Well, the Seattle Mariners will be first at something in the 2012 season: Their pitchers and catchers were the first of the 30 clubs to report to camp and their full squad reported Friday. Will that matter much with Seattle looking poised to finish at the bottom of the AL West again? The Mariners are 90/1 onBovada’s baseball betting futures to win the World Series this season and 50/1 to win the AL pennant.
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Seattle finished 67-95 a year ago despite the presence of two star pitchers: Felix Hernandez, the 2001 Cy Young winner, and Michael Pineda, who was dominant at times in his rookie season, going 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 171 innings. The problem was again the offense for Seattle, which was last in MLB in runs and batting average.
The Mariners supposedly had money to spend this offseason and many expected the team would make a mammoth offer to free agent slugger Prince Fielder, but that never materialized. Instead, Seattle stunned the baseball world by trading Pineda to the New York Yankees for young slugging catcher/DH Jesus Montero. He will slot right into the cleanup spot after hitting .328 with four homers and 12 RBIs in spot late-season duty with New York.
In addition, Manager Eric Wedge is expected to shift Ichiro Suzuki, who had his worst season in MLB last season, from the leadoff spot to No. 2. Ichiro didn’t reach 200 hits, make the All-Star team or earn a Gold Glove for the first time in 11 years in the majors. Dustin Ackley, one of the rising star second basemen in baseball, probably will hit leadoff. Chone Figgins, who has been a massive bust in Seattle after getting a $36 million free agent deal a few years ago, also could lead off. But outside of Ichiro, Ackley and Montero, the lineup is full of questions again. It’s time for Justin Smoak, acquired for Cliff Lee two seasons ago, to show why he was such a highly regarded prospect at one point (the M’s originally were going to send Lee to the Yanks for …. Montero).
The rotation will be headed by Hernandez, who “slipped” to a 14-14 mark with a 3.47 ERA a season ago. The M’s could get an incredible amount of young talent by trading King Felix but they continue to say they won’t do that. Jason Vargas will slot in behind Hernandez, but the rest of the rotation is up for grabs. Newcomers Hisashi Iwakuma and Kevin Millwood figure to win two of the spots.Hector Noesi, also acquired in the Pineda deal, figures to get into the rotation sooner rather than later. Seattle has an excellent closer in Brandon League, who had 37 saves and a 2.79 ERA a year ago.
The Mariners could actually grab the early AL West lead – only because they open with two regular-season games March 28-29 in Tokyo against the A’s a week before the rest of MLB begins. Hence the early reporting date. But with the big-spending Rangers and Angels in the AL West, Seattle is years away from contention.
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