How good with this team be?

[Mr Swagtastic]

Board at work so I decided to make a thread on my take on this team. Mods can edit this if they want. Or if anybody has anything to add feel free to credit will go to you.

This is how I see it, I haven't been the best Mariners follower since I don't get the channels that broadcast them in the West coast but still keep up to date as much as I can.

Pitching:

Starter: King Felix (Felix Hernandez) is going to be a monster strike out machine yet again. A fantastic hard throwing right hander who shows great promise for such a young pitcher. Reminds me a lot of a young Pedro Martinez. I expect 200 strikeouts for Felix this year and a 18-20 win season with 5-6 losses. Should be among the Cy Young finalists again but what else is new?

Number 2: I like the idea of adding a really good 2nd option in Cliff Lee since he can be a fantastic number 2 pitcher behind King Felix and a good mentor for our younger guys like: Ryan Rowland-Smith. Lee is a workhorse who will go deep into a game and will still give you his all. A pros pro who you love to have on your team and hate to face. His fastball is pretty much unhittable if he wants it to be and with Rob Johnson I could see a easy 175 strikeout year for Cliff this year, once he gets his changeup, fastball and slider worked in with Johnson I could see him with a high teen win year again.

Number 3: Eric Bedard - I have a soft spot for him mainly cause he's Canadian. Problem is his 2007 season will always be his Achilles heel, by that I mean people expect another 15-5 season with 160+ strike outs and a high 2 to low 3 ERA. Something I don't think he can produce anymore if he could I would be beside myself. I think he's pretty much good for a 10 to 12 win season with 7 losses.

Number 4: Ryan Rowland-Smith, don't know too much outside the WBC stuff he did with Australia. He looks like he could be a good youngish number 4 pitcher but right now I am worried about the amount of hits he allows and his HR total. I think he should be good to get us like a 8 to 10 wins and 8-10 losses so basically a above .500 pitcher. Sort of like Toronto had with Ted Lilly put with a harder fastball.

5th: Ian Snell is well Ian Snell a decent 5th pitcher in a 5 man rotation and could be a ok spot starter in a pinch. The only gripe I have with him is his control sometimes it's a little erratic at times and he could walk unnecessary batters. Something I would pull my hair out if I see in later games, should be good bottom of the rotation guy to get us some wins when we need them.


Bullpen: The three standouts to me are Brendan League, good hard throwing pitcher who should be a good setup man. Has some really good stuff when on but when he's off his game he looks down right terrible his fastball is pretty damn impressive and could hit the high 90's which would be a plus in late games.

David Aardsma should be a guy who we should rely on for at least 30-40 saves easily he's shown that he could be a high 30 save pitcher and a guy who can come in and hold down a lead. Should be a good pickup in a fantasy league if you could get him cheap in the later rounds.

Mark Lowe - A fantastic worker who will be a guy I would look to as my first reliever off the bench. Shows that he can work a lot of innings and has decent command of his pitches and doesn't allow too many runs which is a really good thing to see. Maybe playing in Safeco Field helps but you can't argue how important he was for the team last year

Batters:

Ichiro Suzuki - The guy is a ageless wonder to me, the 2nd best pure hitter I have seen in my lifetime only behind Paul Moliter. The guy is automatic for 200 hits, 10+ doubles, 5-10 HR's, a handful of triples and 20-30 SB's while batting .320+ which is amazing I never seen such a fast but accurate swing before. Should be our table setter and guy I think is a game changer on both sides of the field.

Franklin Gutierrez - A guy who I think will be a difference maker in the outfield. Has a golden glove and a pretty solid arm as well. Doesn't make too many errors in the field but that's where he shines. His batting is average (no pun intended) shows some good pop in his bat (should be a 15-20 HR guy) but he strikes out more then I would like (if my match is good he strikes out 1 out of every 5 AB's). I like his production though since he seems to be getting more and more doubles each year.

Milton Bradley - I like this signing brings a swagger to the team we needed. Milton has a good all around bat nothing special but he's good for 15-20 HR's and 10+ doubles a season with 50 RBI's. All though I think his RBI totals will see a increase this year. Should be a good defensive left fielder and with Ichrio and Franklin I don't see too many balls getting past them.

Jack Wilson - What more do you need to say about a guy who shows up game after game and works his tail off to help you on the defensive end? The guy is one of my favorite Mariners, shows young players what it's like to be a pro. Should pair very nicely with Figons and Jose Lopez and make for one hell of a infield. If I get 5-10 HR's and 30-40 RBI's out of Wilson I am happy and it's icing on the cake paired with his gold glove level defense.

Jose Lopez - One of the best young infielders I think in the game today. Has great offensive potential should be a 20-30 HR 40 double and 60+ RBI guy year in and year out. His defense is good from what I have seen could use a touch up here and there but it's nothing to balk at. I could see him being our best infielder this year and a real gem for this team.

Casey Kotchman - As much as I hate to see Russell Branyan go Casey Kotchman is a good enough power hitter who should help bring some power back to this lineup. Granted he's not as good as Russell but Casey is still a very good young 1B who can provide us with a potential 20-30 HR 60-70 RBI and a decent defensive 1B option. Should see a big year out of Casey this year, if we were going the trade route I am think that maybe a guy like Lyle Overbay could be had cheaply since the Jays are in tank mode offer then like 40 cents on the dollar and I am sure they would accept it.

Chone Figgins - One word comes to mind is quick. He's going to be a good pickup for this team and a good number 2 hitter behind Ichrio I could see a spike in his RBI numbers this year since Chone can hit for a lot of doubles and is still quick enough to fly around the base path. Should be a good .300 20-25 HR and 60-70 RBI guy this year. Just wish he would calm down when on base and not steal as much.

Rob Johnson - Sorry don't know too much about him. From the stuff I saw looks like a good defensive minded catcher and a 9th hitter in this lineup. Has sub par batting average so far .202 but looks like he's fast for a catcher had 20 doubles and 2 triples. If anybody can give me a report please do.

Sorry for the long post decided to write something up and I didn't see one

[farzi]

They obviously improved the most in their division, while the Angels lost Lackey and Figgins. I think those two will battle it out for the division, with the winner ending up with around 94 wins. Really wish they'd have done something about catcher and 1st base (Kotchman doesn't excite me) though.

Curious, what is the starting outfield going to look like?

They have Ichiro, Gut, Byrnes, and Bradley, and I'm assuming Griffey is DH, so who's odd man out?

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Outfield will be LF: Bradley CF: Gutierrez RF: Ichiro

Byrnes and everyone else who plays the position is nothing but a backup. Griffey might get some PT out there for interleague though.

Nice post, xbl_sucks.

I actually think Guttierez could hit closer to .300 this season. I'm saying in the .285-.290 range. Dude hits to all fields, and even though I agree about the strikeouts, he showed drastic improvements from his previous stint in Cleveland.

Ichiro/Figgins will be gold at the top of the order and I think Bradley could really produce as long as he doesn't have a meltdown.

Starters are good (I love RRS) and the bullpen will get the job done.

I'm looking at around 95 wins.

[Mr Swagtastic]

Thanks for the kind words thought I was going to get blasted for not knowing too much. I seen limited stuff since I am on the East coast and must Mariner night games start at 10 pm for me.

I don't see why 100 wins isn't out of the question for this year we have one hell of a pitching staff and some good hitters.

If you guys could make one reasonable trade what would it be?

[farzi]

I think the team would be 100% set if they were some how able to land Tod Helton. Obviously won't happen after he signed that extension. As for reasonable, not sure, would like an upgrade at catcher I suppose. Martinez would have been nice if he hadn't been traded to Boston.

I'm still hung up on the Morrow for League trade though. I think that was Z's one mistake this offseason.

Wouldn't have been an issue if they'd drafted Lincecum though

Imagine him, Felix, and Lee as 1-3

[farzi]

Was reading ESPN the Magazine's article about the Mariner's upcoming season, and they said Figgins will be playing second to sure up the middle. So who's playing third? Lopez?

[Sweezo]

Yep. They've had Figgins at 2B and Lopez at 3B for pretty much the entire spring training. Personally, I like the idea, although I hope Lopez is a quick learner.

[farzi]

Because you want him to do well in the long run, or because he was bad at it in spring training? I didn't get to catch a game

[Sweezo]

I've only caught two spring training games on TV this year, and Lopez was a nonfactor defensively in both. Which is a good thing.

I like the idea because I think it plays better to the strengths of the infield. For a 2B, Lopez has questionable range but a pretty good arm. By switching Lopez and Figgins, you let Figgins use his speed to get to more balls and turn more double plays, while Lopez suddenly doesn't have to worry about range so much.

It sounds like Lopez did OK, but he'll still encounter situations in the regular season [like charging bunts and having to barehand the ball] that will be outside his comfort zone a bit. I'm hoping he can adapt to those situations quickly since the team is built on pitching and defense.