Devil Dish
By Kyle Glaser March 3, 2010 at 6:25 pm 
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People really need to stop saying that the Seattle Mariners are going to win the AL West this year. The Angels are still the better team, hands down.
Don’t believe me?
First, the lineups.
The Mariners have only one player returning who hit more than 20 home runs last year and five who at least 10 home runs last year.
The Angels have four players returning who hit more than 20 home runs last year and six players who hit at least 10.
Of returning players, the Angels have no one that batted below .272 or had an on-base percentage below .334.
The Mariners have four players who batted below .272 last year and three players who had an on-base percentage below .334.
The Mariners have Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez, and then … Erik Bedard’s corpse, Doug Fister, and Luke French. That’s two aces and three mediocre to below-average pitchers. Bedard healthy is good, but he’s not healthy.
The Angels have Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Scott Kazmir, and Joel Pineiro.
So the Angels have three All-Stars, and the guy who hasn’t made an All-Star team may be the best pitcher (Weaver).
So the Angels have better overall pitching and better hitting by far. That makes them the better team.
Let me preface this by saying that I think the Rangers, Angels, and Mariners are all pretty evenly matched. The Rangers get overlooked because they didn’t make as many sexy acquisitions (with the exception of Rich Harden). Analysts believe the Mariners are ahead of the Angels because the Angels lost players (in what was a relatively close division) while the Mariners made major moves.
I view the Mariners lineup as being well suited to Safeco Field. Safeco Field is terrible for righties. (Adrian Beltre will hit at least 30 homers in Boston, and the media will proclaim that he has “found out how to hit again”, and will praise the coaches) The M’s lineup features a fast group of gap hitters. Safeco Field is not conducive to right handed hitters. The Mariners could have signed Jason Bay, but he would have had the same problems that Beltre faced, without the defensive upside that Beltre brings.
The Angels lineup is better in almost all of the statistical hitting categories, I will concede that point.
The pitching staff is a different story. The M’s have Hernandez and Lee, but you forget about Ryan Rowland-Smith. In his time with the Mariners, Hyphen has been as good as Jarrod Washburn. Outside of Rowland-Smith, the M’s also have Ian Snell. Snell pitched horribly last season, however, he was not given the benefit of having spring training with the team. I do not think he will be much more than a #5 starter, but if he is able to pitch near his potential, he could be the best #5 starter in the league. Much of this season will hinge on how well Bedard can come back from his injury. He is currently slated to return in late May to mid June, and is considered ahead on his rehab.
I view the Angels staff as being on par with the M’s. The Angels have several number 2 pitchers (Weaver, Saunders, and Kazmir), a number 3 or 4 (Santana), and a 5 (Pinero). I remember watching Pinero when he pitched for the M’s. He was brilliant before everyone got a good look at him, then he got shelled nearly every time. If the M’s have to win a 3 game series against the Angels, I would pick the M’s staff every time.
The biggest strength of this team is its defense. At nearly every position, the Mariners have a potential Fielding Bible Award Winner (Gold Gloves are a load of crap). If you subscribe to the run saved = run earned theory, the Mariners will save a ton of runs.
The Angels team is not as good defensively. I would take the M’s at nearly every position (save catcher and left field) defensively.
Also, never underestimate Jack Zduriencik. He signed Russell Branyan (who hit 31 homers before wrecking his back in August), point being that he has a good scouting mind. He signed several high upside, low risk players this offseason. He also is willing to pull the trigger on a big name.
So, you're saying we as Mariners Fans have no right to hope, and believe in our team? Well in all fairness, it's anybodies guess who will win what, but with determination, and key players stepping up anything can happen. So any team, even the Padres, or the Nationals can have a good season, and other teams, such as the Yankees, or the St. Louis Cardinals can have an off year. No one person knows their own destiny as well as no team knows what lies in the future.
So your saying we can't hope for our team, no one knows the future, and even down and out teams can have a good season, such as the Padres or the Nationals, and some good teams can have a bad year. Barring injuries and the such, know one person can see the future, but we can have hope, and cheer on our favorite teams, during the good seasons and even the bad. It's like a marriage, through thick and thin, we never waiver…that's a true fan.