2013 MLB Team Preview: Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners have struggled the last few years just to field a competitive team. They have two 100+ loss seasons in the last three years and going into 2013 it is difficult to see how this team improved in the offseason.
Odds to Win AL West from Bovada: +1500
Odds to Win World Series: 100/1
The team was rumored to be after every big ticket free agent but was unable to land any leaving an average lineup again for all you Mariners fans to endure.
Probable lineup
- 1. Dustin Ackley, 2B
- 2. Franklin Gutierrez, CF
- 3. Kyle Seager, 3B
- 4. Michael Morse, LF
- 5. Kendrys Morales, DH
- 6. Jesus Montero, C
- 7. Justin Smoak, 1B
- 8. Michael Saunders, RF
- 9. Brendan Ryan, SS
The starting lineup here does not really reflect what this team could look like on a game-by-game basis. On the bench are Jason Bay who is dreaming of a fresh start after an absolutely disastrous sting in New York and Raul Ibanez who returns to the Mariners after a good situation in the Big Apple.
Scoring runs has been a huge problem for this team in recent seasons – last season, the Seattle offense registered an On Base Percentage of .296, which was the only sub-.300 mark in the majors. If you don’t get on base, you don’t score runs – period! The Mariners did nothing to help themselves in this regard in the offseason. By going out and getting Michael Morse, Kendrys Morales, Jason Bay and Ibanez, they have assured themselves more strikeouts and fewer men on the base paths. Michael Saunders appears the closest thing that Seattle has to a threat – he hit 19 homers last year and stole 20 bases.
A look at the batting order reveals that there is absolutely nobody that scares the opposition – the Mariners are seriously lacking fire power and any perceivable threats. Jesus Montero, Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager are nice prospects but appear a couple years away from being real impact players in the Majors.
Probable rotation
- 1. Felix Hernandez
- 2. Joe Saunders
- 3. Hisashi Iwakuma
- 4. Erasmo Ramirez
- 5. Blake Beavan
Having Felix at the top of the rotation is a boon for this club. The fact that he signed an extension to stay in Seattle shows that he believes there is a future. That said, there is some concern about Felix’s velocity downturn and there has been whispers this offseason of elbow issues for the Mariners ace. Outside of Hernandez, the rotation is very underwhelming. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Seattle’s biggest hope for success in the starting rotation is that some of the incredible young arms in the minors progress rapidly and make an impact this year. Taijuan Walker is perhaps the top pitching prospect in the game today, and lefties Danny Hultzen and James Paxton are almost as impressive but they are raw. Other names like Brandon Maurer, Victor Sanchez, Tyler Pike and Luis Gohara exist but it will be a year or two before the Mariners can count on them for their staff.
Bullpen
Closer: Tom Wilhelmsen
Setup: Carter Capps, Charlie Furbush
Like the starters, there isn’t a whole lot of excitement surrounding the bullpen. And like the starters, hope is that a few of the stable of young arms will make their way to the Majors this year and will have an instant impact.
There is no organization in MLB with the cache of young arms that the Mariners possess. The issue is that most are not MLB ready quite yet and it will take some time before Mariners fans can enjoy their success.
Off the Bench
C Kelly Shoppach, OF Raul Ibanez, OF Jason Bay, IF Robert Andino
Seattle has developed quite a bench presence assuming that Bay and Ibanez live up to expectation. On a young team the vets on the bench will provide leadership and hopefully for fans will bring a winning culture to this young team.
Betting Prediction:
If World Series’ were won by the prospects in a team’s farm system, the Seattle Mariners would be right there in contention. Seattle’s minor league system is mighty impressive but the major league product simply isn’t that great. The good news is that the Astros now belong in the AL West and the Mariners may be better than Houston. That saves them from another last place finish.
Bottom Line: The Angels, Rangers and A’s are absolutely superior clubs again this year and should finish 1,2,3 in the AL West leaving Seattle to finish fourth… again. But their run of last place finishes ends – the Astros will take the dishonor away!
