Charlie Klein
Key Additions:
Cliff Lee (SP)
Chone Figgins (UTIL)
Brandon League (RP)
Milton Bradley (OF/DH)
Casey Kotchman (1B)
Eric Byrnes (OF)
Key Departures:
Carlos Silva (SP)
Brandon Morrow (SP)
Adrian Beltre (3B)
Richie Sexson (1B)
Jarrod Washburn (SP)
Miguel Batista (RP)
Russell Branyan (1B/DH)
Wladimir Balentien (OF)
Ronny Cedeno (OF)
Alright, so at long last, after covering 29 teams that I do not care that much about, I finally get to write a preview for my hometown team. I know that many of you reading this will write off whatever I say as simply fanboy fodder, but I swear with my right hand on my Mariners yearbook that I am telling nothing but the truth, so help me God of Baseball.
The Mariners by most within baseball's estimation have had the best offseason of any team in the league last winter. As I have covered in this blog in previous articles, the Mariners have done almost everything that they needed to do in order to become a legitimate contender in their division.
The acquisitions of Chone Figgins, Eric Byrnes, and Casey Kotchman strengthen one of the best defensive teams from 2009, making it even more unlikely that any team will be able to get an easy hit at Safeco this season.
Chone Figgins will start the season at second base and forge a strong double play partnership with defensive wizard Jack Wilson. More importantly, Figgins solves what has been a problem for more than a few Mariners managers, which is who to bat second in the lineup behind Ichiro. In Figgins, Wakmatsu has his man. Not only will Figgins hit for a good average, like Ichiro, the Little Man also has the ability to get infield hits and steal bases.
Eric Byrnes will largely be a bench player, able to give manager Don Wakamatsu some cover at all three outfield positions. Byrnes was largely a failure by most standards in Arizona, but most of his shortcomings can be attributed to his inability to stay healthy over a long period of time. In Seattle not nearly as much will be expected of him, and this could lead to a return to form for Byrnes. The last time the Owen Wilson look-a-like was able to have more than 500 at-bats, he hit .286 with 21 homeruns and 83 RBIs in 2007. The potential is there, and if all Byrnes gives the Mariners this year is great defense, the team will not be any worse for it.
Casey Kotchman is a bit of a come down from Russell Branyan as far as most Mariners fans are concerned. I too fell in love with the power of Russell The Muscle. Now that the Mariners have decided that his inability to stay healthy did not justify longer than a one year contract, Branyan will be playing in Cleveland this season. Kotchman does not have the same power potential that Branyan did, but his defense will be able to save runs as much as Branyan was able to produce them. Kotchman is no slouch at the plate, but is nominally a contact hitter. A career .267 hitter, he will not inspire fear in the opposition, but he is not a certain out either.
Both Kotchman and Figgins are a reflection on the new Mariners management credo. The M's have been stuck behind the Angels since 2002 and have failed to wrest the division title from the grasp of the Rally Monkey. This new motto being, if you can't beat 'em, be 'em. While former Angels front office man Bill Bavasi was by all considerations a flop and Jarrod Washburn did not impress in Seattle until the fanbase had given up on him being an ace, manager Don Wakamatsu came from the Angels organization and both Figgins and Kotchman have played most of their games in Anaheim.
I honestly cannot believe that I have written this much without even talking about the Cliff Lee trade. This singular act of brilliance on behalf of Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik ought to be enough to make him executive of the year. Somehow the Mariners were able to get one of the best pitchers in the game, albeit for one year guaranteed, for four prospects that were not in their top five players in the farm system. While Cliff Lee appears to be poised to start the season on the disabled list, he appears to be making progress and ought to be back to his normal self by mid-May.
Aside from all of the new blood transfused into the Mariners veins, the organization did a fantastic job in re-signing key players to the future success of the franchise. Zduriencik signed Felix Hernandez to a five year, $78 million extension. This deal bought out Hernandez's two years of arbitration eligibility at about $18 million per season. The extension made it a little easier for Mariners fans to sleep at night, knowing that they would be able to watch their 23 year-old ace for at least five more seasons.
The Mariners also signed center fielder, and death to flying things, Franklin Gutierrez to a four year $20 million contract extension. Gutierrez was perhaps the best player coming out of the three team deal between the Mariners, Mets, and Indians, in which then Mariners closer J.J. Putz was sent to the New York Mets. Putz is now with the Chicago White Sox. Anyhow, Gutierrez astounded the rest of Major League Baseball with spectacular catch after spectacular catch, and became Jesus Christ amongst new-age defensive statisticians. How Guti did not win a Gold Glove last season is beyond me. The M's center fielder also demonstrated his abilities at the plate last season, hitting 18 homeruns with 70 RBIs with a .283 batting average in his first full season. I expect those numbers to only increase with experience.
While the Mariners lineup may underwhelm more than a few people, their rotation is where the talent is on this roster. The one-two of Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee is arguably the best in MLB, and if Erik Bedard when he returns from injury is anything like what he has been when healthy, the Mariners could have one of the best 1-2-3's in the league. Those three in a playoff series would be lethal.
But everyone knows about Hernandez and Lee. No one really knows much about the back end of this rotation. Ryan Rowland-Smith is an excellent option at number three, and will be a great number four when Bedard returns. Rowland-Smith was 5-3 with a 3.76 ERA and a WHIP of 1.18 in 96.1 innings pitched in 2009.
Doug Fister, the team's expected number five, was 3-4 with a 4.13 ERA in 61.0 innings pitched towards the end of last season. Not bad for a team's worst starter.
Now for everyone saying that Lee missing at least the first few weeks of April will damage the Mariners hopes of competing in the division irreparably simply have not looked at the schedule the Mariners open with. The M's open the season with ten games against the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers, followed by series versus Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City.
While I understand the doubts surrounding this team, there are more than a few things going in their favor, chief among these being that Sports Illustrated has not selected them for the cover. And SI has picked the M's to finish third this season. It's kind of nice not being media darlings.
For once in a long time, the Mariners have a non-zero chance of holding a parade in wintertime. And that, more than anything, should be enough for the fans of this team to get behind this roster.
Projected Starting Nine:
1. Ichiro Suzuki (RF)
2. Chone Figgins (2B)
3. Casey Kotchman (1B)
4. Milton Bradley (LF)
5. Ken Griffey Jr. (DH)
6. Jose Lopez (3B)
7. Franklin Gutierrez (CF)
8. Rob Johnson (C)
9. Jack Wilson (SS)
Projected Starting Rotation:
1. Felix Hernandez
2. Cliff Lee
3. Ryan Rowland-Smith
4. Ian Snell
5. Doug Fister
Best Reliever: Mark Lowe
Closer: David Aardsma
Predicted Finish: First in the AL West.
No comments:
Post a Comment