 on the season which just won't get the job done at all. This week I'll talk about the good(Felix Hernandez), the bad(the slumping Casper Wells) and the ugly(Jason Vargas disasterous second half once again). The Mariners need to go 15-8 to avoid 90 losses which I don't see the team doing as it appears the team has packed it in.

The Good:

The Mariners just completed a 2-5 week but there was some positives to draw on. The Mariners saw ace pitcher Felix Hernandez defeat the Angels star pitcher Dan Haren 2-1 in which Hernandez threw a complete game to earn the win. The Mariners also saw youngsters Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp who were slumping break out of their slumps. The Mariners also saw the face of their franchise Ichiro continue his red hot hitting as he is trying to record 200 hits. Ichiro currently needs 40 hits in his last 23 games to have 200 hits this year something he has done the last 10 seasons. The Mariners bullpen saw some guys pitch lights out once again which was nice to see. The Mariners had some guys produce this week like Justin Smoak returned from the DL to produce this week. Unfortunately the Mariners just didn't receive much help from anyone else besides these guys. Lately the only good pitching performances have been by just Hernandez and Michael Pineda even though Pineda can't seem to buy a win lately. Even though the Mariners are slumping they still have plenty of guys who are doing well. Just need to have a week where more than a handful of guys are doing their jobs.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 9-30(.300), 4 RBI's, 4 runs, SB
Mike Carp: 7-27(.259), HR, 5 RBI's, 2 runs
Justin Smoak: 4-12(.333), run
Dustin Ackley: 11-25(.444), HR, 6 RBI's, 5 Runs, SB. .500 OB%, 8-game hitting streak

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 9 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 7 K's
Brandon League: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's, save
Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 1-0, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 3 K's

Felix Hernandez last 7 starts: 5-2, 51.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 56 K's, 9.81 K's per 9, 6 Quality Starts
Felix Hernandez season: 29 starts, 13-11, 209.1 IP(7.1 IP a start), 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 204 K's, 8.77 K's per 9, .237 BAA. 5 CG's, 20 quality starts.

Felix Hernandez is having another terrific season which is being wasted. I discussed this topic a few weeks ago when I wrote a post about Felix being wasted which you can read by clicking this link Wasted Talent . It has been a shame seeing the Mariners waste such a terrific arm in Felix Hernandez. I do think fans should appreciate Hernandez more and I'm not talking about the Kings Court chanting "Larry". I'm talking about feel fortunate to see one of the games best pitchers who hasn't even entered his prime for 33-36 starts a season since 2005.

The Bad:

The Seattle Mariners after splitting with the Angels were swept by the Oakland A's in three games. Whenever your record is 2-5 for the week there is plenty of bad. The fact that I have four starting pitchers on my bad list is a sign this franchise is in trouble. The Mariners did have pitching but no hitting and now they have neither. The "good" news is general manager Jack Zduriencik was told he will return next season. The Mariners hitting has been awful all season long and was pretty bad this week. After starting his brief Mariners career on fire Casper Wells has been in a horrible slump which dating back to last week has him hitting 2-33(.060) in the last two weeks. The Mariners young hitters are slumping badly now and the pitching in particular the three left handers keep getting bombed which has been a horrible trend to pay attention to.

Bad Hitting:

Kyle Seager: 4-23(.174), 2 RBI's, run, 2 K's
Trayvon Robinson: 1-10(.100), 3 runs, 7 K's
Brendan Ryan: 1-16(.062), RBI, run, K, Caught Stealing
Franklin Gutierrez: 5-27(.185), RBI, 3 runs, SB, 4 K's
Casper Wells: 1-18(.055), 5 K's
Miguel Olivo: 5-24(.208), 2 RBI's, 2 runs, SB, 6 K's

Bad Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-1, 12 IP, 5.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 3 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 6 IP, 6.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 5 K's
Jeff Gray: 2.2 IP, 16.87 ERA, 3.37 WHIP, K
Josh Lueke: 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, K
Cesar Jimenez: 0.1 IP, 81.00 ERA, 9.00 WHIP, K
Anthony Vasquez: 0-1, 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, K
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 4 K's

Three left handed starting pitchers: 0-3, 15 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 10 K's.

The Mariners can't seem to find a quailty starting pitching from the south side which is a good thing they took Danny Hultzen with the #2 overall pick in the draft. At Safeco Field if you have a quality left handed starting pitcher he can be dominant since Safeco is tough on right handed hitters.

The Ugly:

There has been plenty of ugly for the Mariners this season and for this week. The Mariners lost centerfielder Franklin Guiterrez for the rest of the season with a strained Oblique muscle. This has been a very disappointing season for Gutierrez who began the season on the disabled list and will end the season on the disabled list. Gutierrez was the crown jewel in Jack Zduriencik's big J.J. Putz trade(meanwhile he's kicking ass for first place Arizona Diamondbacks). In fact another player in that trade who has been struggling lately has been Jason Vargas. For the third straight second half Vargas has been down right terrible. There can be plenty of excuses made but when this happens three years in a row that is called a bad trend. In fact Insider Steve explored the problems of Jason Vargas with this post you can read by clicking the link Does Jason Vargas have a future in Seattle? . Which is a curious case and one that needs to be explored this offseason. Zduriencik traded away Bill Bavasi's guy Doug Fister(who is kicking ass for first place Detroit Tigers) meanwhile he kept the guy he acquired Jason Vargas. Vargas is looking horrible and the guys acquired in the Fister trade aren't looking very good either. You have to wonder what Mariners management was thinking in bringing back Zduriencik who other than the draft hasn't show much.

Ugly Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: Hit .224/.261/.273 in 322 AB's. Has just one HR, 19 RBI's, 26 runs scored and 13 SB's. This year has been a disaster for Gutierrez and his Mariners future has to be in question heading into the offseason. His bat came around late but two weeks worth of good hitting doesn't make up for the months of terrible baseball.

Miguel Olivo: Hitting .220/.254/.371 in 410 AB's. Has 16 HR's, 55 RBI's, and 45 runs scored. He also has 122 strikeouts to 20 walks. I know plenty of fans are high on him but he simply isn't getting the job done this year. His defense has been below average as well. Time for the Mariners to get serious and go acquire a catcher who has some respect for the strike zone instead of swinging at everything.

Ugly Pitching:

Jason Vargas 2011 second half: 10 GS, 1-7,  53 IP, 7.13 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 27 K's,  .336 BAA
Jason Vargas 2010 second half: 14 GS, 3-8, 85 IP, 4.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 48 K's, .265 BAA
Jason Vargas 2009 second half: 3 GS, 0-3, 28 IP, 7.39 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 13 K's, .292 BAA

Do the names Dave Flemming, John Halama, Ryan Rowland-Smith mean anything to you? Well they should because they were all fly ball pitchers for the Mariners who enjoyed success at first. Then the league rocked them in the second half of the season. Then the league featured them out and kept rocking them where they spent the rest of their baseball careers in the minor leagues. It appears that is Jason Vargas destiny because as you can see three straight bad second halfs shows he isn't cut out for the long haul.

Charlie Furbush: 2-4, 31 IP, 6.39 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 20 K's, .277 BAA

He was acquired in the Doug Fister trade along with the slumping Casper Wells who is currently doing his best Chone Figgins impression. Another lefty who can't seem to keep the ball down which means he is getting pounded all over.

Anthony Vasquez: 1-1, 9.1 IP, 11.57 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 3 K's, .372 BAA

He simply isn't a major league pitcher and might not ever be one. It's actually an insult to the major league players on the roster that he is starting games for the Mariners. The Mariners have to have someone in Triple A who is better than Vasquez who you can't tell the difference between his fastball or his changeup. He is to pitching what Carlos Peguero was to hitting which is to say he is overmatched.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 80-61, first place
L.A. Angels: 76-64, 3.5 GB
Oakland A's: 64-76, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 58-81, 21.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners appear to have mailed it in this month. They aren't putting out a major league starting pitcher four of the six starts. Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda who will be shut down after two more starts are the only pitchers in the rotation currently who belong on a major league rotation. When you check out the hitters only Ichiro going into the season was a major league hitter. The team is rebuilding yet young guys like Trayvon Robinson can't seem to find AB's. The Mariners for the eighth straight season are just playing out their season in the month of September. For the eighth straight September the city of Seattle is tuning out the Mariners and focusing on football. The Mariners are in serious danger of losing their fan base because despite all those gimmicks the best gimmick of them all is simply winning. The Mariners aren't winning and until they do the fans will keep decreasing by the season.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 22nd-28th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners ended the week in disappointment after starting off so successful. The Mariners began the week taking three out of four against Eric Wedge's old team the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland. The offense had erupted that series but quickly went silent when the Mariners came home. The Mariners were swept by the Chicago White Sox scoring just five runs in three games. The Mariners for the week went 3-4 and two hitters who had been so red hot went ice cold this week. The Mariners are seeing youngsters Kyle Seager and Trayvon Robinson hit the ball pretty well. While Ichiro is making a late push to hit 200 hits this for the 11th consecutive season. The Mariners young pitching continues to get blown up while the pitching face of the franchise Felix Hernandez continues to pitch great down the stretch. The Mariners did go 3-4 so that means I'll talk about the good(Seager and Ichiro), the bad(young pitching) and the bad(more in depth on the young pitching).

The Good:

The week started off well for the Mariners as they beat playoff contender Cleveland Indians three out of four and had a lead in the ninth inning in their only loss. The Mariners have had some hot hitting from Ichiro who has an 11 game hitting streak and Kyle Seager who has a nine game hitting streak. The Mariners received some offense this week from the catchers position which hasn't been seen most of the year. The pitching duo of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda was nice to watch this week. Hernandez has been dominant in his last six starts while Pineda has had back to back quality starts. The bullpen was pretty good as four bullpen arms were on my good list which is pretty impressive. The outfield of the Mariners hit pretty well this week with Ichiro, Franklin Gutierrez and Trayvon Robinson.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 13-33(.394), HR, 3 RBI's, 5 runs, 3 SB's-11 game hitting streak
Kyle Seager: 13-24(.542), HR, 2 RBI's, 7 runs,6 dbls -9 game hitting streak
Trayvon Robinson: 7-22(.318), 4 RBI's, 2 runs
Franklin Gutierrez: 9-26(.346), 4 RBI's, 2 runs, SB
Josh Bard: 2-8(.250), HR, 3 RBI's, 3 runs
Miguel Olivo: 6-18(.333), HR, 3 RBI's, 3 runs - 5 game hitting streak, has hit safely eight of last nine games

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1,6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 8 K's
Blake Beavan: 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4 K's
Jamey Wright: 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 6 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 3.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 7 K's
Josh Lueke: 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 5 K's
Jeff Gray: 3.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, K, Save

Felix Hernandez last six starts: 4-2, 42.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 47 K's, 9.99 K's per 9.
Felix Hernandez season stats: 12-11, 200.1 IP(7.1 innings a start), 3.37 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 195 K's, 8.76 K's per 9.

I feel sometimes that fans take Hernandez for granted. He's not putting up the same numbers he did when he won the Cy Young but he is still have a pretty solid year. He has pitched over 200 innings for the fourth straight year, will strike out 200+ hitters for the third straight season in his next start. It has been sad seeing the Mariners waste Hernandez as he is pitched way better than his 25-23 record the last two seasons. I hope Hernandez hasn't spoiled fans by his greatness but I get the feeling he has.

The Bad:

The Mariners in getting swept by the Chicago White Sox scored just five runs in that series sweep. The Mariners hitting went to sleep especially two hitters in particular. The Mariners when they aren't hitting rack up the strikeouts while not drawing any walks in the process which shows they are a free swinging team. The pitching particularly the starting pitching was pretty bad this time especially the left handed pitching which saw three left handers get rocked this week. The Mariners also saw all-star closer Brandon League get roughed up once again in Cleveland as he blew his second save in Cleveland this year giving up three runs without recording a single out. The Mariners had a chance to have a successful week as they snapped their five game losing streak but instead ended the week on a three game losing streak. With the division rivals Angels coming to town things could get ugly.

Bad Hitting:

Mike Carp: 3-27(.111), HR, 2 RBI's, run, 14 K's, one walk
Brendan Ryan: 4-22(.182), 2 RBI's, 4 runs, 7 K's
Casper Wells: 1-19(.052), run, 9 K's, zero walks
Adam Kennedy: 2-12(.167), run, K, SB
Willy Mo Pena: 3-15(.200), HR, 4 RBI's, 2 runs, 3 K's

Bad Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 12.2 IP, 6.39 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 4 K's
Anthony Vasquez: 1-0, 5.1 IP, 8.44 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 2 K's
Chance Ruffin: 1-0, 3.1 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, K
Brandon League: 0-1, Blown Save, 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, K, save

The hot hitting duo of Casper Wells and Mike Carp came crashing down this week. Those two have been overachieving as their K's to BB ratio reminds you of Carlos Peguero. For the season Carp is striking out 30.3% of the time while walking only 7.8% of the time. As for Wells he is striking out 42.4% of the time while walking only 5.4% of the time. So keep that in mind when looking at their small sample sizes.

The Ugly:

The Mariners once strong pitching staff has been pretty poor since trading away Doug Fister and Erik Bedard. The Mariners had to make some moves to acquire some offense which for the most part has improved greatly. Still, getting swept at home isn't good at all. The Mariners three left handed starters were roughed up this week. In particular two left handers have been getting rocked quite a bit lately in Charlie Furbush and Jason Vargas. For Vargas this is the third straight second half he has melted down and his pitches keep rising up in the strike zone for home runs. As for Furbush is reminding Mariners fans of another left hander Jack Zduriencik acquired from Detroit named Luke French. Furbush has had a bad habit of getting rocked around despite pitching in a friendly ballpark for left handed pitchers.

Ugly Pitching:

Charlie Furbush: 2-3, 25 IP, 6.48 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 15 K's, .296 BAA.
Jason Vargas: 7-12, 169.1 IP, 4.52 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 104 K's, .266 BAA.
Jason Vargas second half: 1-6, 48 IP, 7.13 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 23 K's, .340 BAA

As you can see Furbush has been horrible for the Mariners since coming here. As for Vargas this is the third straight year where he has had a bad second half, second straight year where he was terrific in the first half but horrible second half. A good left hander should thrive in Safeco Field since right handers have trouble hitting the ball out of the ball park yet these two continue to get rocked. Vargas this year at Safeco is 5-9 having pitched 99.2 innings with a 5.24 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. Which doesn't make sense since he is a fly ball pitcher.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 76-59, First Place
L.A. Angels: 72-61, 3.0 GB
Oakland A's: 60-73, 15.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 56-76, 18.5 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners are winding down an August that saw them go 10-14 so far. Eric Wedge needs to realize the season is over and just play the youngsters even if it cost the team wins in the present. He needs to limit the workload of Hernandez who is on pace to throw over 250 innings for the second straight season. Guys like Adam Kennedy and Jack Wilson should just be DFA'd as they serve zero purpose on this roster right now. The Mariners have one more week of people following them then football season will begin which means the focus on the Mariners will shift towards the Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars and Seattle Seahawks. The Mariners are playing hard and that is why that White Sox sweep was so depressing as that was an ass kicking for three games. I felt the Mariners had regressed big time that weekend. The Mariners play their next 10 games against division opponents. Hopefully the Mariners can close out September better than they have in July and August.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 15th-21st edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed their week losing five games in a row. The Mariners began the week with a thrilling come back victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Then after that win the Mariners lost the next two to the Blue Jays where Safeco Field was cheering louder for the Blue Jays than hometown Mariners. The Mariners took the road to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays where the Mariners were swept. The Mariners this week saw Mike Carp extend his hitting streak up to 20 games with Casper Wells hitting a home run in four straight games dating back to last week. The Mariners also saw their pitching particularly the bullpen just get lit up this week. The Mariners had just two out of a possible six starts that were quality starts. The Mariners finished the week 1-5 so we'll talk about the good(Carp and Wells), the bad(pitching) and the ugly(young guys getting lit up). Like I usually do I'll start off with the positives first.

The Good:

When a team goes 1-5 it's hard to find some positives. The Mariners did see Mike Carp extend his hitting streak to 20 games showing the Mariners that he deserved playing time this entire time. Another positive was the play of Casper Wells who had homered in fourt straight games while hitting three home runs for the week. Another player the Mariners acquired in the trade then called up was Trayvon Robinson who hit pretty well this week which was nice to see. The Mariners wasted another masterful game by Felix Hernandez who threw his second complete game in his last three starts but was left the loss. The Mariners did see rookie Tom Wilhelmsen record his first ever major league win in relief.

Good Hitting:

Casper Wells: 6-18(.333), 3 HR's, 5 RBI's, 5 runs
Mike Carp: 8-23(.347), 2 HR, 3 RBI's, 4 runs
Willy Mo Pena: 3-8(.375), HR, 2 RBI's, 2 runs
Jack Wilson: 3-9(.333), RBI
Kyle Seager: 7-21(.333), HR, 3 RBI's, 3 runs
Trayvon Robinson: 7-19(.368), 3 RBI's, 3 runs

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 8 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 9 K's
Dan Cortes: 0-1, 5.2 IP, 1.59 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhemsen: 1-0, 4.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 3 K's

This week saw Tom Wilhemson win his first ever game as well as Kyle Seager hit his first career home run. This week also saw Willy Mo Pena hit his first home run as a Mariner. For a week that went as bad as it did the Mariners did see some firsts.

The Bad:

This week saw plenty of bad for the Mariners as they lost five in a row. The starting pitching was a total disaster as was the bullpen. The Mariners saw three different relievers post extremely high ERA's and WHIP. The Mariners released the recently ineffective Aaron Laffey. This week also saw some key hitters slump in Dustin Ackley(first of his career) and Ichiro. They also saw Franklin Gutierrez go back to not hitting and Miguel Olivo despite praise from his manager continues to be terrible. The Mariners young pitching duo of Blake Beavan and Charlie Furbush were once again rocked. The Mariners also saw Michael Pineda pitch well against the Rays which was nice after he was shelled against the Blue Jays. Jason Vargas was also shelled against the Blue Jays allowing six runs in the first inning.

Bad Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 4-20(.200), 2 runs, 7 K's
Ichiro: 5-25(.200), RBI, run, K
Adam Kennedy: 1-12(.083), 3 K's
Miguel Olivo: 3-14(.214), HR, RBI, 2 runs, CS, 5 K's
Franklin Gutierrez: 4-26(.153), 2 RBI's, run, 5 K's

Bad Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 4 IP, 18.00 ERA, 2.75 WHIP, 2 K's
Michael Pineda: 11 IP, 5.72 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 11 K's
Blake Beavan: 0-1, 5 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 3 K's
Aaron Laffey: 1.1 IP, 20.30 ERA, 3.76 WHIP, ZERO K's
Jamey Wright: 1.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 3.76 WHIP, ZERO K's
Josh Lueke: 3.2 IP, 7.36 ERA, 2.18 WHIP, ZERO K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 3 IP, 15.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 2 K's

This week the Mariners got rid of Aaron Laffey who was 1-1 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.64 WHIP in 42.2 innings pitched in 36 games. He struck out only 24 batters while walking 16 while allowing a .305 opponents batting average. In the second half he was even worse as he had a 12.00 ERA and a 2.77 WHIP in only nine innings pitched. He only struck out six batters while walking four batters. Laffey doesn't have great stuff and has been rocked lately as his WHIP was always pretty high for a reliever.

The Ugly:

Seeing crowds cheer louder for an opposing team was pretty annoying this past week. In fact this was a subject that I tackled last wednesday and again later that night on my radio interview. You can view that post by clicking here. It has been sad to see Safeco Field be so incredibly empty this year. Now I'll talk about some reasons why as of late.

Ugly Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: Hitting on the year .216/.251/.264 with only one home run and 14 RBI's in 269 AB's.
Miguel Olivo: Hitting on the year .215/.247/.367 with 111 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 368 AB's. He takes the term impatient hitter to a whole new meaning.

Ugly Pitching:

Blake Beavan last two starts: 0-2, 11.1 IP, 8.73 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 6 HR's, 4 K's. Never a good thing when your HR to strikeout ratio is 1.5/1.0
Charlie Furbush: 2-2, 20 IP, 6.30 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 11 K's, .299 BAA which is pretty awful numbers.
Josh Lueke: 1-1, 16.2 IP, 9.72 ERA, 2.04 WHIP, 15 K's, .338 BAA.

I brought up these three young guys as they are acquisitions by Jack Zduriencik who the local media loves to brag up. Whenever a young guy does anything you hear non stop "In Jack Z we trust" slogans from all the care bear fans. Whenever his players struggles(which often is the case) you hear non stop excuse making on why he can't build a major league team.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 73-55, first place
L.A. Angels: 69-59, 4.0 GB
Oakland A's: 57-70, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 53-72, 18.5 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners are a struggling team who is simply playing out their season. It is frustrating to see them lose but at this point there is no reason to be worked up over losses. This is a learning stage for a lot of these players. For so many guys on this roster this is extended spring training for next year. What you do going forward could determine your status on this roster. I would like to see manager Eric Wedge pull Hernandez after seven innings under all circumstances excluding a no-hitter. There is absolutely no reason for Hernandez to be throwing this many innings/pitches in a wasted season. The Mariners offense is slowly coming around but with Zduriencik trading away some key pitching pieces the pitching has struggled lately. Hopefully the Mariners this offseason can acquire some much needed batters and some pitching as well. For now I say go the fact that football season is here.

Some thoughts on Free Agency

By IKorzie

Jack Zduriencik's goal is to build a team that can contend year after year with it's number one resource being internal talent, building from the farm. That does not mean this team will not spend money. How much? We do not know. That is dictated by ownership.

The biggest problem with this team now, is that $45 million of next year's budget is wrapped up in three players who in the simplest of terms do not hit home runs. Nearly one half of the budget is not going to score you runs. I can't argue with what Felix Hernandez will get paid and his value to the team. Chone Figgins obviously has been a bust and Ichiro will be in the final year of a contract he signed when he was still on the upswing, we can only pray he retires. What happens after that final year, if he doesn not retire? Does he bounce back and will he be here and at what cost? Will the team be able trade Figgins and recover any of his remaining dollars? We shall see, but for now this is a challenge to roster construction.

Of course it doesn't help that Figgins and Ichiro are in traditional power positions. Pointing out the question of whether or not Franklin Gutierrez can be counted on to bring any sort of offense in center... Lets look further into this.

First of all, RF is not going anywhere. Cross off that need. But yes, you want power there and if you don't get it you better get it somewhere else. Left Field and DH, have you found them? Keep free agents or trades out of this for a minute. Are you writing Mike Carp into your lineup next year? If so, he is at one of those positions. Is Casper Wells really a right-handed bat that can hit the ball out at Safeco Field? So far so good. Small sample size of course but definitely warrants a further look. Left Field, DH or fourth outfielder? He could be a fit. Greg Halman or Carlos Peguero, do you allow for the possibility that one of these guys can break through next year? Possible options. Trades or free agents are also possible options. At the very least it would appear that one of these positions can be filled adequately internally next season, however I would like to find at least one of these awnsers in free agency.

I don't see Figgins at third next year nor do I see Kyle Seager there. With Ichiro in right and Gutierrez in center you must get offense and some power numbers from that position and Figgins hasn't done it, and while I like Seager I don't see the power. I would hope that we would get a look at Alex Liddi in September but he most likely is not the answer yet. This appears to be a position they will have to fill from the outside. Catcher? Good luck. Everyone is looking for a catcher.

The good news is that whatever dollars they have to spend should be much more than last year and keep them out of blue light special territory (K-Mart). Can they or should they make a run at Prince Fielder? YES. What that contract could be after what we saw last year during the winter is very concerning, however. At this point, and I can change my mind, I would feel more comfortable signing more complimentary bats and trading for the impact bat, I usually just try and pull people's chains. Can the Mariners do this?

Sure they can. Will they? They will have to explore it. At some point Zduriencik is going to have to deal some of his pitching. Next year may seem too soon right now but if the right major league bat is out there it may have to be done. I am not talking Felix here but anyone else system-wide should be fair game.

We are so accustomed to thinking spend, spend, spend, free agent, free agent, free agent in Seattle because for years that has been the only option. They have another option now. An option that Zduriencik has already utilized despite the fact that his resources were limited when he first came on board. Those resources are growing.

Is it enough? Will there be a trade partner? What will the budget be? There are still a lot of questions but it appears that we will leave this season with more answers than we have had in recent history. They shouldn't have to look for starting pitching. They have their answer at second base. They very well could have LF/DH figured out but will have the flexibility should something else come their way. Shortstop is nailed down at least for one year and while he has had an up and down season, Justin Smoak is locked in at first, for now.

Yes, the pen will need work but Zduriencik has had a knack for finding bullpen arms and I believe he will get that sorted out without spending significant money. Gutierrez has been a huge question mark but has shown that there is something still there offensively in the last two weeks. Definitely an incomplete grade but still time to find out in a season that has been all about finding out.

This offseason will be exciting and interesting. At the end of the day, however mad we get at this team and management, we still are Mariner fans at heart. We were raised right to be diehards, and love the Mariners. So I will leave you with this full hearted, GO MARINERS!

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 8th-14th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed an impressive 3-3 week as they took the Boston Red Sox two out of three at Safeco Field. The Mariners began the week losing the first two to the Texas Rangers before winning the series finale to avoid the sweep. The Mariners won't confuse you for a team full of world beaters but since the trade deadline the Mariners are 7-5. The Mariners got better for the future with their trades but also brought in some key pieces that are contributing right now to the team. The Mariners are also riding the hot stick of Mike Carp who has been killing the ball since being called back up in the second half of the season. The Mariners starting pitching didn't do great this week or bad but the hitters carried the team. The Mariners also saw two hitters who had been slumping all season long have big weeks. One guy in particular is key to the Mariners future success which was nice to see. So this week we'll talk about the good(return of Franklin Gutierrez), the bad(two young kids who have been rushed) and the awesome(Mike Carp's second half). It has been fun seeing the team playing good baseball lately.

The Good:

The Mariners started the week off losing three of their first four games but battled back to beat the Boston Red Sox back to back games to go 3-3. The highlights of the week was the hot hitting of Mike Carp and Franklin Gutierrez. Those two have been killing the ball for about two weeks now which has really helped this slumping offense. The Mariners are getting good hitting from Ichiro and Dustin Ackley as well so the top of the order has been hitting the ball well. The Mariners closer Brandon League this week was lights out as he saved three games while allowing just one base runner. The newly acquired Casper Wells has been hitting the ball extremely well with two home runs the last two games in the series win over the Red Sox. Little used Jack Wilson is taking advantage of his playing time with four doubles this week. This was indeed a good week for the Mariners hitters who scored five runs in the first inning off of all-star pitcher Josh Beckett.

Good Hitting:

Mike Carp: 9-25(.360), HR, 9 RBI's, 4 runs
Casper Wells: 5-13(.384), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs, SB, .500 OB%
Dustin Ackley: 6-22(.272), 2 RBI's, 3 runs, .407 OB%
Ichiro: 7-26(.269), HR, RBI, 4 runs, SB
Jack Wilson: 7-15(.467), 3 RBI's, 3 runs, 4 doubles
Franklin Gutierrez: 11-23(.478), RBI, 5 runs, 3 SB's

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 3 K's
Michael Pineda: 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 4 K's
Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP, K
Brandon League: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 4 K's, 3 saves

Later on in this post I'll talk more in depth on Gutierrez, Ichiro and Carp. All three are enjoying hitting streaks and are hitting the ball well this month. In the case of Carp he has been killing the ball since being called up.

The Bad:

The Mariners lost two out of three to the Texas Rangers this week. Since 2008 the Mariners record against the Rangers hasn't been very good. The Mariners are now 3-10 this year against the Rangers. The Mariners are just 26-44(.371) against their divisional rivals since 2008 which is flat out terrible. The Mariners also saw two early veteran pieces who were successful who have been in a long slump. The Mariners have two rookies who appear to be overmatched at the major league level but have shown some flashes that eventually they can be quality. The Mariners had two young pitchers get rocked this week although one bounced back against a very good lineup. The Mariners are playing a ton of young guys now so inconsistent results are expected. One thing that has to make manager Eric Wedge happy is the fact his team is competing and not getting blown out like they were during the 17 game losing streak.

Bad Hitting:

Adam Kennedy: 2-12(.167), 3 RBI's, run, K
Miguel Olivo: 3-20(.150), RBI, run, SB, 5 K's
Travyon Robinson: 2-14(.143), 6 K's
Kyle Seager: 3-16(.188), run, 4 K's
Willy Mo Pena: 1-8(.125), 2 K's

Bad Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-1, 6.1 IP, 8.53 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, K
Charlie Furbush: 1-1, 11 IP, 5.72 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 6 K's
Jeff Gray: 0-1, Blown Save, 4.1 IP, 8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 2 K's
Josh Lueke: 0.1 IP, 54.00 ERA, 6.00 WHIP, K

Charlie Furbush is a young pitcher the Mariners are trying to see if he will be part of their future plans in the starting rotation. I'd say this week was a good test for Furbush. Against Texas he was lit up only lasting four innings while allowing six earned runs, eight hits, walked four and struck out zero batter. Then he bounced back against the Red Sox going seven innings, allowing just one earned run, just four hits, two walks while striking out six hitters. It was nce seeing Furbush bounce back the way he did.

The Awesome:

The awesome this week has been the terrific hitting of Mike Carp, Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez. The Mariners just a month ago had so many holes in their lineup. Now with Carp hitting at the DH spot, Gutierrez hitting at the center field spot, Ichiro in the right field spot and Casper Wells in left field the hitting doesn't look as terrible. The won't confuse anyone of the Mariners from 1995-2003 but they are much better than the triple A crap we've had to witness the last two and a half years. I've complained how nobody is taking advantage of their opportunity well I can't say that anymore as Mike Carp is doing just that.

The Mariners have had three hitters who are red hot right now. The slumping Gutierrez right now is riding a seven game hitting streak which had a five game multi game hitting streak as well. In the month of August Gutierrez is hitting .357/.378/.429 in 93 AB's with 4 RBI's and 10 runs scored. He also has seven stolen bases during that stretch.

The other hitter is Ichiro who is riding a 10 game hitting streak right now. For the month Ichiro is hitting .288/.302/.365 in 52 AB's with a home run, two RBI's and eight runs scored. He also has two stolen bases during that stretch. Nice to see Ichiro showing signs that he still has it.

Lastly, Mike Carp is just killing the ball right now. Carp is enjoying the longest active hitting streak which is at 14 games. In the second half of the season Carp is hitting .366/.398/.581 in 93 AB's. He has hit four home runs, drove in 24 runs while scoring 13 runs. For the month of August he is hitting .380/.415/.580 in 50 AB's with two home runs, 15 RBI's and 8 runs scored.

It has been nice seeing some guys hit the ball. Carp if he continues to hit this way has earned the right to enter spring training next year as the starter. He will be beyond having to compete if he can keep up this hot hitting. It has been great seeing a player step up and take advantage of his playing time which Carp has done so far. He has been red hot just like he was all year long in Tacoma. He is finally getting consistent at bats and doing the most with it.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 69-52, First Place
L.A. Angels: 65-56, 4.0 GB
Oakland A's: 53-67, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 52-67, 16.0 GB

In conclusion, the trades made by Jack Zduriencik has made life easier on Eric Wedge. Now some of the problems earlier in the year was on Wedge as he chose to play Carlos Peguero over Mike Carp which Carp is proving was a huge mistake. It is nice seeing the Mariners offense finally score some runs and resemble a major league offense for once. This month the Mariners are averaging 4.3 runs per game which is a huge upgrade over their average prior to this month which was 3.3 runs per game. That one run in baseball is huge especially when talking per game average. The Mariners for the second straight week have played pretty good baseball against the same schedule that burried them. Thanks to the red hot hitting of Mike Carp and Franklin Gutierrez the Mariners fans have enjoyed some fine baseball this month. It was great seeing the Mariners take two out of three against all those bandwagon Red Sox fans. Hopefully the Mariners can finish out the season strong and avoid finishing last place for the sixth time in eight years.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 1st-7th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed a successful week that saw them go 4-2. The Mariners swept the Oakland Athletics in a three game sweep then dropped two out of three to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Mariners saw much improved hitting this week as well as the pitching was fantastic. The Mariners starting pitchers were great in all six starts this week which was nice to see. The Mariners once again are entering a tough stretch on their schedule so it was nice to see them having a winning week. The Mariners played great in sweeping the A's then allowed just four runs in the series loss to the Angels. The Mariners won four out of six games and their two losses were by a single run. It was nice to see the team playing competitive unlike that disasterous 17 game losing streak. So this week I'll talk about the good(tons of players), the bad(not many players) and the awesome(the guys the Mariners have called up or traded for).

The Good:

The Mariners had plenty of good this week as they went 4-2. The hitting finally stepped up in the series sweep of the Oakland A's. The pitching was terrific all week as all six games saw the Mariners starting pitchers earn a quality start. This week also saw all-star pitcher Felix Hernandez dominate his opponents striking out 21 batters in just 14.1 innings. The Mariners have received great pitching from Blake Beavan this year as well as he broke Michael Pineda's record for starting his Mariners career with six straight quality starts. The Mariners already have seen great return on their trades with Charlie Furbush, Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson. It was nice seeing the Mariners playing good baseball with the young kids from Tacoma doing most of the damage.

Good Hitting:

Mike Carp: 10-25(.400), HR, 6 RBI's, 4 runs
Casper Wells: 6-19(.315), HR, 4 RBI's, 3 runs, SB
Brendan Ryan: 6-12(.500), RBI, 3 runs, .571 OB%
Ichiro: 8-26(.307), RBI, 4 runs, SB
Justin Smoak: 2-5(.400), 2 runs, .571 OB%
Miguel Olivo: 5-17(.294), 2 RBI's
Dustin Ackley: 6-22(.272), 3 RBI's, 4 runs, .384 OB%

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 2-0, 14.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 5 K's
Charlie Furbush: 1-0, 5 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 2 K's, 2 saves
Josh Lueke: 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3 K's
Jamey Wright: 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 4 K's
Jason Vargas: 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 3 K's
Felix Hernandez: 1-1, 14.1 IP, 2.51 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 21 K's

As you can see the starting pitching this week was terrific. The starting pitching this week went 4-1 with an ERA of 1.57 while throwing 40 innings(6.2 innings a start) for the week. The starters had a WHIP of 0.97 with 32 strikeouts. The starting pitching despite trading away two guys this past week was terrific. The hitting was pretty good as well with the Mariners having five guys hit over .300 on the week. This was the best week the Mariners have had in a few months.

The Bad:

The Mariners didn't have much bad this week which was refreshing. The bad did take place against the Angels where the Mariners saw their starting pitching go 22 innings allowing just 3 runs(1.22 ERA) with just one win to show for it. The hitting was once again silent down in Anaheim and there is one hitter in particular who could be in jeopardy of losing his job. The Mariners this past trade deadline traded for three outfielders and two are already up. THe Mariners have already shipped out one slumping outfielder and another could be next. The Mariners with these trades have put Franklin Gutierrez on notice. The pitching this week was terrific minus two bullpen blow ups which happens during a long season. The Mariners were also reminded this week why Jack Wilson never plays because he showed he is a terrible hitter. The roster is changing and some of the dead weight will be shipped out of town before opening day next year.

Bad Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: 4-19(.210), 2 RBI's, run, 4 K's
Adam Kennedy: 2-15(.133), 2 RBI's, run, sb, 6 K's
Greg Halman: 0-4(.000), 3 K's
Jack Wilson: 3-16(.187), run, 7 K's, CS

Bad Pitching:

Dan Cortes: 0-1, 0.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 9.09 WHIP
Jeff Gray: 1.2 IP, 16.19 ERA, 2.99 WHIP, 2 K's

Greg Halman was sent down after hitting 2-28(.071) with 13 strikeouts and no walks. His second half line was .071/.103/.179 which won't cut it at the big league level.

The other player who is put on notice is Gutierrez. Guiterrez for the season is hitting .195/.237/.236 on the season with just one home run and 11 RBI's in 220 at bats on the season. He is slowly hitting better but that isn't enough to make up for this piss poor season he is having. I predict if Gutierrez finishes the season under .200 he won't be back next year.

The Awesome:

The awesome this week is all the Mariners who weren't part of the opening day roster who are contributing. The Mariners two best hitters right now are Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp. The Mariners also saw Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson do well this week. The pitching of Blake Beavan and Charlie Furbush makes fans say Doug Fister and Erik Bedard who? The Mariners are getting some good seasons out of Tacoma players. If you include Michael Pineda who is a rookie the Mariners future appears to be bright. Now the Mariners will ultimately have to add to this nucleaus but at least a foundation appears set in place.

Awesome Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: Hitting .301/.368/.529 in 153 AB's. Has 5 HR's, 23 RBI's, 21 runs. Ackley has been a huge lift this season and his glove has been great. He's been consistent all year and his slumps when they happen will be very few and far between.

Mike Carp: Hitting .311/.372/.476 in 103 AB's. Has 3 HR's, 15 RBI's, and 9 runs. Carp since his second call up where he is getting consistent playing time is hitting .368/.394/.588 in 68 AB's. He has 3 HR's and 15 RBI's during that stretch. I don't know why Eric Wedge decided to play Carlos Peguero over Carp when the Mariners were still in a playoff chase.

Casper Wells: Hitting .304/.360/.435 in 23 AB's with the Mariners. This is small sample size but with Detroit he also hit .257/.323/.451 in 113 AB's. For his career he is hitting .288/.343/.485 in 229 AB's which isn't much to judge but it sure is better than what the Mariners have been getting all year long.

Awesome Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 3-2, 41.1 IP, 2.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 17 K's, .245 BAA . Beavan is looking like the best player in the Cliff Lee trade. He has pitched a quality start in all six starts and is averaging almost seven innings a start. As you can see Beavan is a pitch to contact type of pitcher(Fister jr). When Bedard went down Beavan took advantage which showed the organization Fister was expendable as they are similar pitchers. Beavan a former first round pick in the 2007 draft has pitched pretty well.

Charlie Furbush: 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's, .150 BAA. Furbush looked great in his first start with the Mariners. Granted it was a day game with the shadows against the Oakland A's but still he looked pretty good out there. Furbush is a fourth round pick in the 2007 draft and will be given a chance to start the rest of the season to earn a spot in next years starting rotation.

Josh Lueke: 1-1, 12.2 IP, 9.24 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 14 K's, .327 BAA. I'm sure your wondering why I included Lueke on here. Well he wasn't ready in April that is for sure but he went to Tacoma and made the PCL all-star team. Since he has been called up he has been lights out as well. In the second half Lueke has pitched 6.1 innings, 1.42 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 6 K's, .208 BAA. Lueke has been terrific so far since his call up.

I've been and will continue to be critical of Jack Zduriencik. I also wouldn't be doing a good job if I didn't point what he has appeared to have done right. Ackley was his draft pick which anyone could have made but the other players I listed he has traded for in the past calender year. Now if Zduriencik can just use his eye for young talent on major league talent and acquire some major league hitters in free agency the Mariners could finally have a team.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 64-51, First Place
L.A. Angels: 63-52, 1.0 GB
Oakland A's: 51-63, 12.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 49-64, 14.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners got better for the future with their trades and for now. Manager Eric Wedge actually has some options to work with which he didn't before. The Mariners have some decent hitters in the outfield which has been nice to see. The Mariners face a tough schedule for the rest of the month. I remember at the start of July thinking the next 60 games is going to be tough on this team. I'm glad the Mariners still have some fight in them but they need to be more consistent to avoid another long losing streak. It has been nice seeing guys who weren't on the opening day roster contributing.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: June 27th-July 3rd edition

By Kshell

This week the Seattle Mariners completed another 2-4 week which saw them get swept at home to the Atlanta Braves but recover to take the San Diego Padres two out of three. The Mariners aren't playing well having lost 15 of their last 25 games including going 4-8 the last two weeks. The Mariners once again saw their starting pitching pitch great and yet received no wins. The Mariners hitters were silent once again and in particular two hitters have been killing them this season. The fans have been riding one hitter but have given the other hitter a free pass which I won't be doing with this weekly review. The Mariners were swept to the Braves despite throwing Erik Bedard who later landed on the DL, all-star hopeful Michael Pineda and all-star Felix Hernandez. Then against the Padres the Mariners saw their starting pitching throw 25 innings while allowing just two earned runs yet only won two of three games. So like I do in a losing week I'll go over the good(starting pitching), the bad(hitting) and the ugly(more hitting).

The Good:

This week the Mariners went just 2-4 but not everything was bad. The starting pitching the last two weeks has been pretty good despite the poor record. Against the San Diego Padres this season the Mariners went 5-1 with a 0.50 ERA in six games. The pitching like it has all season long has carried the team. The Mariners did see rookie sensation Dustin Ackley once again do well even though he had to sit out two games due to a bruise rib. The Mariners also saw the return of Jack Cust who hadn't started a game in over two weeks due to interleague play. The Mariners this week also saw the major league debut of Blake Beavan who was acquired in the Cliff Lee trade and he pitched terrific getting the win in his major league debut.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 4-13(.308), HR, 4 RBI's, run, SB, .400 on base percentage
Jack Cust: 3-12(.250), HR, 4 RBI's, run, .400 on base percentage
Brendan Ryan: 6-22(.272), 4 runs, 3 SB's, .384 on base percentage
Greg Halman: 3-11(.272), SB

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 9 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 7 K's
Doug Fister: 0-1, 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 7 K's
Blake Beavan: 1-0, 7 IP, 1.29 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 4 K's
Erik Bedard: 0-1, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 5 K's
Brandon League: save, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2 K's

Jason Vargas now leads the American League with three complete game shutouts as he shutout the Padres 6-0 on friday night.

Dustin Ackley has reached base in all 13 games he has appeared in. For the year Ackley is hitting .302/.367/.558 on the season.

The Bad:

The Mariners aren't winning games anymore due to a lack of offense. The Mariners this week saw three regular hitters slump terribly. In the case of all three hitters these slumps have extended now for two weeks. For two of those hitters it has happened the entire season. The Mariners also saw their two best pitchers Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda get roughed up a bit by the Braves. In the case of Pineda he tied a career high with five walks while Hernandez allowed 10 hits in 7 2/3 innings while throwing 127 pitches. The Mariners manager Eric Wedge also made another mistake(He's had a terrible three weeks by the way) when he didn't argue a walk which should have been only three balls in Saturday's 1-0 loss. That walk that shouldn't have been was a big deal since he scored the only run of the game while nobody on the Mariners bench caught that mistake. The Mariners have pitched well the last two weeks but are just 4-8 because the hitting has failed them yet again.

Bad Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: 1-17(.058), run, 5 K's, 1-21(.047) slump dating back
Justin Smoak: 1-20(.050), RBI, 2 runs, 5 K's, 1-29(.034) slump dating back
Chone Figgins: 1-10(.100), SB, 2 K's, 1-23(.043) slump dating back

Bad Pitching:

Michael Pineda: 0-1, 6.1 IP, 5.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 5 K's
Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 7.2 IP, 5.86 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 6 K's

The Mariners offense this week averaged just 2.8 runs per game this week as they fell to 2-4 on the week. The Mariners completed interleague play going 9-9 which was helped by going 5-1 against the Padres.

The Ugly:

The Mariners are getting nothing from Chone Figgins and the fans are noticing by booing him every time he records an out. On the other hand Franklin Gutierrez I feel is getting a free pass with his poor hitting as are a few other hitters. The Mariners pitching staff has been pitching great this whole year but the offense once again has been terrible this season as the Mariners fall to third place in the division for the first time in over a month. The Mariners also have a tough schedule coming up so they could find themselves completely out of the race by the trade deadline if they don't make a trade.

Bad Hitting:

Chone Figgins: On the season is hitting .185/.230/.246 in 260 AB's
Franklin Gutierrez: On the season is hitting .183/.219/.229 in 131 AB's
Mike Carp: Hitting .200/.333/.257 with ZERO RBI's or runs in 35 AB's
Carlos Peguero: Hitting .206/.265/.405 in 126 AB's with 43 K's to 7 BB's

Seattle Mariners: Hitting .226/.294/.336 as a team on the season which is pathetic.

The Mariners currently rank dead last in batting average, on base percentage, runs scored, and base hits. The Mariners rank second to last in slugging percentage, and RBI's while ranking third to last in doubles. In other words the Mariners offense is the all around worst offense in all of baseball. The Mariners on the season are averaging just 3.4 runs per game for the season. The Mariners offense has gotten worse as the season has gone on due to manager Eric Wedge's agressive approach towards hitting. Wedge would rather see you be a hacker(Peguerro) than a guy who takes pitches(Cust or Carp). The value of the walk is lost with this team which is too bad to see.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 44-41, Tied First Place
L.A. Angels: 44-41, Tied First Place
Seattle Mariners: 41-43, 2.5 GB
Oakland A's: 38-47, 6.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners completed a rough stretch where they have lost 15 of 25 games. The schedule isn't any more friendly as the Mariners play 16 of their next 20 games on the road. In fact the Mariners have a tough schedule for their next 45 games which if the offense remains the same will most likely kill their slim chances of the playoffs. The Mariners play the Angels on the road for four games which is huge going into the all-star break. Wedge has had a rough last couple of weeks especially with his hitting lineups like the game I went to on Saturday when he had Gutierrez bat third despite Figgins and Jack Wilson also playing. The Mariners pitching has been great but if the pitching ever decides to be average for a week it could be an ugly week for the Mariners. This week the Mariners play seven games against their own division this is their sink or swim week that is for sure. The Mariners better get some hitting or else they'll be sinking this week.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: June 20th-June 26th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed their road part of interleague play as they'll be having the DH for the rest of the season. With the way the pitchers hit this week and the way the hitters hit this week the Mariners might want to think about using their pitchers as the DH on off days. The Mariners struggled this week having been swept by the Washington Nationals despite their starting pitchers giving up just combined one earned run over 21 innings. Then the Mariners returned home to take on the Florida Marlins that was supposed to be in Miami but due to a U2 concert the game was played at Safeco. Those three games were Marlins home games as they were played by National League rules. That gave the fans to root on their home pitchers at the plate. The Mariners for the week went 2-4 despite their starting pitching going 43 innings allowing just seven earned runs for an ERA of 1.46 on the week. The hitting was just awful this week and played a main reason why the Mariners went just 2-4. So this week I'll be doing the good(starting pitching), the bad(almost entire hitting) and the ugly(Figgins and the left field problem). So I'll lead off this weekly review with the good news which will see a player make the good pitching and hitting list.

The Good:

The Mariners for going 2-4 this week saw plenty of great pitching this week. The starting pitching was terrific this week led by Doug Fister who can't seem to buy a win. Fister was great this week with his pitching and his hitting as well. Felix Hernandez put on a great show this week for the King's Court striking out 10 batters this week in a game that I went to in fact. The electricity around Hernandez bullpen session was great and I was glad that I brought my dad to friday's game. The King's court is like a student section you see at a college game and I think that was a great idea by the Mariners organization to give some life into Safeco Field. The Mariners pitching as they have all season long was terrific and you'll see them make the list. As for hitting well I really had to stretch to include some hitters this week. One hitter who shined was Dustin Ackley who had his first career double this week and three hit game. Ackley was terrific this week and I'm glad manager Eric Wedge finally moved him up in the lineup.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 6-19(.315), 2 RBI's, 4 runs, .409 OB %
Franklin Gutierrez: 6-23(.260), 2 RBI's, run, SB
Doug Fister: 2-6(.333), RBI, Run

Good pitching:

Doug Fister: 16 IP, 1.12 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 6 K's
Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 8 IP, 1.12 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 10 K's
Michael Pineda: 7 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 9 K's
Erik Bedard: 0-1, 6 IP, 0.00, 0.83 WHIP, 10 K's

Bedard became the first pitcher since Johan Santana in 2009 to lose a game while allowing zero earned runs and striking out 10 batters. He was only the seventh pitcher in the last 35 years to lose such a game.

The Mariners starting pitching this year has been terrific and has been carrying this team.

Michael Pineda: 7-4, 95.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 94 K's, .199 BAA

Felix Hernandez: 8-6, 121.1 IP, 3.19 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 118 K's, .227 BAA

Erik Bedard: 4-5, 83.0 IP, 2.93 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 80 K's, .226 BAA

Doug Fister: 3-8, 110.1 IP, 3.18 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 70 K's, .260 BAA

Jason Vargas: 5-5, 104.1 IP, 3.88 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 68 K's, .241 BAA

The Bad:

Whenever you go 2-4 on the week when your starting pitching has a 1.46 ERA that tells the story of the hitting. The hitting like it has all year killed the Mariners this week scoring just 2.5 runs a game. The defense was terrible in the series sweep to the Nationals allowing seven unearned runs and then the final game losing 1-0 on a shallow sac fly. Also this was probably the worst week for manager Eric Wedge who made several questionable decisions this week. In the first game of the week he pulled Doug Fister who had retired seven hitters in a row and had thrown 99 pitches after eight innings with the Mariners up 5-1. The Mariners would go on to lose that game 6-5 despite being up 5-1 with two outs. Then in Tuesday's game Wedge gave Ackley a day off which made an already weak lineup even worse. He also didn't pinch hit for Chone Figgins in the 9th and Figgins rewarded him by striking out on three straight called strikes. I think Wedge is doing a decent job but that Nationals series he was a big part of two of the three losses. The lack of hitting was a big part of well all the Mariners losses this year.

Bad Hitting:

Chone Figgins: 0-6(.000), RBI, costly error, 2 K's
Justin Smoak: 4-20(.200), run, costly error, 4 K's
Ichiro: 6-26(.230), run, SB, 2 K's
Adam Kennedy: 5-21(.238), 2 RBI, 2 runs, 3 K's
Carlos Peguero: 3-16(.187), HR, RBI, run, 7 K's
Miguel Olivo: 3-20(.150), HR, 4 RBI's, 2 runs, 5 K's
Mike Carp: 0-5(.000), 2 K's

Bad Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 6 IP, 6.00 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 4 K's
David Pauley: 1-1, Blown Save, 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K's

The Hitting was awful this week scoring just 2.5 runs a game with two home runs for the whole week. The Mariners were held to two runs or less in four of the six games this week including being held to one run or less in three of those games. The Mariners saw their pitchers Hernandez, Fister and Pineda get base hits yet their regular hitters can't seem to buy a hit lately. The Mariners are getting nothing from Figgins, Left Field or DH this season and unless that changes they'll find themselves out of the playoff race soon.

The Ugly:

There has been plenty of ugly hitting this year. I already wrote a blog post earlier on the week about how the Mariners should end the Carlos Peguero experiment. Well the Mariners have no left field options at all in their system. The Mariners have to trade for a DH and a left fielder as I'll post the ugly stats they are putting up as a group. You throw in Figgins who is terrible at hitting and also leads the team in errors the Mariners have some serious dead weight on their hands. In the case of Figgins they can't afford to dump him so I suggest putting him on the DL for "suckitis" for a while. As for Jack Cust, Carlos Peguero and Mike Carp it's time to put up or get a bust ticket to leave town.

Ugly Hitting:

Chone Figgins: Hitting .188/.235/.252 . He has one home run, 21 runs scored and 14 RBI's. He has 8 SB's in 14 chances(57.1%) which is just terrible. He is hitting 25-147(.170) since May 1st and has an OB% of just .230 with 23 strikeouts. He has been down right awful for the Mariners.

Jack Cust: Hitting .216/.358/.319 . He has just two home runs, 16 runs scored and 19 RBI's. Cust was brought in for power and has only 14 XBH in 185 AB's with 65 K's. For the month of June he is hitting .115/.343/.231 in 26 AB's but still has nine strikeouts. Cust was brought in for power but other than getting walked has shown to be pretty worthless.

Mike Carp: Hitting .179/.343/.214. So far in only 28 AB's he has yet to score a run or drive in a run. He does have 11 strikeouts(39.2% of AB's) since coming up. Carp after failing last year in the majors is showing he is quadruple A. I think to truly judge him Wedge needs to play him everyday for two weeks in left field or DH. If Carp still isn't productive then it's time to cut bait on Carp.

Carlos Peguero: Hitting .205/.268/.419. So far he has hit six home runs, scored 14 runs and has 16 RBI's. Peguero has provided some power this year but he is striking out way too much and not walking enough. Peguero has 40 strikeouts already in only 117 AB's(34.1%) with just seven walks(5.9%). He is also only hitting a home run one in 19.5 AB's. The problem for the Mariners is when the DH returns two of these guys are in the lineup and if Wedge plays Figgins three of these guys are playing. So if any hitters like a Justin Smoak or Ichiro are slumping which both did this week the Mariners simply aren't going to score runs.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 41-38, first place
Seattle Mariners: 39-39, 1.5 GB
L.A. Angels: 39-40, 2.0 GB
Oakland A's: 35-44, 6.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners this week proved what everyone already knows which is that their starting five man rotation is the best in the American League and that their starting nine is the worst in the American League. The Mariners need to make a trade to acquire a major league left fielder and DH if they seriously want to compete for the playoffs. Otherwise the Mariners should just trade Erik Bedard right now and bring in some pitching prospects. The Mariners have nobody on their roster or in their system who can be their everyday left fielder. The Mariners desperatly need to acquire a left fielder for this year and for next season while also bringing in a DH midseason to finish out the year. I do feel for Wedge as his options at DH and left field aren't good although I would play Carp over Peguero. The Mariners pitching staff with an average offense would win over 100 games. On the flip side if the Mariners pitching staff was average with this hitting they'd lose over 100 games like they did last year. At least the Mariners are about to enter July and we still care about the team.

Mariners weekly recap: May 23rd-May 29th edition

By Kshell

The Mariners have put together quite the string of success these past two weeks. The Mariners even found themselves over .500 for the first time since the second game of the season. The Mariners on the week took two out of three at the Minnesota Twins then defeated the New York Yankees two out of three at home. This week was a strange week as the Mariners hitting once again didn't hit well especially the top of the order. The starting pitching unlike all season didn't pitch well either having just thrown one quality start in six starts. The Mariners bullpen was terrific once again this week which allowed the Mariners to pull within a game of first place. The American League West race is pretty tight as the difference between first place and last place is just a game and a half. Like I'll do whenever the Mariners have a winning week I'll feature the good, the bad and the awesome. This week the good list will feature plenty of relievers, the bad will feature the top of the order while the awesome will have more attention on the middle relievers.

The Good:

The Mariners went 4-2 on the week which saw plenty of good. This week Erik Bedard like he has all month long is pitching like the pitcher Bill Bavasi gave up so much to acquire. The Mariners relief was excellent this week as they went 3-0 with three saves on the week. Then the Mariners got a little bit of offense from their double play combination especially Brendan Ryan who has been red hot for nine games after being ice cold. The Mariners this week just found ways to win as they won three games in which they trailed including two in extra innings. One of the Mariners wins came off of Mariano Rivera who is the greatest closer of all-time. The Mariners had a winning week when Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda didn't pitch that great of games. So here were the stars of the week for the Mariners this week.

Hot Hitting:

Brendan Ryan: 12-21(.571), 3 RBI's, 2 runs
Adam Kennedy: 7-19(.368), 3 RBI's, 3 runs. He also had game winning hit off Rivera.
Franklin Gutierrez: 7-21(.333), HR, RBI, 3 runs. He robbed a home run against Nick Swisher.
Miguel Olivo: 7-17(.412), HR, 5 RBI's, 3 runs, SB

Brendan Ryan in the past nine games: 17-31(.548) with 7 RBI"s, 5 runs and a nine game hitting streak.

Hot Pitching:

Erik Bedard: 1-0, 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 3 saves, 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 K's
Jamey Wright: 1-0, hold, 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, K
David Pauley: 2-0, hold, 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's

Erik Bedard in his last five starts: 3-0, 33 IP, 1.09 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 28 K's
Jamey Wright on the season: 1-1,10 holds, 24.1 IP, 1.48 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 16 K's
David Pauley on the season: 4-0, 3 holds, 32.1 IP, 0.84 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 20 K's

The Bad:

I'm glad that some guys like Ryan, Olivo and Jack Cust aren't living on the bad list but Figgins still remains. The Mariners top of the order has been doing terrible for two weeks now. The 27 million dollar men which is Ichiro and Chone Figgins have done horrible this month. It's pretty incredible how the Mariners are even .500 with the way the team has been hitting. The starting pitching was very average and last weeks hero Jason Vargas got beat up pretty good this week. Then the Mariners have a problem in left field as all the youngsters out there have looked very quadruple A like with the non stop strikeouts. The main problem is Figgins who the Mariners are stuck with for two more seasons after this year at nine million a season. The Mariners need to call up Dustin Ackley now and bench Figgins in favor of Kennedy or at least put Figgins ninth in the order.

Poor hitting:

Chone Figgins: 1-22(.045). For the year hitting .193/.235/.260
Ichiro: 3-26(.115), 2 RBI's, 2 runs, SB
Carlos Peguerro: 2-14(.143), 2 RBI's, 8 K's
Michael Saunders: 0-9, run, SB, 6 K's
Justin Smoak: 4-24(.167), HR, 2 RBI's, 2 runs, 7 K's

Ichiro and Figgins last two weeks combined are 14-104(.135) which has to play a part of Smoak's recent struggles.

For the month Ichiro is hitting .204/.262/.235 with 2 SB's and 3 Caught Stealing. Yet he isn't even the worst hitter or in the worst slump.

For the month Figgins is hitting .169/.204/.202 with 2 RBI's, 5 runs and 4 stolen bases to 2 caught stealing. Time for Figgins to be benched or least moved to ninth in the order. Hard to score runs when your 1-2-3 go a combine 24-156(.154) in the last two weeks.

Poor pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 7.2 IP, 12.91 ERA, 2.61 WHIP, 3 K's

Vargas doesn't really ever have an average outing. It is either a great outing or a terrible outing much like Ryan doesn't have an average week hitting wise ever.

The Awesome:

The Mariners going 4-2 on the week and 10-3 the last two weeks is pretty awesome. The Mariners were 16-23 have battled back from the week where they blew several leads. Now the Mariners are playing like a team with their bullpen and Ryan carrying the offense. The same Ryan who was hitting .200 just nine games ago. The past two weeks has been fun to watch as the Mariners have given this team very little to cheer about lately. So I'll break down the awesome part of the week.

Awesome hitting:

Brendan Ryan: For the month he is hitting .385/.438/.492 and in the past two weeks he is hitting .515/.555/.687 while driving in 7 runs, scoring 6 runs and has a nine game hitting streak. Ryan has raised his average from .200/.276/.245 to in nine games is now .277/.350/.348 on the season nearly improving by over 100 points in every category.

Awesome pitching:

Erik Bedard: For the month he is 2-0, 26 IP, 1.04 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 25 K's and .180 BAA. Bedard has been dominant his last five starts and he'll take the hill tomorrow against his former team. The Mariners have a tough choice to make here in a month on Bedard if he keeps pitching this well. I'd love to make the playoffs with Hernandez, Pineda and then Bedard as no team would want to face the Mariners.

Mariners Bullpen: 3-0, 3 saves, 2 holds, 24.2 IP, 1.09 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 12 K's. The Mariners middle relief has been great and David Pauley deserves to be an all-star.

David Pauley on the season is 4-0, 3 holds, 32.1 IP, 0.84 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 20 K's and .168 BAA. Every year they pick a middle reliever and I don't see how Pauley isn't the leading middle reliever at this point in the season.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 28-25, First Place
LAA Angels: 28-27, 1.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 26-26, 1.5 GB
Oakland A's: 27-27, 1.5 GB

As you can see the Mariners under first year manager Eric Wedge are right in the middle of the race. Wedge does have his team playing hard as there is no quit in this team which is nice to see. The Mariners are 10-3 the last two weeks despite the top of the order hitting horrible. The Mariners just got Gutirrez back which has already been paying off. When Dustin Ackley is finally called up and eats into Figgins playing time that will help the offense again. Also the Mariners are winning despite Ichiro slumping and his track record suggests he'll snap out of this which is another hitter as well. At least the Mariners are giving us some excitement which they didn't do last year. Hopefully the hitting turns around and the pitching staff keeps pitching well. It does feel good to talk positive about the Mariners for once. It has been a great two week stretch that I hope can last a little longer.

2011 Seattle Mariners season preview

By Kshell


Spring has finally arrived where the sun is about to come out, the grass is freshly cut and you hear the wooden bats crack. Yes baseball season is starting in less than a week. I'll preview the MLB season with predictions later in the week. For now I'll feature the hometown Seattle Mariners who have lost over 101 games two of the last three seasons. This year is a new year which the Mariners are hoping for a fresh start just like they did in 2009 winning 85 games a year after losing 101 games. The Mariners had a quiet offseason and will be counting on young talent that general manager Jack Zduriencik has brought in since he became G.M. in the winter of 2008. The Mariners since they will feature the youth movement will most likely be rebuilding once again. The Mariners will also have their seventh new manager since Lou Piniella left after the 2002 season.

The Mariners hired a new manager because last season went about as wrong as it could have gone. The Mariners after winning 85 games in the 2009 season and acquiring former Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee were some experts sleeper to win the World Series last season. The season quickly fell apart when every hitter had a career worst season. The team fell apart in May despite having Cliff Lee who had won a Cy Young award and Felix Hernandez who would win a Cy Young award that season. Eventually Ken Griffey Jr. who was struggling the whole year(Didn't even hit a single homerun as of June) retired abruptly leaving the team in caos. This was after a report that he had fallen asleep in the dugout. With the season falling apart the Mariners decided to trade Cliff Lee to the Rangers for some key prospects. The Mariners knowing Lee was a free agent had to get something in return which they did. Good chance two players in that trade will make the opening day roster. Then as what happens in sports when a team is struggling someone has to take the fall which in this case was second year manager Don Wakamutsu who was fired in August. So now the Mariners will turn to Eric Wedge to save the day. I'll talk about Wedge later. For now I'll preview the starting lineup if healthy on opening day and will include the reserves as well.

Starting 9:

1. Ichiro: RF

Ichiro has been the face of the Seattle Mariners franchise for the past decade. When Ichiro came over from Japan nobody knew what to expect from him. All Ichiro did was win Rookie of the year, win a gold glove, lead the American League in batting and win the MVP on a historic 116 win Seattle Mariners team. Not a bad start to a major league career huh? Ichiro this past season did what he always does which is hit over .300, collect his 200+ hits and win a gold glove. Ichiro since he has came over has been to an all-star game and won a gold glove in each of his 10 seasons. Ichiro in the process tied Al Kaline and former Mariners great Griffey Jr. for most consecutive gold glove awards by an outfielder with 10 in a row. Ichiro was recently voted without a doubt the best right fielder in the game on MLB networks prime 9 right now. What Ichiro has done is simply amazing in his career. He is a career .331 hitter and averages 45.7 stolen bases a season yet some fans want him traded.

The reasons for trading Ichiro makes sense in fact. Back in July of last year I explored this option in fact. The window for trading Ichiro who will be 37 this season has probably passed. Ichiro will be remembered for his 200+ hits but will also be remembered for his big salary that basically hurt the franchise. Since the 2004 season the Mariners have had just two winning seasons. The Mariners have made the playoffs just once in Ichiro's career which was his rookie season. The Mariners a few years back could have traded Ichiro and received some nice young prospects to go with their other young core presently. Instead Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln won't even explore that option. Since Ichiro isn't going anywhere sit back and appreciate another 200+ hit season, .300+ batting average, all-star game, and gold glove.

2. Chone Figgins: 3B

Chone Figgins was a big free agent signing for the Mariners this past season. Figgins last year had to adjust to playing in a new city, a new spot in the batting order and had to learn a new position. This year Figgins returns back to third base which the Mariners are hoping he can give them a season like 2009. Last year Figgins hit just .259 with one home run, 35 RBI's, 62 runs scored but 42 stolen bases. Figgins was also benched for not hustling by then manager Wakamutsu. He later would get into an altercation in the dugout of that same game. Figgins had a pretty horrible season which saw him almost get traded to the New York Mets.

Now Figgins is back at third base where he played with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. While there Figgins hit .298 with five home runs, 54 RBI's, 114 runs scored and 42 stolen bases in 2009. The Mariners also liked Figgins since he led the American League with 101 walks. The Mariners were looking for a guy who could work the count since the roster was full of hackers. Figgins for having a disasterous last season did still wind up stealing 42 bases. Look for Figgins to get his average around .290 which is what he hit with the Angels. The Mariners with Ichiro and Figgins will once again try to play small ball.

3. Milton Bradley: LF

With the way last season ended I never would have thought Milton Bradley would be the opening day #3 hitter and left fielder. Bradley came over last year in the Carlos Silva trade in an exchange of two high priced guys who weren't working out with their current clubs. Bradley like the rest of the team had a disaterous 2010 season. What made Bradley's seasons unique was his season was disasterous on and off the field. Bradley this offseason was arrested, last year in the opening week of the season he flipped off some fans in Texas, then later in the month quit the team for a while to take care of personal business with himself. You add all that nonsense with terrible defense and a .205 batting average with just eight home runs and 29 RBI's it was one of the worst seasons the Mariners have ever witnessed. To make this even more surprising is the new manager Bradley once wore a shirt that read "F**K Eric Wedge".

What the Mariners hope is Bradley returns to the 2008 form which saw him make the All-Star team. Bradley that year hit .321 and led the American League with a .436 on base percentage along with leading with a .999 OPS. In reality I expect Bradley to keep declining like he has the last two seasons. I'm sure Bradley might improve slightly because this last year was so horrible but to expect much from him is crazy. He is currently blocking the path of young left field Michael Saunders who should be given an opportunity to showcase himself.

4. Jack Cust: DH

The Mariners signed Jack Cust from the Oakland A's this last offseason hoping he can provide the club with some much needed power. Cust who last year began the year in triple A will be the Mariners cleanup hitter this season. Cust is a guy who does three things only which is strike out, walk and hit home runs. Cust has led the American League in strikeouts three years in a row from 2007-2009. Cust was productive in Oakland hitting 26 bombs and driving in 82 runs in 2007, 33 bombs and 77 runs batting in 2008 and 25 bombs and 70 batted in 2009. Last year Cust playing time was reduced but he did hit .272 with 13 home runs and 52 RBI's.

The Mariners obviously are hoping he can continue that type of power. The Mariners won't mind the strikeouts if he is knocking the ball out of the ball park. Last year the Mariners as a team hit just 101 home runs and their leading home run hitter Russell Branyan who hit 15 home runs was let go. The next leading home run leader was Franklin Gutierrez who hit just 12 home runs and will begin the year on the DL most likely. The Mariners desperatly need Cust to provide them with some power.

5. Justin Smoak: 1B

The reason the Mariners traded Cliff Lee in division was to acquire Justin Smoak. Jack Zduriencik felt of all the prospects teams offered the Mariners Smoak was the best of the bunch. Smoak is a switching hitting power hitting first baseman. Smoak was the 11th pick overall in the 2008 baseball draft. After being rushed through the minor leagues Smoak saw himself ranked 13th on baseball america top prospects list heading into the 2010 season. When Smoak arrived in Seattle he struggled pretty badly hitting .156 with two home runs which saw him be sent down to Tacoma. While in Tacoma he hit .271 with seven home runs and 25 RBI's in just 35 games. In fact he helped lead the Tacoma Rainiers to their first title since 1969. When Smoak was recalled he appeared more comfortable hitting .340 with three home runs in his 14 game call up.

The Mariners are hoping that Smoak can perform at the small sample size he showed in September. He probably won't hit that high of an average but he also won't be as bad as he was in July. For the Mariners to be successful they need these big prospects to finally pan out. Smoak for the season did hit 13 home runs in 348 AB's so the power has already been established. Smoak just needs to work on his eye which was his strength coming up through the minor league systems. With Smoak the Mariners have a special prospect and it should be fun watching him sock the ball to the hit it here cafe a few times.

6. Miguel Olivo: C

Yes Mariners fans this is the same Miguel Olivo who failed terribly with the Mariners from 2004-2005. Olivo was signed this offseason to a two year/14 million dollar deal hoping to give the Mariners some offense at the catcher position which they haven't had in years. Olivo came to the Mariners as the catcher of the future when the Mariners traded then ace Freddy Garcia to the Chicago White Sox. Olivo with the Mariners was a bust hitting .176 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI's in 104 games before he was traded away. Well Olivo has appeared to have turned things around as he has hit double digits in home runs five straight seasons including 23 in 2009. The Mariners a team desperate of power need some production from the catcher position.

The Mariners are hoping that power of Olivo can translate over to Safeco Field once again. I don't see a happy ending here as Olivo is a dead pull right handed hitter which is a death sentence in Safeco Field. I also think he is blocking path of youngster Adam Moore who is in a make or break type of season. It will be nice to see someone not named Rob Johnson catch anymore. His dropping of third strikes was growing old along with his crappy average. For that I'm kind of excited for the Olivo era although I have a feeling how this is going to end.

7. Franklin Gutierrez: CF

A prime example of the good job Jack Zduriencik has done while in Seattle. He traded aging closer J.J. Putz in a three way deal which brought back Gutierrez and Jason Vargas. Gutierrez was a huge success his first year in Seattle hitting .283 with 18 home runs with 70 RBI's with 16 stolen bases. To the Sabermetrics crowd he had the greatest defensive season in centerfield history. Last year Gutierrez bat slumped seeing him hit just .245 with 12 home runs and 64 RBI's but he did steal 25 bases on 28 attempts. Gutierrez did win his first gold glove after being snubbed in 2010. Now Gutierrez appears to start the year off on the DL which is terrible start for the Mariners.

With Gutierrez appeared sidelined look for Ryan Langerhans and Michael Saunders to share the duty in centerfield until Gutierrez can return. With Gutierrez the Mariners have one of the best defensive centerfielders in baseball if not the best. What Gutierrez needs to do is be a threat on offense like he was in 2009 where he hit for a solid average and good power. Defense is very important in baseball especially in centerfield but you can't hit cornerstones of your franchise hit below .250 with no power. Now with Gutierrez starting the year off hurt it will be interesting how this year goes for him. This is another make or break year for him. A good year here soldifies he is a cornerstone for years to come, another poor offensive year the Mariners will start looking in another direction.

8. Jack Wilson: 2B

Well I'll start this off by saying Wilson is keeping the spot warm for prospect Dustin Ackley. Ackley was the #2 pick overall in the 2008 draft and was the MVP of the Arizona Fall league this past offseason. Now I'll dive into Wilson who was part of a big trade along with Ian Snell at the trade deadline in 2009. This wasn't one of Zduriencik's finest trades that is for sure. Snell who was a total disaster and is since been gone while Wilson is now moving positions. The Mariners are probably regretting giving Wilson a two year/14 million deal after the 2009 season. Wilson has had two forgettable years in Seattle hitting just .240 with one home run, two stolen bases and 23 RBI's in 92 games.

Now it appears the Mariners are cutting bait with Wilson. They are moving him to a position that they know will be occupied by June at the latest. Wilson just can't stay healthy and when he is his bat has been awful. The defense which was his strong point wasn't that great. I wouldn't be surprised by July the Mariners designate Wilson for assignment. His days as a Mariner appear to be on death row.

9. Brendan Ryan: SS

In a surprising move the Mariners switched Brendan Ryan to shortstop with Jack Wilson who is now second base. This move is significant because of Dustin Ackley. By playing shortstop that shows the franchise has value for you down the road. With Ryan the Mariners get a nice utility defender who is a career .259 hitter with the St.Louis Cardinals.

The Mariners are hoping he can produce a year like he had in 2009 where he hit .292 and stole 14 bases. The Mariners want someone who can be stable at the shortstop position. Despite being the franchise who always took a Shortstop in the draft the Mariners have failed to produce a good shortstop since giving up on Carlos Guillen. Now the Mariners will hope Ryan can at least fill the gap which has been desperately killing this franchise for a decade now.

Bench:

Adam Moore: C

A make or break year for the Mariners catcher who was once a top prospect. Moore last year in 60 games hit just .195 with just four home runs. Moore will get one last chance as Olivo could start the year injured as well. This is it for Moore or he'll join the long list of other prospects who never panned out.

Ryan Langerhans: OF

Langerhans might even start on opening day depending how serious the Gutierrez injury is. Langerhans is a solid outfield option but must improve his hitting. In Seattle he has hit just .207 with six home runs in 94 games. With Langerhans you'll get a lefty who is used to being the fourth outfielder.

Adam Kennedy: 2B/SS

Kennedy is a good veteran infielder who has proven he can hit some and play good defense. A lifetime .275 hitter in 12 seasons Kennedy is the type of veteran player the club could use. The 2002 ALCS MVP will be a nice addition to the Mariners.

Starting Five man staff

1. Felix Hernandez: RHP

With the Mariners losing 101 games it is pretty easy to think everyone had a bad season. That would be a big mistake as Felix Hernandez became only the second Mariners pitcher in franchise history to win the Cy Young award despite a 13-12 record. Hernandez had such a poor record due to no offense which if you are still reading you can see the offense won't be much better this year. Hernandez came up with a lot of hype but the last two years it's becoming quite obvious he is entering his prime. Hernandez in 2009 finished second in the Cy Young race going 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA in 238 2/3 innings pitched with 217 strikeouts. In 2010 his Cy Young season he was even better going 13-12 with a league leading 2.27 ERA, league leading 249 2/3 innings pitch with 232 strikeouts. The Mariners haven't had a run like this from a pitcher since Randy Johnson. The scary thing for hitters is that Hernandez is only going to be 25 years old this season.

With Hernandez the Mariners know they have the best pitcher in the American League and one of the best in baseball. If the Mariners were to ever reach the playoffs like the San Francisco Giants last year they could be scary. The Mariners need to build a team around Hernandez or trade him in a Herschel Walker type of deal where they receive four or five players. With Hernandez the Mariners have a special talent but an ace alone doesn't gurantee championships. The fact Hernandez went only 13-12 shows you that baseball is a team game. At least every fifth day despite how terrible the Mariners are playing the Mariners get a chance to watch the very best in person.

2. Jason Vargas: LHP

When the Mariners made the big J.J. Putz trade Jason Vargas was just a throw in. In fact more fans were excited about Mike Carp than Vargas. Vargas has come a long ways and will now start the year as the #2 starter in the rotation. Vargas in his first year with the Mariners went just 3-6 with a 4.91 ERA in 23 games and 14 starts. Last year saw a huge breakout season for Vargas who just recently turned 28. Last year Vargas went 9-12 but had a 3.78 ERA in 31 starts throwing 192 2/3 innings and striking out 116 batters. For Vargas it appeared he may have worn down a bit last season as he had never thrown more than 100 innings in a season.

Last year in the first half of the season Vargas was 6-4 with a 3.09 ERA in 17 starts going 107 2/3(Average 6 1/3 a start) striking out 68(5.68 K's per 9). While in the second half Vargas was 3-8 with a 4.66 ERA going 85 innings(six innings a start) in 14 starts while striking out 48(5.1 K's per 9). Like I said Vargas had never thrown more than 100 innings in a season and last year he almost threw 200 innings. In his previous four seasons in the Major Leagues he had made just 34 starts while last year he made 31 starts. Vargas features a nice change up and has shown he can strike some hitters out. I don't know if Vargas is a #2 starer though I've always seen him as a #4 or #5 starter.

3. Doug Fister: RHP

On most teams Doug Fister would be your 5th starter or long man out of the bullpen. Fister is what the Mariners had hoped for when they grossly overpaid for Carlos Silva. Fister is a strike throwing machine who pitches to contact while not featuring great stuff. Fister last year with the Mariners was 6-14 with 4.11 ERA and in 28 starts pitched 171 innings(six innings a start).

Like I said with Fister don't expect dazzling results. He does feature a purpose though. He is pretty cheap and can give the team innings. Several pitchers made a career off that(the entire 2001 Seattle Mariners pitching staff minus Freddy Garcia). Fister like Vargas probably slated a little bit too high in the rotation but that is to be expected for a bad team. If the defense behind him is pretty good he should be fine.

4. Erik Bedard: LHP

This is by far the Mariners biggest wildcard up their sleeve. With Erik Bedard you have when healthy one of the better pitchers in the game. The problem is when is he ever healthy? Well supposedly this year Bedard is finally healthy. The once savior of the Seattle Mariners back in 2008 is now hoping to pitch in his first game since July of 2009. Bedard missed all of last season. In fact since coming to Seattle Bedard in three seasons has combined to make just 30 starts and thrown just 164 innings. In those 164 innings he has a 3.24 ERA and a 11-7 record with 162 strikeouts.

With Bedard nobody knows what to expect. I actually feel bad for Bedard and felt he has received a bad rap. The guy is shy so people assume he is a jerk. He is a good pitcher and you can't control injuries. He isn't "wimpy" like many believe him to be. He just has bad luck with injuries and in fact tries to tough it out which makes it even worst. Does he lack good judgement? Probably. Is he wimpy? Hell no. Bedard if he is healthy realistically will be the Mariners second best pitcher. Hopefully this is finally the year Bedard can give the Mariners something. At the very least then the Mariners can trade him for some nice prospects.

5. Michael Pineda: RHP

Speaking of prospects the Mariners will feature the 16th best prospect of 2011 in Michael Pineda. The 22 year old Pineda is built like an ace as he is 6'5" 255 pounds and is a strikeout pitcher. In his minor league career Pineda posts a 31-14 record with a 2.49 ERA. He has struck out 396 batters in 404 1/3 innings. Pineda has electric stuff but like Hernandez in 2006 the Mariners will have to watch his innings. Pineda has never thrown more than 140 innings in a season.

With Pineda the Mariners have a future ace who can take over if they decide to trade Hernandez. If the Hernandez is kept then the Mariners can have a dangerous 1-2 punch in a couple of seasons. Hernandez and Pineda are separated by just three years in age so not unreasonable to see them carry the team for five to seven seasons together as the 1-2 punch. I'm just excited to see Pineda this year. I know there will be some bumpy starts but there will be some electric starts as well.

Bullpen:

Closer- David Aardsma: RHP

This is one of Zduriencik's best signings so far. Aardsma who will begin the year on the disabled list was a nice signing in 2009. Aardsma who had zero career saves when the Mariners signed him has 69 saves with the team the last two years. Since joining the Mariners Aardsma has 69 saves with a 2.90 ERA and has struck out 129 batters in 121 innings.

With Aardsma the Mariners have proven just how valuable closers truly are. The Mariners found a guy with zero career saves who had pitched for four different teams in four seasons and turned him into one of the top closers in baseball. With Aardsma starting the year off on the disabled list this will open up another opportunity. Aardsma will be the closer when he returns and with another 30 saves will be second in Mariners history for saves. Who would have thought all this when he was signed in 2009? Zduriencik hit a home run with this signing.

Setupman- Brandon League: RHP

In what is easily Zduriencik's worst trade giving up on the talented Brandon Morrow for Brandon League last season. League had an up and down first season in Seattle which saw him give up plenty of eighth inning leads. League on the year went 9-7 with a 3.42 ERA in 79 innings while striking out only 56 batters. League will begin the season as the Mariners closer until Aardsma is ready.

With League the Mariners need to see more consistency. His struggles could be because he couldn't throw his best pitch which is his splitter since Rob Johnson couldn't catch anything. League in the second half of the season posted a 2.86 ERA compared to 3.86 in the first half. The Mariners are hoping his great stuff can translate to better results. League will be in a ton of late inning situations either as the closer or the eighth inning man.

Manager:

Manager- Eric Wedge

The Mariners new manager is former Cleveland Indians boss Eric Wedge. When he was hired I offered up my opinion on the hire. I think in baseball of the three major sports the coach/manager matters the least. A manager's most important job is to handle the 25 different personalities on his team, use his bullpen correctly and other than that just sit back and see if your team is good or not.

For Wedge the Mariners hired a manager who was second in manager of the year in 2005 and won manager of the year in 2007. Wedge unlike Wakamatsu is an established manager and won't take as much crap. When Bradley wore that shirt Wedge was just in his second season as manager. I doubt Bradley or anyone will wear such disrespectful stuff. Wedge has a tall order in front of him and a front office who likes to fire the manager instead of look in the mirror.

Outlook:

For this to be a successful season in my opinion is if all the young kids get a chance to showcase their talent and some of them emerge. The Mariners have no shot at the postseason and are in rebuilding mode. If the Mariners lose another 90 games will that be the end for Zduriencik? Possibly. I know Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong would rather blame others than look in the mirror. Those two have ran this franchise for over 25 years yet the Mariners are just one of two franchises in all of baseball who have never reached a World Series. The Mariners haven't reach the playoffs since 2001 which was 10 years ago. As long as dumb and dumber are running things doesn't matter who the general manager and manager are.

As for the current 2011 team in place I see tons of change. You'll look back at the opening day roster and noticed that half this roster has changed by July. The bullpen other than Aardsma and League are so up for grabs I'd be wasting time trying to preview them. The Mariners for the first time in a long time do have some nice young prospects. Yet with the Mariners I always feel like they'll find a way to screw this all up. Look for some good pitching, terrible hitting, empty seats and people asking about the NFL come July. This will be another long season for the Mariners and the lack of excitement towards this year shows everyone else knows the Mariners fate. At least we have Felix Hernandez to look forward to every fifth day. Other than that this is going to be a long six months.