Man Against the Machine

I want everyone to pay careful attention to what the Seattle Mariners are doing. They have quietly, or not so quietly depending on how hard you follow baseball, had the best offseason of ANY team in recent years. Even better than the Yankees half-billion dollar spending melee last winter. Let's have look at what they've done:

• Signed Chone Figgins to a team friendly 4-year 36-million dollar contract.
  
• Traded 3 non-impact minor leaguers to land them Cliff Lee
  
• Swapped ugly contract for ugly contract with the Carlos Silva, Milton Bradley trade
  
• Traded a journeyman utility man for their starting first baseman in Casey Kotchman
  
• Sured up their bullpen by trading away Brandon Morrow for Brandon League
  
• Re-signed the RIGHTFUL Gold Glove winner from 2009 Franklin Guttierez
  
• Re-signed one of the Top 2 right-handed pitchers in baseball, Felix Hernandez
  
• On top of all this movement they have saved money with a bunch of contracts coming off the books
  

Holy happy horseshit the M's have created a machine and I for one am petrified. As good as the Red Sox defense looks (on paper) the Seattle 9's should be better. They have the best/fastest outfield in all of Major League Baseball. The left side of their defense is anchored down by 2 Gold Glove caliber players. Casey Kotchman is a defensive whiz kid at first and Jose Lopez is solid as well.

You wanna talk pitching and defense? The Mariners could be the best in baseball. Now, they are right in the thick of the Ben Sheets bidding war. The only real blemish that I can see is their lack of an impact, powerbat. But unfortunately for the rest of the teams in the league they have the pieces to put together a deal for Adrian Gonzalez. But if pitching and defense wins ballgames, than these guys could be primed for a season that runs LONG into the fall. If you ask me, their GM deserves a raise, nightly visits from Mark Kotsay's Wife, and a Porsche with Kim Kardashian's ass as the steering wheel cover.

It has been brought to my attention by my blogging brethren over at Sweaty Towels, that Albert Pujols has come to the defense of his predecessor at first base, Mark McGwire. But upon showing me the link the question was asked what kind of coverage do you think Albert's line about making "mistakes in the past" is going to garner in. My Response? Virtually none. Albert Pujols coming to your aid is sort of like Mother Teresa standing by your side or Jesus Christ himself playing the role of Jiminy Cricket in terms of baseball. I shouldn't actually say none, because there are reporters and/or deterrents trying to prove Albert's character and expertise synthetic 24/7. But to think those words would entice them to amp up their search for purity when every home run that he hits should prompt in-game testing is a bit of a stretch.

Stay Tuned

Ryan