Photo taken from Google Images

Francisco Martinez is quite a polarizing figure for a guy who most Mariner fans have never seen in person. The guy came over in the Doug Fister trade. Fister was a fan-favorite. I think Fister will regress next year, but I liked him enough as a pitcher to be sad that he’s gone. However, when he was traded to Detroit there was a perception that came from some fans and media members about Francisco Martinez.

Here are some truths, and some things that go against Martinez:

The Tigers have a shallow farm system.

Martinez hasn’t dominated at any level.

Martinez strikes out too much.

He’s not a defensive wizard yet.

That’s it. Some people have chosen to view Martinez void of all context. Martinez has been pushed quickly through the Tigers system. Last year he was four years younger than the average player in the Double A leagues he played in.

I don’t have a ton of good comprehensive metrics for minor league baseball, but Martinez had the highest OPS (.724) of any qualifying 20 year old not named Anthony Gose in the Eastern League, the league he played in with Detroit’s Double A affiliate. Gose ranks 57^th in MLB’s top 100 prospects.  If he’d have qualified in the Southern League (he’s two plate appearances short of qualifying for the leader board), where the Mariners Double-A affiliate West Tennessee plays, he’d have been the top 20 year old in the category there too (.807 OPS).

It’s not that common to see a 20 year old in the Eastern League. Here is a list of 20-and-unders from the Eastern League who have out OPS’d Martinez recently.

2010

Anthony Rizzo: .815 OPS, 37^th best prospect in 2012

2009

Jesus Montero (you may have heard of him): .909 OPS, 12^th best prospect in 2012

Jose Tabata: .774 OPS, 75^th prospect in 2009 (in the majors since then)

Ruben Tejeda: .732 OPS

2008

Travis Snider: .818 OPS, 6^th best prospect in 2009 (in majors since 2010)

Fernando Martinez: .772 OPS, 30^th best prospect in baseball in 2009

The point here isn’t to say that Martinez is as good a prospect as any of these guys. It’s worth nothing however, that save for Tejeda, who was a shortstop who moved to second base because of Jose Reyes, the other players project to play either corner outfield positions, first base, or DH long term.

Martinez may not be a defensive wizard at this point in his career, but unlike Alex Liddi, if he moves off the position he’ll end up in one of those corner outfield positions, not in the log-jam that should be first base five years from now. Martinez is a superior athlete to the rest of the Mariners bat-first third base prospects. That’s not to say that Martinez defensive struggles aren’t a concern. He’s much more valuable to the team or in a trade if he sticks at third base. But if he can’t hang at the hot corner his value isn’t sapped as a guy with a below-average first baseman ceiling. He’s further along defensively than Dustin Ackley was at this time last year, also.

And how about those strikeouts? I don’t know if I mentioned this, but Martinez played at least one level up from where he’d traditionally be at in his progression to this point. Double A is a big test for a 20 year old. Martinez struck out in 20.4 percent of his plate appearances last year. That was a slight bump from the 19.0 percent he’d produced at Advanced-A the year before. But have I mentioned yet that Martinez is four years ahead of the average prospect? The elderly group of 24.4 year olds in the Eastern League struck out 19.9 percent on average. The guys back at Advanced-A where Martinez played last year struck out at 19.9 percent last year too.

He was about a percent better than average last year playing in a league three years older than him, and a half-percent worse than average this year playing in a league four years older than him. Four years. Four Years. FOUR YEARS!

But what about the long ball? We’re tired of gloves. What about his bat. Does he have a big bat? I bet it’s about 33 inches long and somewhere around 32 ounces, give or take a couple inches or ounces. He hit 10 home runs last year, and posted an ISO of .137. I’m not an expert on park factors in the Eastern League, but Martinez was in a three way tie for second on his team in home runs. He was behind a 25 year old, and was tied with a 23 year old, and a 27 year old. I hardly think that three players from a poor farm system’s Double A affiliate qualify as adequate qualitative measuring sticks, but still.

He wasn’t close to the league lead though. He was 46^th. Interestingly, Chih-Hsien Chiang was 7^th in the league despite limited time in the league, hitting 18 homers and 37 doubles in 358 plate appearances. He’s 23 years old.

I don’t know if Martinez will be a great MLB third baseman. I think he will be an MLB third baseman though. He’s got a chance to be pretty good. He’s on the right track so far. He’ll be interesting to watch this year, wherever he ends up in the Mariners system. I’d like to see him walk more, and see his glove improve, but there’s an outside shot that he makes his MLB debut this year. All of the aforementioned high-OPS Eastern Leaguers have.

Image taken from Google Images

15 Starts

That seems like the magic number Bedard strives for each season, at least during his Mariners career.  In his four seasons with the club (he missed all of 2010), Bedard has made exactly 15 starts in all of them.  Here’s a look at his numbers:

2008: 6-4 3.67 ERA 4.50 xFIP 1.0 WAR (15 starts)

2009: 5-3 2.82 ERA 3.66 xFIP 1.9 WAR (15 starts)

2011: 4-6 3.00 ERA 3.27 xFIP 1.4 WAR (15 starts)

Any guesses on how many wins he has as a Mariner?  Yep, 15.

It’s unfortunate timing that Bedard is currently on the DL.  He’s a prime candidate to be traded before the July 31^st trading deadline.  With an already superb rotation, and the team slowing slipping out of the race it would make sense to trade him.  He’s set to come off the DL on July 22-24, which will give him 1 or 2 starts to hopefully prove to other teams that he is healthy.  However, Bedard and season ending DL go hand in hand so even if he is traded, the return is unlikely to be great for the Mariners.

In 2008 Bedard was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, George Sherrill, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler.  A year after the trade it looked like one of the worse deals in Mariners history.  Now, in 2011, it was still a bad trade for the Mariners but not as terrible as once thought.  For fun I added up the WAR of all the players involved in the trade.  Note, these totals are the WAR that each player acquired when they were part of either the Orioles or Mariners.  Sherrill was traded to the Dodgers in 2009 for Josh Bell and Steve Johnson so I included them as well.

WAR of players involved after the trade:

Bedard:      4.3

Total:          4.3

Jones:        7.6

Tillman:     0.6

Sherrill:     1.4*

Bell:          -0.5

Johnson:     0

Mickolio:  0.4*

Butler:         0

Total:         9.5

*Does not include WAR they have acquired with new teams.

Image taken from Google Images c/o the Bleacher Report

Dustin Ackley will be making the most highly anticipated Seattle Mariner debut on June 17^th 2011 since the debut of one King Felix Hernandez in 2005.

Ackley got off to an abysmal start in April, but he then hit .355/.443/.605 in May and .346/.500/.538 in June. Yes, he’s due for regression away from those numbers, but the entirety of his Triple-A numbers are not built on a house of cards. In his short minor league career, Ackley owns an extremely impressive BB/K of 130/117, which leads many to believe he has a strong chance to make a flawless transition to the Major Leagues, and possibly make a Buster Posey-like impact for the Mariners putrid offense.

Now, I don’t believe in arbitrarily limiting your sample size just because you don’t like parts of it, but even as a Sabermetric fanatic, I’m also a big believer in deferring to scouts in most instances when it comes to minor league talent evaluation. There has never been any doubt among scouts that Ackley will hit in the Major Leagues. Even in both of Ackley’s miserable Aprils (.147/.289/.227 in 2010; .211/.333/.305 in 2011), scouts never wavered.

Ackley’s minor league track record is good but not particularly awe-inspiring on the whole. However, they get more impressive when you add in the fact that he began his pro career in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Texas League instead of getting broken in with a brief stint in the low minors like most top college draftees.

And while Tacoma is more of a hitters park now since its 2011 renovation, it’s still at sea level, which contrasts with the high elevations of the rest of the PCL. Numbers in Tacoma are depressed compared to numbers in, say, Salt Lake.

Both of Ackley’s Aprils drag down his overall minor league career and are not representative of what Ackley will do in the Majors. The aggregate of the rest of his minor league numbers need regression, but be confident that the peak of his Major League career will display better rate stats than his minor league career of .280/.387/.435.

Here are the Mariners win totals since 1995 in odd and even years:

Odd:  79, 90, 79, 116, 93, 69, 88, 85 – Average wins: 87

Even:  85, 76, 91, 93, 63, 78, 61, 61 – Average wins: 76

After a slow start to 2011, the Mariners have picked up the pace as of late.  History is on their side to see that winning pace continue throughout the rest of the season.

Photo taken from Google Images c/o Zimbio

The Mariners have stumbled out of the gate to start the 2011 season; however, it’s no fault of the pitching staff.

ERA    FIP      K/9      BB/9    GB%

2011 (9 games)            4.56     3.59     6.43     2.22     47.9

2010 (162 games)        3.95     4.17     6.09     2.83     43.4

Nine games is a very small sample size but, based on the results so far the Mariners pitching has been solid, if not a little bit better than last year.  Now let’s look at who they will be running out there this season:

King Felix

Jason Vargas

Doug Fister

Erik Bedard

Michael Pineda

King Felix.  It sure feels nice to pencil in the King to take the ball for the Mariners every 5^th day.  Trade speculation will never end with Felix, at least until the M’s start winning again.  The best Mariners fans can do is ignore the rumors, because Felix isn’t going anywhere.  Considering his young age, cy-young pitching and his desire to stay with the Mariners for his entire career, the King will be resting his crown in the Emerald City for the foreseen future.  Now it’s the other 80% of the rotation that the Mariners have to worry about.

Jason Vargas and Doug Fister make the perfect #4/5 starters.  Unfortunately, for the Mariners, they’ll be asked to begin the season as the #2/3 starters with the hope being that Erik Bedard and Michael Pineda will fill those roles by season’s end.  Until then, we have the consistent, yet unspectacular pitching of Vargas and Fister to look forward too. But, let’s look on the bright side, our #4 starter used to be a #1 and still has that ability as long as he’s healthy.  Bedard is one of the more interesting Mariners to keep an eye on in 2011.  To have any chance of making the playoffs, they will need a very good season from a finally healthy (please ignore the irony of Bedard and healthy being in the same sentence), Erik Bedard.  Needless to say, Mariners fans will be holding their breath every time Bedard takes the mound for fear that his arm will finally just fall off.  This finally brings me to the most highly touted Mariners prospect since the King himself, Michael Pineda.  Pineda followed up a very good 2009 season by dominating AA and AAA over 25 starts in 2010.  At the ripe age of 22, he is poised to spend his first full season in the major leagues and hold down the #5 spot for the Mariners in 2011.  With good control of a fastball that has hit triple digits, Pineda just needs to work on improving his secondary pitches and he will make a great complement to King Felix.  Prince Pineda anyone?

This winter the Mariners pen looked like it would be a strength heading into 2011.  Then the injury bug bit, taking with it closer David Aardsma and set up man Shawn Kelley.   Then Dan Cortes couldn’t find the strike zone during spring training and began the season in AAA.  This left the Mariners with the following collections of arms to begin 2011:

Brandon League
Josh Lueke
Tom Wilhelmsen
Chris Ray
David Pauley
Jamey Wright
Aaron Laffey

There’s a great shot that by October 2011, none of these players will be in the Mariners pen.  League will take over closer duties until Aardsma returns.  He features a nasty split finger that ranked 4^th amongst AL relievers by FanGraphs.com last year.  The only problem is his desire to throw his fastball over the splitter.  The ability is there, let’s hope that League finally puts everything together this year and turns into the lock down relief pitcher that everyone expects him to be.  If the M’s fall out of the race early he’ll be one of the most desirable available relievers on the trade market, especially if he does well filling in for Aarsdma as the closer.

After League, there are a bunch of questions marks.  Lueke and Wilhelmsen are the rookies of the bullpen.  Lueke (acquired from Texas in the Cliff Lee deal last summer), has a great fastball and the potential to be a future closer. Wilhelmsen is an interesting story to say the least, he was a 2002, 7^th round draft pick of the Brewers and left baseball in 2005.  In 2010 he attempted a comeback signing with the Mariners and pitching for a few of their minor league affiliates.  After a solid spring he finds himself in the bullpen.  Pauley and Laffey will both pitch long relief for the M’s and are the most likely to fill a spot in the rotation should the need arise. Wright is a journeyman pitcher who broke into the majors in 1996 with the Rockies.  A starter for most of his career he has transitioned to the bullpen to extend his major league career.  Chris Ray will fill a set up role for the Mariners this season, don’t expect anything spectacular.

Overall, the rotation is once again the strength of the Mariners.  On paper, it looks amazing. Let’s hope that Felix will duplicate his success of the past two seasons, Vargas and Fister will continue to eat innings, Bedard stays healthy and crosses the 100 innings mark for the first time since 2007 and Pineda shows signs of developing into the #2 starter that we all hope he will become. The bullpen is going to be a huge concern for the Mariners at least in the early part of 2011.  Here’s hoping that League puts it together, Cortes learns how to throw strikes and Aardsma and Kelley heal quickly.

Photo taken of Jack Zduriencik from Google Images

The 2011 season will be Jack Zduriencik’s 3^rd season as GM of the Seattle Mariners.  It seems like just yesterday that the Mariners were fresh off a horrible season, had no good players (excluding Ichiro and Felix), a bloated payroll, and no hope of a prospect contributing anything to the big league club in the near future.  To an outsider it may seem like it has been a roller coaster ride for Zduriencik over the past couple of years.  However, his message has been clear from the start, even if the results have not necessarily always been there.  A team with strong defense, especially up the middle, an offense that can draw walks, a hard thrower in the bullpen, and a rotation that pitches to contact and allows the defense to work its magic behind them.  Since taking over, Jack Z has had to deal with a variety of different expectations heading into each season:

2009: low expectations, everything went right

2010: high expectation, everything went wrong

2011: win, or start looking for a new job

In 2009 Jack could do no wrong.  And really how could he?  He was replacing someone whose idea of building a winning team was to trade blue chip prospects and sign right handed power hitters ill fitted to play at SafeCo (Bavasi…cough, cough).  Everyone knows the story by now.  Jack traded for Franklin Gutierrez who has become a superstar defensive outfielder; he traded for David Aardsma who has turned into a lock down closer.  He managed to trade Washburn for something decent and get rid of Carlos Silva.  After the 2009 season that saw the Mariners rebound from a 61 win season to win 85 games Jack could do no wrong.

He approached the 2010 season with an eye on the Mariners returning to the post season for the first time in nine years.  He stole Cliff Lee from the Phillies for next to nothing.  He signed Chone Figgins from the divisional rivals, Los Angeles Angels.  He picked up defensive minded 1B, Kotchman in a deal and resigned Franklin Gutierrez and King Felix.  Things were bright entering the 2010 season.  Unfortunately, we all know the story, Figgins was a bust, Kotchman was even more of a bust, Franklin struggled at the plate, Cliff Lee started the season on the DL and by the time he was ready to pitch a month into the season the Mariners were already all but out of it.  Things got so bad towards the end of the 2010 season that there were rumors swirling around the world wide web of Jack being handed his walking papers at the end of the season.  Thankfully that didn’t happen.  Now, with the farm system ready to produce for the first time in years, and big bucks coming off the books at the end of 2011, the Mariners will look forward to the future in 2011.

Up the Middle

The Mariners will head into the 2011 season with one of the best defenses up the middle in the league.

CF Franklin Gutierrez (could begin season on the DL due to stomach problems)

SS Brendan Ryan

2B Jack Wilson

C Miguel Olivo

After posting an unheard of 31.0 Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) in 2009, Franklin came back to earth in 2010 posting a 7.3 UZR, still good for 4^th among OF in baseball.  To me, Franklin is the best OF in all of baseball.  He has an uncanny ability to run in a straight line to exactly where the ball is hit.  He finally, very deservingly, won a gold glove last year.  Miguel Olivo, is no stranger to Mariners fans.  After struggling through two very poor seasons with the M’s in 2004-05, Olivo returns to the Mariners in 2011 as a veteran catcher known for his strong defense and power.  The Mariners double play combo for 2011 has a chance to be one of the best defensive pairings in recent memory.  The Mariners will boost the past two SS UZR leaders as their middle infield duo (Wilson in 2009, Ryan in 2010).  Wilson will make the shift from SS to 2B.  Overall, expect great defense and no offense in 2011 from the group up the middle for the Mariners.

Offense from the Corners and DH

If the Mariners are going to score runs in 2011 it’s going to have to come from their corner positions and DH.

1B Justin Smoak

3B Chone Figgins

LF Milton Bradley

RF Ichiro!

DH Jack Cust

.286/.349/.339 that’s Figgins slash line (average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) post all-star break last year, a far cry from his pre all-star break numbers of .235/.332/.276.  Who can blame him?  A new team, a new position, it clearly affected the beginning of his season.  Now, he’ll move back to 3B, which is where he played when he had a career year in 2009 with the Angels.  It should also hopefully mean a rebound to his plus defense at 3B.  I don’t think I need to dwell on Ichiro very much, I’ll write him down for another 200 hit season and gold glove defense in right.  Things get interesting when we look at Bradley and Smoak.  Anything positive from Bradley this year would be a plus.  When he’s right he can be one of the better hitters in baseball, when he is not, he’s a disaster at the plate and a distraction in the clubhouse.  Smoak is the future for the Mariners at 1B.  A slash line of .325/.400/.575 in 40 Sept/Oct at bats show his potential.  The power, defense, and eye are all there.  Hopefully he can put them all together in 2011.  Cust reminds me a lot of former Mariners, Richie Sexson and Jay Buhner, for the fact that he’s an all or nothing hitter.  The majority of his at bats result in either a strikeout, home run or a walk.

After years of watching the Mariners send free swinger after free swinger to the plate they can finally walk out a lineup (pun intend) where the majority of their hitters can draw a walk.   Smoak, Figgins, Bradley and Cust all know how to find their way on base consistently without hitting the ball (and let’s face it Ichiro will continue to do his thing even if he’s not walking).  Walks extend innings, they make the pitcher throw more pitches, they help the Mariners score more runs.  Most people dig the long ball, I dig the walk.

The 2011 Mariners won’t break records for scoring runs, they won’t hit many home runs, but hey, one thing I can promise is that they will be better than the 2010 Mariners offense.  And to anyone who struggled through the Mariners 2010 season that means a lot.

Stay tuned for an article outlining the Mariners pitching staff.

Cliff Lee Photo by Icon SMI

From the words of Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels, the Rangers, not Yankees, are the winners of the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. They will be sending star 1B prospect Justin Smoak, and minor leaguers RHP Blake Beavin, RHP Josh Lueke, and utility man Matt Lawson to the Mariners. The Rangers also receive RHP Mark Lowe and $2.5 million in cash.

In the Rangers press conference, it was announced Lee will start his first game as a Ranger tomorrow. Lee was scheduled to start today as a Mariner versus the Yankees.

After a morning of reports of a near-certain deal with the Yankees, the Rangers made a strong push to land the ace southpaw. At least for today, Yankees biggest trade chip C/DH prospect Jesus Montero will remain in their organization.

Lee is a major addition to the Rangers, as he goes to the top of the rotation, bumps everyone else down a slot, which gives them an ace for the rest of the season instead of a replacement-level #5 production. Lee’s rest-of-season ZiPS projection of a 3.11 FIP would give the Rangers an additional 3 WAR. Lowe will provide value to the Rangers in the bullpen in 2011 and beyond, as he is on the DL for the rest of 2010.

With the Rangers already 7.5 games ahead of the second place Angels, they had an 83.7 percent chance of making the playoffs without Lee, so this deal is clearly a move to improve their odds to advance in the playoffs. The Rangers in their history have never played in a League Championship Series or World Series.

For the Mariners, the 23-year-old Smoak becomes a long term answer at first base and is under club control for 6 years. A switch-hitter and solid defensive first baseman, he has drawn comparisons from prospect mavins to Mark Teixeira. Beavin, 21,  touches the mid-90s with his fastball and has displayed excellent control in Double-A Frisco with a 0.94 BB/9 and projects as a mid-rotation starter. Lueke, 25, is old compared to his peers in High-A and Double-A but owns a 1.73 FIP this season. It will be a surprise if Lawson, 24, ever becomes a Major Leaguer.

Mariners receive prospect package with Jesus Montero as the centerpiece

Cliff Lee Photo by Icon SMI

The most talked-about sweepstakes at the trade deadline this year is coming to a close. THUH-UH-UH-UH—YANKEES WIN!

Despite missing the first month of the season with an abdominal strain, LHP Cliff Lee places 4^th among pitchers in the WAR leaderboards at 4.0 according to Fangraphs. This includes an AL-leading 5 shutouts and an MLB-leading and mind-blowing K/BB of 14.83, which more than doubles second place Roy Halladay who owns an exceptional 6.61 mark. Cliff Lee is simply the best left-handed pitcher in baseball.

For the Yankees, who according to Cool Standings had an 80 percent chance of making the playoffs before the trade, this may just seal up a coveted spot to play October baseball and give them an absolutely fearsome top of the rotation for a 5- and 7-game series. CC Sabathia and Lee would certainly be Game 1 and 2 starters, while rising star Phil Hughes and playoff veteran Andy Pettite would both make excellent Game 3 and 4 starters. If early reports yield true, the Yankees will not trade away anyone on their 25-man roster.

Jesus Montero Photo by Icon SMI

In return, the Mariners will receive catcher and uber prospect Jesus Montero. Montero owns a .726 OPS at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. This isn’t a noteworthy mark on its own, but as a 20-year-old catcher one step away from the Majors playing in a notorious pitcher-friendly league, this is above-average production. According to Baseball America, Montero is the #5 prospect in baseball, and joins second baseman Dustin Ackley (#7) and RHP Michael Pineda as Mariners in the top 11.

Montero alone would be a much bigger haul than what the Mariners sent to the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2010 season to acquire Lee. Other players are rumored to be heading to Seattle, including Double-A second baseman David Adams.

Clearly, the Mariners did extremely well for themselves in the Cliff Lee saga in Mariners history.

4:00 PM EST  **UPDATE**

Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets the deal has fallen through. The Mariners are extremely cautious of the ankle health of infielder David Adams and another team has jumped into the sweepstakes.

Russell Branyan Photo by Icon SMI

About a week ago, on the heels of winning 6 of their last 7, a few days ago Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik was quoted “I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet.” Now, he has absolutely no incentive to say the opposite (“Fire Sale!” shows your hand and gives away your leverage), so it sounds like typical posturing. The Mariners are 31-43 and are 14 games back of the AL West leading Texas Rangers, and according to CoolStandings.com, they have a 0.2 percent chance of making the playoffs.

But then a funny thing happened. At a time when every Mariner fan is on their toes for the inevitable Cliff Lee trade and the bounty it will bring to Seattle, Russell Branyan, a free-agent-to-be, is headed back to Seattle in a trade for minor leaguers OF Ezequiel Carrera and SS Juan Diaz – and nobody really knows what’s going on.

Good news! I’m not going to pretend to! Instead, I will merely distract you with a little game. But it’s a fun game! Few people know, but Russell Branyan is merely a pawn in the Baseball Gods’ plan of creating the longest trade chain in the history of mankind*. At one time the Mariner subspecies was on the brink of extinction, but now its offspring have wildly reproduced and will likely live on forever. Unlike Ken Griffey Sr’s offspring. That guy’s career died years ago.

*This is not verifiable. Don’t try to verify it.

You see, former Mets farmhand Carrerra was part of the monster 3-team Jeremy Reed trade of 2008** in which Reed was sent to New York. This isn’t particularly interesting on its own. But how did Reed get to the Mariners? Well, he came from the White Sox as part of the Freddy Garcia trade of 2004… Who was part of the Randy Johnson trade of 1998…Who was part of the Mark Langston trade of 1989…Who was draft compensation for original Mariner Bill Stein leaving in free agency!

**Otherwise known as the monster 3-team J.J. Putz trade of 2008. Whoever heard of Franklin Gutierrez, anyway? Is he any good?

If you don’t know anything about Bill Stein, well, you shouldn’t. He sucked. Selected with the 5^th overall pick in the 1976 expansion draft from the Chicago White Sox, Bill Stein was the Mariners first ever third baseman. And frankly, that’s all I’m going to write about his career.

But hey, look at this fun flow chart! Flow charts get instant Diggs, right? Hooray!

Editor’s Note: click on the flow chart to enlarge!

And so far, the trade is paying off as shown in the videos and links to videos below!

Branyan’s two-run homer

Branyan’s two-run single

Since the beginning of November, the end of the baseball season, it is almost unarguable that the Mariners have led the charge through the offseason. After a strong 2008 offseason, highlighted by the signing of Russell Branyan and the J.J. Putz trade, which netted the team Gold-Glove-snub Franklin Gutierrez, it wasn’t completely clear how Jack Zduriencik, the team’s general manager, would continue to reshape the team.

But we knew they’d be active.

The offseason started with the Mariners giving Ken Griffey Jr. another farewell tour, signing the Seattle legend to another one-year deal. Griffey had a strange season last year, his .214/.324/.411 line last season looks ugly (and at times it was), but despite my undying loyalty to Griffey, he could be a viable option as the team’s lefty in the platoon at DH. While Griffey never seemed completely comfortable last season, he may have been a victim of bad luck. His BABIP was .220, well below league average and his career averages, and an improved 2010 could be as simple as a return to mean. However, his .197 ISO is pretty solid, and in the past three seasons Griffey has walked a ton. With a year to alter his conditioning to prepare to DH, which flirtation with remaining in the National League presumably precluded him from doing last year, and another year to adjust to American League pitchers, Griffey may be vastly improved this season.

The signing of Chone Figgins , one of this year’s top free agents, was all-but-inevitable if Figgins was interested in coming to Seattle. He was, and is signed on to be a Mariner for the next four seasons. Figgins is an adequate defensive third baseman (his 18.8 UZR/150 may be an anomaly, or he is coming into his own at the position, where he played the most innings of his career last season). However, Figgins will almost certainly be an offensive upgrade over Adrian Beltre . He’s a better fit for Safeco Field than Beltre, and gives the team their most ideal No. 2 hitter since a young Alex Rodriguez.

The team also re-signed Jack Wilson. Wilson is a defensive specialist, but perhaps the best defensive shortstop in the game when healthy. Wilson wasn’t completely healthy very much last year in his short time with the Mariners, and such as a defensive specialist, his bat didn’t offset the detriment his injuries had on his defense. With J.J. Hardy available this offseason, and some other young shortstops available, Wilson’s retention was curious. I heavily criticized the trade when it occurred, and remain perplexed at Zduriencik’s sustained interest in the no-bat shortstop. However, he’s a large defensive upgrade over last year’s opening day shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

They also made a few smaller moves. They offered arbitration to Adrian Beltre, which he declined, in order to pursue a long-term contract. He declined, and as a Type B free agent, the team will be compensated with a sandwich-round pick as long as Beltre signs elsewhere before next years draft.

The team opted against offering arbitration to Erik Bedard . He’d likely have accepted, and based on previous seasons could have received a pay raise, and given his present and past injuries, it was far safer for the team to continue washing their hands of the Bill Bavasi era.

Then the team, unbeknownst to even the deepest insiders, became involved in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. Obviously, they didn’t acquire Halladay, but shipped prospects to Philadelphia for Cliff Lee, presumably helping restock the Phillies farm system after the team handed over their top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek to the Blue Jays.

But acquiring Lee, especially in the same offseason as the team let a banged-up Bedard leave, could have been a PR disaster. The team’s farm system has been crippled by the Bedard trade, which netted the Orioles top prospect Adam Jones, along with Chris Tillman, who could pitch in the upper-half of the team’s rotation next season, and lefty-reliever George Sherrill, among other players.

However, for all intents and purposes, the Mariners traded spare, incomplete parts for the lefty-ace. The top prospect in the deal, Phillippe Aumont , had been converted to a reliever this offseason, and had spent much of his minor league career rehabbing injuries.

While Aumont is a high-risk prospect with a ton of talent, the other two prospects, Tyson Gillies and Juan Ramirez are relative unknowns in terms of potential. Each played last season for the Advanced A High Desert Mavericks, who play in notoriously offensive-friendly Adelanto, California (they lost a game last year in which they scored 18 runs, an oddity. But even more odd, they lost by 15 runs, 33-18). So Gillies crazy stat line (.341/.430/.486) may be as inflated as Juan Ramirez is inflated—the wrong way (8-10, 5.12 ERA, 140.2 IP).

The bottom line, however, is that while Aumont’s pitch repertoire profiles as a top prospect, the other two have very limited peaks. But Lee gives the Mariners flexibility next season.

For example, if Felix Hernandez wanted an indication that the team is committed to building a winner, he got it. If he’s unwilling to stay, the team could potentially trade him for a boatload of top prospects and work on extending Lee.

If the team is out of contention at the trade deadline next year, and Lee is unwilling to sign, the Mariners may be able to get a package close to what Philadelphia gave up for Lee.

If Lee isn’t interest in an extension, and the team is in contention, when he leaves in the offseason he’ll likely garner Type A status, meaning the team will receive two draft picks for the Ace.

So while I’m not completely on-board with Zduriencik’s hell-bent attitude toward ridding the organization of all things Bavasi, his impressive, albeit short track record, precedes his decisions at this point.

In Jack we trust.