2009 Seattle Mariners Predictions

Written by Jason Lowry

mariners-baseball The Seattle Mariners were suppose to improve last season with the big addition of Erik Bedard to the starting rotation, but instead Bedard pitched in only 15 games and a number of injuries had the Mariners in a bunch of trouble all season long. It all led to one of the worst seasons in franchise history, as the Mariners lost 101 games last season. There is hope that 2009 can be a big time improvement, as the Mariners new GM Zach Zduriencik is all about winning now and not later. The Mariners have added some key pieces to the team so far this offseason, that includes bringing back Ken Griffey Jr, and two new starters in the outfield in LF Endy Chaves and CF Franklin Gutierrez. The Mariners did have to part ways with closer J.J. Putz and LF Raul Ibanez, and the loss of Putz could really haunt this team if no one is able to step up in the closers role. Here is a closer look at the 2009 Seattle Mariners and where I see them finishing in the AL West this season.

Offense: The offense still has one of the best leadoff hitters to ever play the game in Ichiro Suzuki, who had another big year with 213 hits while batting .310 with 43 stolen bases. The team is hoping that 2B Jose Lopez will be a solid fit in the No.2 hole, as they need someone to get on base for the sluggers in 3B Adrian Beltre and 1B Russell Branyan. Neither Beltre or Branyan was all that healthy last season, and these two guys at full strength should do wonders for an offense that really struggled to score runs last season. The addition of Griffey should give this team a little more power, and don’t be shocked to see more of Griffey in the DH role than in the outfield. The team looks like it will stick with Kenji Johjima behind the plate, and that means 2005 first round pick Jeff Clement could be headed back to triple A for more at bats. The Mariner’s power numbers were just plain awful in 2008, and if those numbers don’t start improving this team is going to continue to struggle to score runs.

Pitching: The team really needs Bedard to come in healthy and ready to go this season, as the 1-2 punch of him and 23-year-old Felix Hernandez could be a very dangerous combo for any offense to face. Bedard went just 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA in his 15 starts, while Hernandez struggled going 9-11 with a 3.45 ERA. Behind the top two are former free agent pick ups Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva. Neither was impressive at all last season, as Washburn went 5-14 with a 4.69 ERA and Silva was just 4-15 with a 6.46 ERA. The final spot in the starting rotation likely goes to Ryan Rowland-Smith, who went 5-3 with a 3.42 ERA in 12 starts last season. The bullpen will likely turn to Mark Lowe as the closer, and its hard telling what to expect out of this guy, as he converted just 1 of 5 chances last season in save opportunities. Don’t be surprised to see a number of guys get a shot till someone locks down the job, other options are newly acquired David Aardsma and Tyler Walker along with the former starter Miguel Batista. Overall this unit should improve if everyone can stay healthy, but if the offense can’t score any runs it’s going to be hard for any pitching staff to dig a team out of the gutter after losing 100 games the previous year.

Prediction: 3rd in AL West. I know that its a bit of a bold move to move a team that finished with 101 losses ahead of the likes of the Rangers who finished 2nd in the division last season, but this team has to much talent to not win more games this season. In all reality it doesn’t really matter if the Mariners finish 2nd this season, as I don’t think any team besides the Angles has a shot at the postseason this year.

Archived Season Previews:

2010
2008

Individual MLB Team Previews:

American League
AL West	AL Central	AL East
Rangers Predictions	Tigers Predictions	Red Sox Predictions
A’s Predictions	White Sox Predictions	Yankees Predictions
Angels Predictions	Twins Predictions	Rays Predictions
Mariners Predictions	Royals Predictions	Blue Jays Predictions
	Indians Predictions	Orioles Predictions
National League
NL West	NL Central	NL East
Giants Predictions	Brewers Predictions	Phillies Predictions
Rockies Predictions	Cardinals Predictions	Braves Predictions
Dodgers Predictions	Reds Predictions	Marlins Predictions
Padres Predictions	Cubs Predictions	Mets Predictions
Diamondbacks Predictions	Pirates Predictions	Nationals Predictions
	Astros Predictions

Comments

One Response to “2009 Seattle Mariners Predictions”

matt123 on April 16th, 2009 7:48 PM

haha what do you say now about the mariners!

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