“Believe Big” was the slogan for the Seattle Mariners coming out of spring training this season and back in March that line made sense. During the preseason, the hype surrounding this team could only be matched by the start of the 2002 campaign that followed the Mariners “Two Outs, So What”, 116 win phenomena, of 2001.
General Manager Jack Zduriencik was riding high with fans and the media for his great work in signing big-time talents Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins and Franklin Gutierrez. According to many baseball experts, the Mariners were the favorite to win the American League West Division by finally garnering more talent than the perennial favorite Angels. Seattle fans were feeling the vibe and believing big.
The Mariners opened up the season on April 5th with a win at rival Oakland. Whew! That would have sucked to lose the opener following that tidal wave of hype. Not so fast. They lost the next day. Then another loss and another and another. After five games the Mariners’ record was 1-4. Ouch. That hype fueled tidal wave became an undertow of despair. The fans freaked out and media shut up. By April 22nd they were *9-8 (*for those of you that hate spoiler alerts I recommend skipping ahead). To the rest of the spoiler-loving readers, that day marks the last day the Mariners had a winning record.
Today their record stands at 44-70. For the remainder of the season there is no more chances to “Believe Big”. I implore my fellow Seattlelites to look towards next season with optimistic eyes and believe in something. If you want a snapshot of next season check out the Mariners lineup and pitching rotation these days. Rookie outfielder Michael Saunders and rookie first baseman Justin Smoak have been and will continue to play regularly the rest of the way. Both have legit power and have already had success since being called up from the minors in the last couple months. Those two represent a refreshing youth movement the Mariners are leading after coming to terms with their lost season.
The team made an absolute no-brainer move recently with the pitching rotation that had me laughing. The M’s sent down starting pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith and brought up pitcher Luke French to take his place in the rotation. I laughed because Rowland-Smith has been so bad this season that I thought he would look for a new position with the team as the batting practice pitcher. The guy serves up home runs like it’s his job. His record of 1-10 and 6.96 ERA begs the question; can literally anyone replace him and do better?
Fortunately the M’s have more than just anyone to step in. Luke French had been dominating on the Mariners’ Triple A team, the Tacoma Rainiers, by posting an 11-3 record and a nice 2.94 ERA over 17 minor league starts. Dropping gigantic negative Rowland-Smith and adding a definite positive in French shows the direction GM Zduriencik is taking.
Looking through the rose-colored glasses appears even brighter when you consider the club has yet to call up its best minor league hitter and pitcher. In the 2009 draft, the Mariners selected infielder Dustin Ackley 2nd overall. Ackley dominated collegiate baseball at North Carolina University; earning consecutive All-American honors as a sophomore and junior. He figures to start at second base for the M’s beginning next season. Another highly-touted prospect on the verge of a 2010 call-up is pitcher Michael Pineda. The 21 year old has done nothing but impress scouts and his general manager. Zduriencik drives south to nearby Tacoma for his starts to drool over his next call-up. During his time in the minors, Pineda has accumulated an 11-2 record, a 2.68 ERA and 120 strikeouts. As the Mariners’ endless summer progresses I think it’s fair to say the silver lining around this year becomes more apparent.
The 2011 roster will look young, talented and fresh. That combination might be enough to get fans through September and feeling good heading into next spring training. There won’t be any hype comparable to this spring but that’s alright. Since the roster will be littered with impressionable youth with the expectations of a desperate city on their shoulders; the lack of hype should really help. I say out with “Believe Big” and in with “Thank Heaven, There’s Always 2011.”
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