There were those that believed the Seattle Mariners had enough talent to win the American League West last year, but instead, the team turned in one of the more disappointing years in franchise history.
The Mariners went 61-101 to become the only team with a $100 million payroll to lose 100 games. While the blame can be spread throughout the organization, an offense that scored just 3.2 runs per game while hitting just .236 is the main reason why this team was so bad in 2010. Not a lot was done in the offseason to improve the offense, meaning it is going to take a number of breakout seasons for Seattle to compete in the West.
Here is a look at the Mariners starting lineup and starting rotation for 2011, plus our MLB predictions on where they will end the season in the AL West.
Starting Lineup
The one sure thing in the Mariners offense is leadoff hitter, Ichiro Suzuki, who hit .315 and reached the 200-hit mark for a 10th consecutive year. Suzuki also remains a menace on the bases with 42 swipes in 2010.
Third baseman Chone Figgins had a huge turn for the worse in 2010, and needs to turn things around in 2011. Figgins hit a career-worst .259 with just one home run and 35 RBI last season.
The Mariners are hoping first baseman Justin Smoak is ready to break out and give this team some much needed pop in the middle of the lineup. Smoak hit just .218 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI in 2010, but could easily end 2011 with 20+ home runs and 80 RBI.
DH Jack Cust was also a disappointment last season, hitting just 13 home runs after hitting at least 25 in each of the last three years.
There is no question center fielder Franklin Gutierrez is an amazing defender, but he has to be more of a factor offensively. After hitting .283 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 2009, he hit just .245 with 12 home runs and 64 RBI in 2010. The same could be said for shortstop Jack Wilson, who is great defensively but hit just .249 last year.
The rest of the lineup doesn't provide much to get excited about.
Seattle added veteran catcher Miguel Olivio, who hit .269 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI with the Rockies last season. New second baseman Brendan Ryan hit just .223 with the Cardinals last year and will likely lose his job as soon as Dustin Ackley is ready to make the jump.
Michael Saunders is expected to take over in left field and could be a surprise. He hit 10 home runs in just 289 at-bats last season and should only get better with more playing time.
Starting Rotation
To give you an idea of just how bad the offense was last year, Felix Hernandez won the AL CY Young with a 13-12 record, thanks to a 2.27 ERA, 1.057 WHIP and 8.4 SO/9. If the offense is just a little better than it was a year ago, he should win at least 15 games in 2011.
Jason Vargas is another guy who didn't get a whole lot of run support. He posted a 3.78 ERA and 1.241 WHIP, but went just 9-12 on the season.
Doug Fisher had a modest 4.11 ERA but went just 6-14, and it's hard to see a big turnaround in 2011 for a guy who doesn't strike out a lot of batters.
Michael Pineda is the Mariners' top pitching prospect—who went 11-4 with a 3.36 ERA in the minors last season—but it's hard to expect a great year with the offense he has behind him.
Veteran Erik Bedard hasn't been able to make more than 15 starts in his first two seasons with the Mariners, but when healthy he is one of the top pitchers in this rotation. Bedard went 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 2010, but isn't of much value if he can't stay off the DL.
2011 Projections: Fourth Place AL West
There just isn’t enough evidence to believe Seattle is going to have a huge turnaround offensively. Vargas isn’t anything close to the No. 2 starter they had last year in Cliff Lee, and we just don’t see how they will make it out of last place in a pretty tough division this season.
The Mariners' MLB odds to win the AL West this season are currently listed at +2000.
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