AL West: Seattle Mariners

This Mariners squad is a far cry from the 116 win team of 2001, but will be an improvement over the 69 win squad of 2005. However, they are stuck in a very competitive division, so another last place finish is likely their fate.

Lineup: For a down year, Ichiro played extremly good baseball. He's still a great hitter, and great rightfielder. An interesting note is that he hit a career high 15 home runs. Jeremy Reed will start in center, and the Mariners expect his offensive numbers to jump considerably in his second full big league season. Raul Ibanez should continue to put up solid, unappreciated, numbers in left field. Matt Lawton is a solid veteran who can start at any outfield position, need be. Big bashers Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre man the corners, and while Sexson had an excellent 2005, pacing the team with 39 home runs, Beltre will have to prove that his contract year explosion with the Dodgers in 2004 was not a fluke. Cuban defector Yuniesky Betancourt will start at shortstop, but he is extremly weak offensivly, and stronger hitting Mike Morse could see action at this spot. Jose Lopez is not a strong hitter either, and may share time at second with utility man Willie Bloomquist, who is just as bad with the bat. Kenji Johjima was brought in from Japan to catch, and so far good things have been coming from Mariners camp about his repore with the pitching staff. Carl Everett may be a head-case, but he can still hit, and he will start at DH for Seattle. Although the Mariners lineup is unspectacular when compared to others in the hard-hitting American League, it does possess amazing balance, with a fair share of power hitters, average hitters, and good-field no-hit guys.

Starting Rotation: Seattle's success in 2005 will depend on the success of their starting pitchers. The ageless Jamie Moyer heads the rotation, and while he can still be counted on to provide 2005 solid innings, he's unlikely to ever be a true ace again. However, the Mariners do have someone who may be much more than ace: King Felix. Felix Hernandez wowed just about everyone in 2005, and with the chance for a full season of work in front of him, there is no telling what he can accomplish. Jarrod Washburn was a big free agent signing, forget his 8-8 record, anyone with a 3.20 ERA in 177 innings is capable of big things. However, whether he is worth the large sum being paid to him will be determined by whether he falls back into 2003/2004 form, when he posted ERA's in the mid-4's and was decidedly average. Joel Pineiro has regressed, finally collapsing in 2005, posting a 5.62 ERA. His ERA has gone up by at least half a point every season since 2003, but he has the potential to be an All-Star starter. Gil Meche has not proven himself to be more than a back-end guy, but there are worse #5's in the game. The rotation could be very good, but if Hernandez regresses in his first big league season, Moyer finally pitches like a 43 year old, and Pineiro does not bounce back, it could get ugly.

Bullpen: The closer position is set with Eddie Guardado, whose ERA has gone down every year since 1998. The setup men, J.J. Putz and Rafael Soriano, will get the job done but are not as good as others in the division. Soriano has really only had two good seasons, and those were in 2002 and 2003. Julio Mateo has proven to be a reliable long man, and his career indicates that the more innings he pitches, the better he'll be. The bullpen is terribly thin, however, as pitchers such as George Sherril and Matt Thornton are set to be integral parts of the staff. Both pitchers had ERA's over 5 last season. A youngster could steal a spot as well, but either way, the bullpen lacks depth and is no where near as good as Los Angeles' or Oakland's.

X-Factor: Felix Hernandez. He's garnered comparisons to Doc Gooden, and while the Mariners won't push him so early in his career, if he pitches as well as he did last year for an entire season, the boost to the Seattle franchise as a whole will be enourmous.

Biggest Strength/Weakness: Fielding/Bullpen

Projection: 4th place in the AL West

Win Range: 69-74