No News Is Good News…Or Is It Just No News?

Well, we’ve come to that point where Spring Training lures us into a lull. Yes the Seattle Mariners are in Japan battling it out against their Japanese brethren, but that’s not exciting for me. I’m just jealous; I want to be in Japan… Hey remember Kenji Johjima?

Anyways, it sure seems like this lull comes year in and year out. The regular season is so close, the roster is tightening up, and the the games still don’t count. The Mariners have a few spots they have yet to give away, but I’d be lying if I said I was super interested. Now if I believed Catricala had an actual chance of stealing a roster spot, I might be in a different state of mind. As it stands today the opening day squad might resemble something close to this:

3B Chone Figgins

2B Dustin Ackley

RF Ichiro Suzuki

1B Justin Smoak

DH Jesus Montero

LF Mike Carp

C Miguel Olivo

CF Michael Saunders

SS Brendan Ryan

Bench

INF Munenori Kawasaki

INF Kyle Seager

C John Jaso

OF Casper Wells

Alternate lineups might include Peguero (and not Wells) for some reason, Figgins in CF and Catricala at 3B, or Figgins in CF and Seager at 3B. The bullpen should really be a post in its own, but I don’t have a clue which way management is leaning. Tom Wilhelmsen is probably a lock, and with the way Luetge has pitched I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the organization decided to keep him around, but really it’s a toss up. Furbursh is probably Tacoma-bound, which isn’t necessarily a terrible thing considering that is the best way to find out what they have. He has quietly put together a solid spring thus far but even so, the Mariners already have Iwakuma and Charlie is young with options. I believe the Mariners view him as a starter so AAA is the only way he is going to see enough innings. Don’t expect him down there all year though, because as I’ve stated before, in today’s game it is nearly impossible to keep your original five healthy all season long

News is slow and it has been difficult to write; I don’t have a whole lot brewing in the custom ideas department currently. I still have one more game to look forward too this season in Peoria, and I’ll be sure to put something up about how polished (or unpolished) players and the team as a whole look.

I look forward to real, meaningful games. Don’t forget to set your alarms, 3 AM baseball…