Line up:
1 RF Ichiro Suzuki
2 3B Chone Figgins
3 LF Milton Bradley
4 CF Franklin Gutierrez
5 DH Ken Griffey, Jr
6 2B Jose Lopez
7 1B Casey Kotchman
8 SS Jack Wilson
9 C Adam Moore
The biggest glaring weakness the Mariners have on offense is the lack of a big bat. I would love to say Franklin Gutierrez and Ken Griffey Jr will be enough, but they obviously won't. However they could have a little Marlins in them with Figgins and Ichiro in the starting lineup, because if any of them get on base it will be extremely easy to drive them home because of their speed. I hate to say it, but a lot of this offense will hinge on how well Milton Bradley does. If he plays how he did in Texas, they may be onto something, if not, it will be a long season.
Rotation:
1 RHP Felix Hernandez
2 LHP Cliff Lee
3 RHP Ian Snell
4 LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith
5 RHP Doug Fister
CL: David Aardsma
And they have Eric Bedard who will be back sometime. However, the Mariners have the best 1/2 punch in baseball in Felix and Lee. Even with their back end of their rotation their pitching staff carried them the entire way, as their starters finished with a 3.89 ERA as a team, the best in the American League. It can be the same this year also. Snell and Rowland Smith are serviceable. Also, closer David Aardsma was amazing too.
Outlook:
The Mariners improved both their staff and their line-up in the offseason, so it’s hard to see them not reaching at least 90 wins this year (5 more than last year) Figgins and Bradley were solid additions to a line-up that previously lacked plate discipline. And Lee only adds to the staff with the best ERA from a year ago, so there’s no reason pitching should become a problem. They will overtake the Halo's and make a decent run in the playoffs.
93-69
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