The Seattle Mariners are a better team in 2013 after making big acquisitions this offseason. The most recent had them exchanging players for Michael Morse, who will surely boost the offensive production. So what lies ahead for the Mariners in 2013?
Have you ever had a bug bother you despite numerous futile attempts at swatting it away? That's the going to be the Mariners in 2013. They will be constant pests for the A.L. West even though they might not win outside of their division.
They finished the 2012 season with a 75-87 record and went 18-28 against their division last year.
The Mariners possess decent young hitters that will only get better with experience. They acquired Raul Ibanez who carried the New York Yankees on his back during the playoffs, Kendrys Morales from the Los Angeles Angeles who is a home run threat and does a great job getting on base and they capped their deals on Wednesday acquiring Morse once again and he could pretty much do it all.
The one thing that will hold the Mariners back, unless these guys come firing out the gate like the Oakland A's young pitching staff, well that's it, their hurlers are fresh and inexperienced, excluding Felix Hernandez.
They have a bunch of kids in their active roster like Blake Beaven (23), Anthony Fernandez (22) and Erasmo Ramirez (22) who barely have a season of MLB experience. Seriously, Ibanez could father all of these guys as he's almost twice their age.
Beaven and Ramirez played in the majors last season, but Fernandez is coming up from the minors.
Beaven went 11-11 in 26 starts and posted a 4.43 record. Ramirez appeared in 16 games, started eight and posted a 1-3 record accompanied by a 3.36 ERA.
The Mariners look ready to create chaos in the West since teams always get more competitive when playing guys in their own division. The Tampa Bay Rays became a pest for the Yankees before they became a competitive team. Look for the same to happen here.
Prediction: The Mariners will finish in last place once again, but they will finish 80-82 improving their record by five games.
Baby steps, they are a very young club.
