Quote:
Jim,
You still got the Mariners having a decent shot at the playoffs?
As a casual baseball fan who pretty solely follows the M's and otherwise only vaguely knows of which other teams have populated the playoffs in recent years, I haven't the first clue about how to assess our chances. I gather that we have at least a puncher's chance (again) of breaking the drought this year though.
I see that Vegas gives us the fourth-best odds of winning the AL, so that's something.
I do. I thought your offseason was an A+ and I already liked the team.
Segura broke out last year with a 20/33 season at 26 and has always had the talent.
In the same trade you got Haniger, who absolutely crushed AAA last year. Dude had 12.5% walk rate, .428 OBP, and .670 slg%.
Picked up Dyson who is good defensively and can get some speed up top in the lineup ahead of Cano and Cruz.
I think a really underrated pickup was Smyly. Dudes only 27, had a k/9 of over 10 his first year and 8.5 last year in a larger sample. His biggest problems were a high walk rate and high hr percentage, but moving from the AL east to the AL west and pitching in safeco should negate that second one a bit imo. He's also due for regression in HR:FB% as its been 14 and 12 in his two years and normalizes at around 10. He's penciled in as your #4, but I think it's very possible he ends up being your 2nd best one.
I don't shed tears for your losses. Aoki is solid, I think Karns still has potential, and Walker did as well (more so than Karns), but the in has been way better than the out.
My unbiased opinion is they win the west with 88-90 wins. They opened at 85.5 and I think that's one of the best bets again this year (recall last year I thought they were the best bet).