50 games in, 19-31

You know you are in bad shape when your local newspaper runs a five day (yes, a FIVE DAY) examination on why your organization is in such shambles, as the Seattle Times recently finished with the Mariners. The question that I am left asking myself is, just how bad are we? Is our reaction to a difficult first quarter of the season primarily a reaction to overblown expectations, or is all the drama surrounding the power outage in Seattle truly warranted?

I think the answer is a recipe born out of three principal ingredients: the first is overblown expectations coming off of a season in which our record did not match our run differential (in other words, we won more games that the combination of our offense and pitching would normally win), an overrated offseason in which we did land the big fish of the pond, however it did cost us to do so and the fish was not what our diet needed, but rather some meat of a different sort, and the third (and perhaps lethal) ingredient surrounding the pent up frustration in Rainville is our city's dire, desperate want of a winner. Yes, a champion. Seattle needs a champion, a team for the city to rally around, a team that strangers can find common topic in, a common thread that will help us through difficult and uncertain times. The Seahawks, though once great, have shared a common fate as the Mariners, falling far, uncertain if or when they will get back up. Our basketball team had its worst season in franchise history, left town on about the worst terms possible, and then finally reaped the harvest and went back to the playoffs in beautiful Oklahoma City, and the Mariners have not sniffed the playoffs in seven years or been to the playoffs in nine. It has been a long, cold winter in Seattle.

But where do the Mariners fit into this? The numbers are bad and the record shows it. Despite it all, I do believe the Mariners will improve. Waiting for lagging offensive players to regain their form is an old, tired refrain in Marinerland. The rhetoric that surrounds anemic offenses identifies itself quickly and grows tired even quicker. "The Mariners ran into a buzzsaw", "The (insert opposing team) are really high on this guy", "This guy is really sharp today". What nobody wants to talk about is that the reason these guys look so good is because our offense is so bad.

However, the last twelve games have seen the Mariners runs per game increase by a run and a half. Chone Figgins finally has his average over .200, Jose Lopez is beginning to drive the ball, and Mike Sweeney is providing life (for how long?) in the center of our lineup. My feeling is that Franklin Gutierrez will only get better. Seeing Josh Wilson, a guy I had never heard of before this year, is swinging the bat well, and better than that, he is young. I like young players getting experience to build us closer to a lasting winner rather than older players at the end of their prime swallowing up at bats.

Our catching situation is an enigma. It reminds me of about five years ago when we ran out eight different catchers over the course of the year. It was Dan Wilson's last year with no visible successor. Johjima, after a decent season, bombed. Other than having no offense between Rob Johnson and Adam Moore, the defense behind dish has been terrible. Simply terrible. Passed balls and wild pitchers are mounting up at a staggering rate, which simply has to play in to the psychie of our struggling bullpen. Because of this, I do like the recent experiments with Josh Bard and Alfonzo.

My hope against hope is that the talent of Milton Bradley will shine through and the man will hit like we know he can. Fans of about seven other organizations are laughing at that idea right now, but at this point we have to start gambling on hitters with problems.

As mentioned earlier, the bullpen has been surprisingly ineffective at times this year. The long, long grind of the baseball season will definetly have its share of lean times, so we must be sure not to overreact to things, but growing pains are hitting what I think is a very talented set of young arms. This still comes right after Colome and Teixeira get designated for assignment, but with Mark Lowe coming back soon I am confident that our pen can turn it around. Great starting pitching can take stress off of a bullpen by swallowing up innings, but constantly pitching in one and two run games will be increasingly difficult if the Mariners are going to jump back into the wide open AL West.

What is keeping the Mariners relevant now is how futile the entire AL West is, which is also what may be contributing to how painful this season is. For the first time in a while, the West is for the taking. At 19-31, the Mariners sit only 8 games out with four months left to play. 8 games out on June 1 is nothing. Yet, can the Mariners make a push without a big bat in the center of the lineup? I think they can, and it looks like they will have to try, because reality is not like fantasy baseball. If a player is not performing, there is no option to drop the player and search the free agent pool for another bat. What you have is what you have. The free agent pool will be drier than usual this year, and the farm system is barren. We simply must make this work, and guys must start hitting like they can hit. I know it's a tired song, but it is the desperate lament of a Mariners fan in search of hope.