The Seattle Mariners 2010: Reload or Fire Sale

The Seattle Mariners haven’t lived up to most Vegas odds makers MLB predictions this season. Many experts has projected Seattle as the best team in the American League West ahead of the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers. However, a lack of offense has the Mariners living in the cellar of the A.L. West.

As of Saturday June 19th, Seattle ranks 30th in all of baseball in offensive homerun production as well as 28th in runs batted in and hits and 27th in total team batting average. This is what has surprised most of the MLB analysts as they saw a bright future for the Mariners with the additions of Chone Figgins and Milton Bradley offensively. This may not seem like the duo to put a team over the top, but Figgins has been solid a the plate and on the base paths for the Angels over the past few seasons, and Bradley has the potential to be an All-Star as long as he stays focused and doesn’t cause any distractions.

The pitching staff looked to be loaded coming into this year. Felix “the Cat” Hernandez is coming off by far his best season as a professional. He has been touted as a tremendous prospect for years, and finally lived up to that potential in 2009 posting a 19-5 record with a 2.49 ERA. Unfortunately, he has fallen back to Earth in 2010. His 4-5 record may be slightly misleading as he hasn’t had much run support in his starts, but his ERA is more than a full run higher than it was last year. Doug Fister has been incredible in the rotation this year. He too has suffered a few defeats due to his team’s lack of offensive production, but his 2.45 ERA is well above average.

The key addition to the pitching staff was obviously Cliff Lee from the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee has lived up to his reputation early on as he has started 5-3 with a 2.55 earned run average. As a whole, the Seattle rotation is one of the better staff’s in all of baseball. However, the lack of offense from top to bottom in the line-up is too big of a hurdle to overcome for any pitching staff.

It will be interesting to see what upper management decides to do come the trading deadline. They could very easily disassemble the team and start over with young prospects or they could pick up a few key bats and retool for next year. Only time will tell, but the Mariners are in desperation mode already, and time is running out.

Related posts:

1. Mariners host Padres in Interleague Battle
2. Mariners throw Hernandez at Red Hot Rangers
3. Oakland vs. Seattle in American League West Showdown
4. Toronto, Seattle & Philadelphia Propose a Blockbuster Trade
5. 2010 NFL Predictions: Seattle Seahawks

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