Every year, plenty of professional sports teams rebound from a terrible season to either get back to respectability, or even contend for a championship.
In baseball, the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays went from the MLB equivalent of "Cougar Town" to an AL pennant.
But the Rays turnaround was years in the making - largely built on a decade of crappy teams and high draft picks.
Same goes for 99 percent of pro sports teams. It generally takes years to rebuild.
That's what makes the 2009 Seattle Mariners so special. Following a 101-loss disaster in 2008, that included managerial and GM firings, and a proposed assault on Ichiro, most figured it would take 3-4 years at a minimum to get the franchise on the right track.
Not quite. It took 12 short months for the Mariners to improve by 24 wins. Most importantly, the entire organizational philosophy and attitude has undergone a dramatic overhaul. Gone are the over priced wastes of space like Richie Sexson, Scott Spazio and Joser Vidro, who played solely for a pay check, and cared as much about winning as Amy Winehouse cares about getting sober.
From the top to the bottom, GM Jack Zduriencik and manager Don Wakamatsu orchestrated one of the greatest third place finishes in sports history.
But for as great as 2009 was. The followup performance will have to be that much greater. And with potential gaping wholes throughout the lineup, it is up to Zduriencik to continue his adept wheeling and dealing and make the M's a legitimate playoff contender .
The good news for the 2010 Mariners is that the starting rotation and bullpen have the potential to be one of the best in baseball. Felix Hernandez's long awaited breakout season gives the M's a bona fide number 1 starter. If Brandon Morrow can pitch as well as he's capable of pitching and Ryan Rowland-Smith and Ian Snell continue to improve, the M's rotation will be a force.
The bullpen, anchored by Mark Lowe's 101 MPH gas and David Aardsma is arguably one of the most intimidating setup/closer duo's in baseball.
After that, the only certainty in the lineup is that Ichiro will get 200 hits. Lingering questions about the futures of Adrian Beltre, Russell Branyan and the Ken Griffey Jr./Mike Sweeney DH combo, leaves the middle of the M's batting order in flux.
Can Jose Lopez feed off his great second half and finally put together a full season of superb hitting from the second base position? Will Lopez even be playing second base in 2010? What is going to happen with Jack Wilson and his $10 million option?
In a perfect world, Beltre, Branyan and Griffey/Sweeney will all be back in 2010. Why? Because they produce, and there aren't better options available.
For all the flack Griffey got for his batting average that rarely went north of .220 all season, he still hit 19 home runs and knocked in 57 runs, while only playing in 2/3 of the M's games. Junior consistently performed in the clutch. I watched countless games where Griffey hit a home run to either tie the game of give the M's the lead. What about the times Junior worked a walk that eventually lead to a run that scored? Or when Junior moved runners over that ultimately came around to score? Not to mention his undeniable affect on the clubhouse.
When you add Junior and Sweeney's power numbers, you get 27 home runs and 91 RBI's. That's solid production from the DH spot.
Due to various injuries (and nearly losing a testicle), Adrian Beltre didn't come close to his typical .274, 24, 87 seasonal averages. Belly's defense at third is the best in the AL. He's not worth anywhere close to the 5-year $64 million contract Bill Bavasi showered on him in 2004. But Beltre would be well worth $10 million per for a couple years.
It will be interesting to see what Branyan commands on the open market. Playing full-time for the first time in his career, Short Bus Russ was robbed of an All-Star Game appearance. But his second half was Sexson-esque. Branyan hit almost 100 points lower post All-Star Break and his OPS was almost 270 points higher in the first half of the season. Not to mention the fact that a herniated disk kept him from finishing August.
Branyan was a steal at $1.4 million for one year. But he'll be 34 in December. Anything more than a 2-year deal at more than $3 million a year would be a huge gamble for a guy who has never played a full season.
So that leaves shortstop, left field and catcher as the three positions that have to be upgraded offensively. And truth be told, Rob Johnson is so good at catching Mariners pitchers, that it might be worth sucking up his putrid offensive numbers.
But left field and shortstop absolutely have to improve on offense. The M's can't expect to contend with a lineup that is essentially 6 batters strong. Jack Wilson is a defensive stud, but potentially an offensive liability. In his short stint with the M's, Wilson couldn't hit and couldn't stay healthy. Zduriencik is too shrewd to pick up the $10 million option on Wilson. But a short-term deal worth considerably less should at least be entertained.
That means everything depends on left field. The Mariners could wish on a star and hope that a) Michael Saunders learns how to hit on a big league level, or b) Billy Hall can recapture his power stroke that netted him 35 bombs in 2006.
Neither scenario is very likely. And free agents to be like Matt Holliday and Jason Bay are going to be pricey and are both ill suited for Safeco Field.
Yet, this is what makes the off season so exciting. Nobody had any idea that Jack Z was capable of unearthing hidden All-Star talent at first base, centerfield and in the closer slot.
If Zduriencik can duplicate his 2008 off season, the 2010 Mariners will be playing deep into October.
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