5 Bold Predictions for 2017 Seattle Mariners

Baseball is back. The Seattle Mariners are less than 24 hours away from their Cactus League opener, and there is a renewed energy in the city of Seattle.

Unfortunately for most Mariners fans, their first opportunity to see the team in action will be March 5th. However; there is still plenty of things for M’s fans to get psyched about.

Whether it is watching the new editions like Jarrod Dyson or Jean Segura, or potential breakouts Mike Zunino and Paxton, Spring Training offers plenty of exciting storylines.

Of course, the main job a ball player in Spring Training is simple. For hitters, this is the time to find your timing off of live arms for the first time in 3-4 months. For the pitchers, it is about building up the stamina and arm strength required to last over a rigors schedule.

The Mariners plan to roll out their Opening Day lineup tomorrow, which will look something like this:

But the main job of baseball analyst during Spring Training is to make projections for players and teams. Projections, in simpler terms, are what you think is most likely to happen. Not what you want to have happen, but what is most likely to happen.

However, one of the favorite pastimes of sports writers and fans alike are “bold predictions”.  Something that seems unlikely, but you believe could happen, if everything broke right. In other words, not what you think is most likely to happen, but somethings that could conceivably happen.

Sodo Mojo’s team made a few predictions as well. Some reasonable, like our editor, Adam Levi’s proclamation that either Robinson Cano or Nelson Cruz win the MVP award. Some were cool and intriguing, like one of our contributors, Alex Sommerfield’s prediction that Thyago Vieira wins the AL Rookie of the year. Others were way out there, like another contributor, Anthony Hill’s prediction that Mike Zunino slashes .300/30/100 ( I hope Anthony is even 60% right).

So, without further ado, I present my five bold predictions for the 2017 Seattle Mariners.