2012 BASEBALL SEASON

The Super Bowl is over, and the basketball and hockey season moves along. Time for spring training soon to begin, and with that we will look at each of the teams from a fans point of view.

We will start in Seattle in the American League West Division and work from the bottom up.

The second worst record at 67-95 in the Majors, finishing 29 games behind the front running Texas Rangers. Seattle needs a major revamp, new talent and a lot of hope. In all of Major League Baseball, Seattle finished dead last in runs scored, batting average, and slugging percentage and on base percentage.

The offense was anemic last year, with Ichiro Suzuki batting a paltry .272, with an OBP of .310 and 184 hits. Miguel Olivo hitting 19 home runs and 62 RBI’s, and that was the offense. Olivo appeared in only 130 games, and Ichiro Suzuki the only other player to appear in more when he tied his spikes for 161 games.

I wonder if it makes sense for Suzuki to bat leadoff. Once you get by him in the lineup, the rest is easy. His bat is productive and there seems to be no one right now who can produce except Olivo. After 10 years batting leadoff, he is slowing down, and may not have the speed he once did, or the ability to do what he once did. This is his last years on the current contract, and you have to wonder what he is thinking about free agency.

Speaking of which: Michael Pineda has signed on with the New York Yankees, while losing Josh Bard and Adam Kennedy, along with Willy Mo Pena. Aside from Pineda, the Mariners have lost nothing of value. They do need a center outfielder with the loss of Rick Ankiel.

Felix Hernandez is the only bona-fide pitcher the Mariners have. At 14-14 on a dreadful team, he shows something, while his ERA is a very decent 3.47. He is a definite #2 or #3 starter on most teams, and is the only starter they have.

With 37 saves last year, Brandon League is a keeper. He is the key to any success the mariners have this season coming, as he was last year, and along with Jamey Wright, who holds them for League, this is a small nucleus of success. In late innings, his 3.16 ERA has kept the opposition at bay until the 9^th.

This is a dreadful team, which should finish close to where they were last year.