Seattle Mariners Building Towards Disaster?

What is that man thinking? Only time will tell. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

As we approach the 100 day mark until Opening Day 2014, I can’t help but look at what the Seattle Mariners have done this offseason and wonder if, not adding more piece is actually a good thing. Could it be that JZ is steering this ship away from potential disaster?

Remember the Black Friday spending spree that was the 2012-2013 Toronto Blue Jays?

It’s interesting to see the comparisons.

Oct 21, 2012: The Blue Jays released manager John Farrell from his contract.
Sept. 27, 2013: Mariners manager Eric Wedge says that he will not return as manager in 2014.

Nov. 20, 2012: The Blue Jays announce that John Gibbons is the next manager of the franchise.
Nov. 5, 2013: A report is out that the Mariners will sign Lloyd McClendon as the next skipper.

Nov. 8, 2012-Dec. 17, 2012: The Toronto Blue Jays acquire either via free agency or via trade, the following players: Maicer Izturis, Melky Cabrera, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonafacio, John Buck and R.A. Dickey.
Dec. 5, 2013-Present: The Mariners have acquired via free agency or via trade, the following player: Willie Bloomquist, Robinson Cano, Corey Hart, Logan Morrison, Franklin Gutierrez.

And if the rumors prior to the report that the team may be at its spending limit held true, the Mariners could also have been adding: David Price, Nelson Cruz, Fernando Rodney and possibly one more. If that were to happen, you would see the comparisons start to stack up nicely.

So how well did it work out for those 2013 Blue Jays?

The team improved by one game from the previous season. Going from 73-89 in 2012 to 74-88 in 2013.

So perhaps having the Mariners stop where they are isn’t such a bad thing after all? Let’s argue that the Mariners are in fact done. For argument sake, here is the starting lineup and rotation.

1. LF Dustin Ackley
2. 3B Kyle Seager
3. 2B Robinson Cano
4. DH Corey Hart
5. 1B Justin Smoak
6. RF Logan Morrison
7. CF Michael Saunders
8. C Mike Zunino
9. SS Brad Miller

1. Felix Hernandez
2. Hisashi Iwakuma
3. Erasmo Ramirez
4. Taijuan Walker
5. James Paxton

This assumes that Nick Franklin and Willie Bloomquist would alternate giving Cano, Seager and Miller days off. Franklin was a SS in college so he could presumably be moved into that role full-time too.

This also assumes that Brandon Maurer is not the 5th starter, you never know before Spring Training.

This team (Abraham Almonte, Franklin Gutierrez among others on the bench) according to RotoChamp, is projected to score 722 runs and allow about 575 runs (adding in about 50 runs allowed by pitchers not listed on their simulation). If that were true, it would mean an approximate win total of 99.

Almost 100 wins, are you freaking kidding me?

And people thought the Boston Red Sox turnaround from 2012 to 2013 was impressive…..this would knock their Sox off.

This of course assumes full healthy participation from all of the active players.

I am not suggesting for a single second that the Mariners front office completely knew what they were doing going into this. But it seems – on paper at least – to be a good strategy.

Of course, Mariners fans are antsy. They heard we were gonna spend money and then feel a little let down that most if not all of that money went to one player.

But perhaps the theories are sound. Perhaps by continuing to add more and more new pieces, the odds of duplicating the Blue Jays season of 2013 increase exponentially.

Or perhaps we say; “To **** with the numbers! Sign everyone!