SEATTLE MARINERS

2005 finish: 69-93, 4^th place in AL West

Manager: Mike Hargrove (2^nd season)

Incoming: LHP Jarrod Washburn, C Kenji Johjima, OF Carl Everett, OF Matt Lawton, OF Joe Borchard, RHP Marcos Carvajal, LHP Jake Woods, LHP Luis Gonzalez, RHP Kevin Appier

Long gone: RHP Ryan Franklin, RHP Shigetoshi Hasegawa, LHP Bobby Madritsch, C Yorvit Torrealba, RHP Jeff Harris, LHP Matt Thornton, IF Dave Hansen, RHP Jeff Nelson, IF Pokey Reese

Rotation: LHP Jamie Moyer, RHP Joel Pineiro, LHP Jarrod Washburn, RHP Gil Meche, RHP Felix Hernandez

Relievers: Closer: LHP Eddie Guardado; Setup men: RHP J.J. Putz, RHP Rafael Soriano, RHP Julio Mateo, LHP George Sherrill, LHP Jake Woods, RHP Marcos Carvajal, LHP Luis Gonzalez, RHP Scott Atchison

Regulars: RF Ichiro Suzuki, 3B Adrian Beltre, LF Raul Ibanez, 1B Richie Sexson, DH Carl Everett, C Kenji Johjima, 2B Jose Lopez, SS Yuniesky Betancourt, CF ??

Role players: C Rene Rivera, IF/OF Mike Morse, IF/OF Willie Bloomquist, OF Matt Lawton, OF Joe Borchard, CF Jeremy Reed (DL), OF Chris Snelling (DL)

The pressure is on: General manager Bill Bavasi took over following the M’s 93-win 2003 season, and two losing years have followed, with another likely.

Breakout candidate: The Mariners will be extremely cautious with Felix Hernandez, but we may be watching the dawning of the game’s next great pitcher.

Rundown: Like last winter, the M’s threw some money at their problems. But realistically, signing free agents Jarrod Washburn and Kenji Johjima isn’t likely to have much positive impact in the standings, as jumping ahead of Texas is the best they can hope for. The Angels, who know something about putting together a quality pitching staff, made no attempt to re-sign Washburn, which should leave you leery about giving him $37 million over four years. But that’s the price for a No. 3-type starter these days, and while the Angels just promote a quality talent from within, the M’s had to pay the price on the market. At least Washburn, a flyball pitcher, should benefit from the move to Safeco Field. They also spent $5.5 million to bring back Jamie Moyer, 43, for one more season, and that’s a bargain considering Moyer is coming a 13-7-4.28 season in which he logged exactly 200 innings. Phenom Felix Hernandez won’t turn 20 until April 8, but he has a spot in the rotation after posting a 2.67 ERA and allowing only 61 hits in 84.1 innings in 12 starts last season. Right-handers Joel Pineiro and Gil Meche – both inconsistent and disappointing – get the other two spots, but must improve to keep them. Pineiro was a promising 14-7-3.24 in his first full big-league season four years ago, but his ERA has risen every year since, last year reaching the scary height of 5.62. Meche can be great one start then bad the next, but the end result is consecutive seasons where his ERA has topped 5.00, leaving him on a very short leash this season. But with Washburn and Hernandez in effect replacing Ryan Franklin and Aaron Sele, some rotation improvement is likely. The bullpen also could be better if Rafael Soriano makes it back after missing most of the last two seasons to offer late-inning support for setup men J.J. Putz and Julio Mateo, and reliable closer Eddie Guardado. The left side isn’t as strong, as George Sherill posted a 5.21 ERA last season, giving Jake Woods and Luis Gonzalez a shot this spring. Only the Minnesota Twins scored fewer runs among AL teams last season, but the M’s were dead-last in batting average at .256 and on-base percentage at .317. How can things improve? For starters, Ichiro Suzuki didn’t have one of his better seasons in 2005, losing 69 points off his batting average and 64 points off his on-base percentage from a brilliant 2004 season. Johjima, 30, averaged .318 with 30 homers and 85 RBI over his last four seasons in Japan. Even assuming those totals will fall with the move across the Pacific, anything will be a dramatic upgrade over the combined .216 average of M’s catchers a year ago. Getting a big left-handed bat would have helped, but they had to settle for Carl Everett. The new double-play combination of Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt is talented, but as they found out with Jeremy Reed last season, growing pains are sure to be experienced. And now Reed has a broken left wrist, and will miss six to eight weeks, creating another hole. Ichiro could move, Matt Lawton could get some time in center, and so could newcomer Joe Borchard.

Prediction: 4^th place, 73-89

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