Pre-Season Outlook: Seattle Mariners

Batting Order: The Mariners bring an impressive top of the order into the season. Ichiro is a prototypical leadoff man, ideal for reaching base, stealing second, and getting knocked in. Edgar Martinez is another great hitter, a rare OB 10 who reaches at 3. A-Rod, Griffey, and Teixeria follow as great power hitters, giving this offense some serious POW! potential. Jaso is a very talented offensive catcher and Ackley will be a surprisingly effective contributor. The two punts at the bottom of the lineup definitely hurt though, especially David Bell, who could really struggle all season. Overall though, probably the second best lineup in the AL West.

Rotation: Overpaid, vastly overpaid, is the best way to describe the Mariners rotation. All tier 3 pitchers, yet the least expensive of the bunch is 450 points! King Felix may deserve a monarchy, but his high IP and lack of doubles still don't mean he deserves more than tier 2s like Yu Darvish, Jared Weaver, Dan Haren, Zach Grienke, and Jarrod Parker. Speaking of Parker, Seattle is paying #2 starter Vargus the same amount Oakland's paying Parker. Ouch. However, it isn't all darkness. The Mariners have high(ish) controls throughout, hopefully giving them a leg up on Texas and Los Angeles in head-to-head meetings. It's possible these overpaid starters could end up earning their money with Ws.

Bullpen: A strength of the team, Sasaki is a great closer and he's supported by fellow shut down relievers. With 5 being the lowest control, these guys can all afford to pitch 2 innings in relief, hopefully helping them stretch out their freshness over the season. The team may end up needing to consider a fourth reliever, but for now, they're content to use these three firemen to shut down opposing rallies.

Overall: Seattle could conceivably make a playoff run, but they lack the front-end pitching and hitting depth to win at the pace of their competitors. Simply put, unless they bury their salary for next year by making a splash signing at 3B or LF, they'll be looking up to the competition from the middle of the pack at the end of the year.