Just Warming Up

Two weeks into their 162-game season, the Seattle Mariners have shown exactly why many predicted them to finish third in a four team division. But they've also displayed the stellar pitching, lockdown defense and pesky offense that prompted a certain unnamed individual to pick the M's to win the World Series.

So which team is the real Mariners? The offensively challenged, pitching thin squad that had a harder time scoring runs than Ricky Martin had trying to hide his affinity for dudes, or the carefully constructed team that was meticulously built to play baseball deep into October?

Well I'm obviously siding with the latter.

The first week of the season that saw the Mariners bust through the gates with the force of Justin Bieber was an aberration. Going from six weeks in Arizona where the team is up early and to bed early, mostly playing day games to a seven-game road trip did not do the M's any favors. The players bodies were thrown off by their new schedule and unfamiliar surroundings.

And for as severe as the team's offensive shortcomings seemed during that first week, the simple logic was that it was theoretically impossible for the M's to keep failing so miserably on the offensive side. The offense is not nearly as bad as some people believe. Ichiro, Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley and Casey Kotchman are all capable of hitting above .300. Franklin Gutierrez torrid start (.426 BA, 1.012 OPS) is proof that not only is he the best defensive center fielder in baseball, but he's also quickly becoming one of the best all-around players in the game.

Much was made about the Russell Branyan's departure and the power void he left. But not only is Kotchman providing a huge upgrade defensively, he's also on pace for 37 home runs and 149 RBI's. And when you consider the fact that Kotchman won't strike out 30 percent of the time like Branyan, and you have a huge addition to this ball club.

While the pitching staff could use the injured Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard, the early performances of Ryan Rowland-Smith and Doug Fister, along with Felix Hernandez's usual Cy Young-ness, is enough to keep the team afloat at least until Lee's return.

Defensively, the team is a force. Swapping Jose Lopez and Chone Figgins from second to third and vice versa looks like another masterful Jack Zduriencik move.

What it boils down to is that as long as the pitchers keep the ball in the park and the offense can put up between 3-5 runs a game, the Mariners are going to be awfully tough to beat regularly.