Russell Branyan

When Jack Zduriencik signed the veteran Russell Branyan this off season, he and the rest of the organization were probably expecting a solid defensive first baseman who could put up some decent power numbers in the middle of the order. It appears that what they got was a lot more.

Everyone already knew that Branyan had a great power upside, but he has performed well above expectations over the first two months of the season. Not only is he doing a bang-up job at first base, but he's near the top of the league in homers with a batting average above .300.

From what games I have watched, the Seattle Mariners are a much different team than last year.  They are playing "small ball", putting a lot of pressure on opposing teams, moving the runner over, and stealing the extra base when they can. All of these components make for an entertaining team to watch.

When the Mariners won a game against the Red Sox, the rubber match of the series, they did so on the starting pitching of Jason Vargas, the late-inning pitching of David Aardsma, and RBI by Russell Branyan, Ronny Cedeno, and Franklin Gutierrez.

The common thread between each is that none of them were on the team last year.