Seattle Mariners

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Seattle Mariners head to Opening Day with high expectations.

Last season, the Mariners had the biggest turnaround in the MLB, turning its awful 101-loss campaign in 2008 into a successful 85-77.

One of the biggest misconceptions in baseball is when people refer to teams such as the Seattle Mariners as small or mid market teams. A casual fan exclaims "The Mariners are going all pitching and defense given their lack of funds." The Mariners may have a fairly unique winning strategy, but that is in spite of their market size, not because of it.

The 2010 Seattle Mariners feature a new lineup, but much about the team remains the same. Here is the projected lineup:

1. RF Ichiro Suzuki
2. 2B Chone Figgins
3. LF Milton Bradley
4. 3B Jose Lopez
5. DH Ken Griffey Jr.
6. 1B Casey Kotchman
7. CF Franklin Gutierrez
8. C Rob Johnson
9. SS Jack Wilson

Let’s take a look at who will carry the Mariners to success, drag them to despair, or keep them in the same place.

Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said this weekend that he will likely have new acquisition Chone Figgins play second base, and move incumbent second baseman Jose Lopez to Figgins' primary spot over the past three seasons, third base. 

Figgins will bat second behind Ichiro in the Seattle order, while Lopez will bat fifth and sixth with about equal frequency. None of that changes with the position flip-flop, and so obviously, the fantasy impact of the switch from a strict production perspective is minimal.

The Mariners traded for Cliff Lee and signed Felix Hernandez to solidify the top of their rotation, but the back end of the rotation was still a glaring weakness that has many questioning how good the M’s could be.

After a couple weeks of spring training, not only have the questions not been answered, but more questions are piling up.

The greatest time of the year is upon us. As the weather warms up, so does that spot in our heart for baseball. Spring training is underway!

30 MLB teams now play their preseason games knowing that in under two weeks, it finally counts again.

So if your favorite team's dreams were crushed last season, you once again have reason to hope. Embrace this chance because, come October, you may just have to wait another year.

Is it me, or are the Seattle Mariners either doing something or have something going on that makes headlines everyday?

I woke up this morning and there they were again. I guess if you notice a team’s news and notes on a regular basis, it means they are relevant—and the Mariners will certainly be relevant in 2010.

Since the Mariners had a couple of relevant stories going on, I decided to include them  in one post.

Cliff Lee has an abdominal strain

Kanekoa Texeira is a hard-throwing right handed pitcher who the Yankees got as part of the trade with the White Sox for Nick Swisher.

Pitching in double-A Trenton last season, he went 9-6 with a 2.84 ERA in 41 games and 101.1 innings. Good, but not great, numbers.

Unfortunately for Texeira and the Yankees, he didn’t have the outstanding talent to warrant protection on the 40-man roster, and he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the Rule 5 draft.

David Aardsma of the Seattle Mariners will be this year's best closer. Seattle rebuilt itself this year by adding a defensive crew capitalized by Chone Figgins, and added Cliff Lee to make a solid one-two punch in its rotation.

Only one thing remains, a closer. Certainly with a team that many suspect to win the West and with two pitchers that will gain a pile of wins, saves would become a common feature in these low scoring games.

Am I the only one who is confused by how Major League Baseball hands down suspensions?

Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants hit Prince Fielder in the back on purpose at the beginning of spring training but didn’t get suspended.

Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees has thrown at the head of Kevin Youkilis on numerous occasions, but nothing ever happened to him.

But the Seattle Mariners’ Cliff Lee throws over the head of Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder and gets suspended five games? Really?