Mariner's Pitching

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Ahh baseball. From rainy springs to hopefully not too hot summers, and finally the changing leaves of autumn, baseball is a special thing. It entices the young and brings a familiar contentment to those who love the game. My favorite team is the Seattle Mariners and Mariner's baseball starts today at 4:05 pm (pst) on FSN. This year's team is going to prove interesting to watch. The biggest story this year is the pitching. Last year ace Felix Hernandez finished with 19 wins and came in second for the Cy Young award. We all know and love "King Felix" and I expect him to have another outstanding year. During the off season, Jackie Z, the GM, picked up Cliff Lee, the World Series ace from last year, from the Phillies in a three team trade. Lee was the only pitcher who could stop the red hot Yankees (blech) in 2009 and was the only reason the Phillies won 2 of the series games. With him in the rotation, the Mainer's will have an awesome one-two punch with Felix and Lee. The only problem is that Lee managed to hurt himself during spring training and probably will start the season off the rotation. (GET JARROD WASHBURN BACK!!!)duh. I have less faith in the rest of the starters. Jason Vargas, Ian Snell, Luke French, Doug Fister, Eric Bedard, and Ryan Rowland-Smith are all fighting for a spot. Jason Vargas had two good games last year before crapping out, but he seems to be doing well in spring training. The same is true for Snell and Fister although Fister never had a bad game last year. Luke French needs to be sent down to AAA for a while before he is ready to pitch in the majors again. Eric Bedard is recovering from a series of injuries and surgeries, but his progress is good. He will not be making the rotation out of ST. Which leaves Ryan Rowland-Smith. He is a great pitcher who can strike out anyone in the majors, when he's good. He hasn't had the best ST ever, but I am hoping that he will turn it around quickly. I met Rowland-Smith at a TOP Food last year. He's a nice guy. I would be willing to bet that come April 5, the rotation will look something like Felix, Rowland-Smith, Snell, Vargas, and Fister. I expect this to change to Felix, Lee, Rowland-Smith, Bedard, and Fister when everybody is healthy again. The bullpen is looking to be as good as ever with the return of Shawn Kelley, Mark Lowe, and David Aardsma. Last year this was the best 7, 8, and 9th inning pitchers in the AL and they all appear to have all of the same stuff. Also, with relievers like Texeira and eventually Vargas and Snell, the bullpen looks to be packed with talent. The biggest issue I have with GM Jackie Z is the trading of Jarrod Washburn. He was a starter last year who put up unbelievable numbers with almost zero run support. He pitched his first 1 hitter last year which was amazing to watch. We traded him to Detroit for some stupid reason but he is a free agent now. The way Wash sees it is that he has 3 options. Go into retirement. He is old for a starter, and he definitely has the money to do it, but he still has at least 3 more good seasons in him. He has expressed a desire to return to the Mariners, but negotiations are sticky. He can also go to the Angels which would be a good fit for him, but it isn't Seattle. The Mariners recently let Ryan Garko (1B) out on waivers and I think it would be a good idea to use that money to put a better offer on the table for Washburn. All in all, I expect awesome things from the Mariner's pitching this year, but not right off. With injuries and competition for spots so early in the season, I don't expect a clean start.