TEAM PREVIEW - 2010 Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners
Mgr. Don Wakamatsu #22
2009 record: 85-77
Third place, AL West

Improving by 24 games from the previous season under first year manager Don Wakamatsu the Seattle Mariners surprising return to contention was sparked by its pitching staff’s American League best 3.87 ERA. Felix Hernandez (19-5, 2.49) finished second in Cy Young award voting and will be joined by 2008 award winner Cliff Lee (14-13, 3.22 in 231 innings with Cleveland and Philadelphia) giving the Mariners a pair of aces at the top of the rotation, immediately establishing the team as bona fide contenders.

While Jarod Washburn, (8-6, 2.64 a free agent at the time of this writing) was the only other Mariners hurler to make 20 starts, a patchwork rotation had a total of nine pitchers start at least 10 games. Fellow southpaw Ryan Roland Smith was impressive at 5-4, 3.74 in 15 starts spanning 91 innings as was Ian Snell, (5-2, 4.20, 12 GS, 64 IP) both should remain a part of the regular rotation. Once considered ace material Erik Bedard (5-3, 2.82) pitched well enough until requiring surgery on a torn left labrum that ended his season and abbreviated two-year stint with the Mariners, making just 15 starts with the club.

The Mariners superb relief corps ate up a lot innings, led by closer David Aardsma, (2.52, 38 saves in 71innings) as well as Mark Lowe, (3.26, 80 IP) Miguel Batista (4.04, 71 IP) and Sean White (2.80, 64 IP). At the time of this writing Aardsma and Lowe were both eligible for salary arbitration and Batista was an unsigned free-agent.

It gets harder and harder to write this paragraph about Ichiro Suzuki each year because he’s so damn consistent. For the fourth year in a row and the sixth time in his nine seasons with Seattle Ichiro led the American League in hits with 225 marking a major league record nine straight seasons with more than 200 hits. He was also named to his ninth straight all-star team and won his ninth straight Gold Glove. Last season Ichiro notched his 2,000 MLB hit. Combined with his 1,278 hits in the Japanese professional leagues his career total now stands at 3,308. Ichiro enjoyed a special moment at the All-Star game in St. Louis when President Barrack Obama autographed a ball and said “Here you go Hall of Famer,” as he handed it back to him.

Outside of Ichiro the Mariners did not have much offensive pop hitting a league low .258 while also scoring the fewest runs (640) and posting the lowest on base percentage (.314). First baseman Russell Branyan led the team with 31 home runs while second baseman Jose Lopez drove in a team-high 96 runs. Gone is third baseman Adrian Beltre after a disappointing (8HR, 44 RBI, .265) season which somehow translated into a one-year $9 million deal in Boston.

Newly acquired Chone Figgins (.298, 42 stolen bases) takes over for Beltre at third. The Mariners are hoping the often volatile outfielder Milton Bradley can behave and return to the form that saw him hit 22 home runs with 77 RBI and a .321 batting average in 126 games with Texas in 2008.

Catcher Kenji Johjima will return to Japan after a second subpar season that saw him relegated to bench duty opting out of the final two years of a $24 million three-year extension he signed before last season.

Future Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey Jr. fifth all time with 630 career home runs, has Willie Mays 660 in sight and 16th with 1,829 RBI, could feasibly move up seven or eight spots, (Mays is 10th at 1,903, Ty Cobb is seventh with 1,937), with 2,763 career hits 3,000 appears just out of reach in what will most likely be his swan song season.

The pick here is for the Mariners to remain in the thick of it and possibly challenge the Angels down the stretch.

Arrivals: LHP Cliff Lee, 3B Chone Figgins, OF Milton Bradley
Departures: 3B Adrian Beltre, OF Bill Hall, C Kenji Johjima