Mariners Resume Crawl Toward Relevance, But “Let’s Not Kid Ourselves”

Your Seattle Mariners have been irrelevant for so long now, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s caused all involved to forget what “relevant” actually means.

Team president Chuck Armstrong, asked to assess manager Eric Wedge recently, enthusiastically cited the fact that Wedge “is the first manager we’ve had since Chuck Cottier who lives in Seattle.” Never mind that Cottier was fired after three dismal seasons. Armstrong added that Wedge “spoke to Cub Scouts and the Boys and Girls Club.” Are these the criteria Armstrong considers relevant to judging his team’s manager? Their place of residence and off-season youth group speaking availability?

For his part, Wedge is a dedicated proponent of “toughness.” Is “toughness” relevant to winning baseball games? Probably. Is it more relevant than bat speed, or throwing accuracy, or 74 other things I could name off the top of my head? Doubtful. The relevance of “toughness” is also tempered by the fact that it is difficult to define, let alone measure. Put it this way: Try putting “toughness” as a goal on your 2012 performance review and see what happens.

Fans spent the offseason substituting a relevant question with an obvious and far less relevant one. Instead of the tricky “What series of moves will get the Mariners closest to a World Series title,” fans (and media) asked “Will signing Prince Fielder make the Mariners better?” The answer to the latter question was obviously yes, the answer to the former much cloudier. Fielder is entering his prime, and the Mariners manifestly are not.

“This is going to be a challenging year for us,” Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said before the season. Of anyone, Zduriencik seems to have the firmest grip on the relevant factors at play, to wit: The Mariners do not have enough major-league ready talent to compete.

The 14 most important players on a baseball team’s roster are the top 9 position players and the 5 starting pitchers. Of those 14 spots, the Mariners can only be sure of above-average performance at 1, as starting pitcher Felix Hernandez is one of the game’s best.

The other 13 spots? We can divide them into three categories:

• Unproven Young Players: C/DH Jesus Montero, 1B Justin Smoak, 2B Dustin Ackley, LF Mike Carp, CF Michael Saunders, SP Hector Noesi, SP Blake Beavan
• Declining Veterans: 3B Chone Figgins, RF Ichiro, SP Kevin Millwood
• Proven Mediocrities: C Miguel Olivo, SS Brendan Ryan, SP Jason Vargas

Could the unproven youngsters take a leap forward, the declining veterans squeeze out one final good season, and the proven mediocrities have career years? Sure. But, as Zduriencik said earlier this year: “Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Manager Wedge has made a couple of changes to try to improve the M’s woeful offense. Ichiro will bat third instead of leadoff. Free agent bust Chone Figgins will be tried at leadoff in an attempt to resurrect his bat. Mike Carp, a plodding slugger whose best position is first base, will be the everyday left fielder. I don’t expect these changes to last long.

The Mariners’ 36th season will likely be about seeing which of their unproven young players can be part of the next competitive Mariners team–arriving in stadiums possibly as late as 2014. There’s help in the minors to, with pitching prospects Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen, and James Paxton close to major-league ready.

The season begins tomorrow night in Japan–that is, 3:10 a.m. Seattle time–as the Mariners open up with a two-game series against Oakland intended to promote Major League Baseball in the world’s second-largest baseball-mad market. The M’s then return stateside, play a week of spring training games, and begin the remaining 160 games on Friday, April 6, against the A’s again. The team’s home opener isn’t until Friday, April 13 (once again, vs. Oakland).