The soon to be 28 year old third baseman could be ready to have an explosive season for the Mariners.  When Mike Hargrove switched Beltre to the #2 slot in the batting order he went off.  Batting second, Beltre hit .313 with 50 RBIs in 61 games there last season!  Hargrove will not mess with success and will bat Beltre second this season.  For the whole season, Beltre played in 156 games and hit .268 with 88 runs scored, 25 homers, 89 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and a .792 OPS.  Beltre made 15 errors at third base but he showed great range.  Look for Beltre to be one of the best all-around third basemen in the American League this season.

29 year old Willie Bloomquist will be Beltre’s back up.  He played in 12 games at 3B last season and he didn’t make an error.  He did show below average range there, but the Mariners can put up with that from him.

25 year old Mike Morse also can play 3B.  He played 5 games there last season and didn’t make an error.

25 year old Yuniesky Betancourt gave the Mariners much more than they thought he could.  Betancourt played in 157 games at short stop and he hit .289 with 68 runs scored, 8 homers, 47 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and a .713 OPS.  He showed about average range and made 20 errors last season.  He will need to improve a little bit on defense and maintain the stick he showed last season to remain an asset for the Mariners.  I think he will do that this season as Betancourt and Lopez could be the starting middle infield for a long time for the Mariners.

29 year old Willie Bloomquist will likely be the back up short stop again for the Mariners.  He played 17 games there for the Mariners last season and he didn’t make an error.  His range was slighty below average but the Mariners can accept that when he plays short.

25 year old Mike Morse seems like he’s still in the Mariners’ dog house after failing a steroids test a couple of years ago.  Morse only hit .248 in 57 games at AAA last season with a .702 OPS, but he hit well for the Mariners in limited duty.  He played in 21 games for the Mariners last season and hit .372 with a .884 OPS.  He looks like he has the talent to play in the majors if the Mariners give him the chance to prove it.

22 year old switch hitter Oswaldo Navarro has the look of a all-glove no-hit shortstop.  He hit .258 with 3 homers and 45 RBIs in 134 games in AA+AAA ball last season.  He came up in September and went 2 for 3 in 4 games.  Look for him to start the season in the minors and to only get called up if the Mariners suffer a few injuries to their infield.

36 year old Rey Ordonez has been given a tryout by the Mariners this Spring.  Ordonez is known as a wizard with the glove, but he’s never been much of a hitter in the majors.  He last played in the majors in 2004 with the Cubs and he played in 23 games and only hit .164 with a .452 OPS.  Over his careeer, Ordonez has played in 973 games and has a career batting average of .246 with a .599 OPS.  Ordonez is a very long shot to make the Mariners this season.

27 year old Gookie Dawkins has also been brought in compete for a job this Spring, but he’s a real long shot to make the Mariners.  Dawkins played 67 games in AAA ball last season and he hit .266 with 5 homers, 26 RBIs and a .731 OPS.  Dawkins last played in the majors in 2003 with the Kansas City Royals and he has a career major league batting average of .163 with a .445 OPS in only 55 games.  Dawkins likely will get a chance to play in the minors with the Mariners.

23 year old Jose Lopez had a breakout season with a bat in his hands last season.  In his first full major league season, Lopez hit .282 with 78 runs scored, 10 homers, 79 RBIs and a .723 OPS.  Those are outstanding offensive numbers for a 2B.  The area that Lopez needs to improve on is his defense as he made 16 errors last season and showed below average range.  Look for Lopez to get better on defense now that he can concentrate on 2B defensively as he’s also played a lot of shortstop and third base in his career.  Look for Lopez to have another solid year with the bat.  If he gets more selective in the pitches he swings at, his average could soar.

29 year old Willie Bloomquist will be Lopez’ back up this season.  Bloomquist can play anywhere but catcher and Manager Mike Hargrove loves his versatility.  He played in 15 games at 2B and made 2 errors while showing below average range.  Bloomquist hit .247 with 36 runs scored and 16 steals in 102 games last season with a .619 OPS.  Look for Bloomquist to be a very valuable part of the Mariners bench this season once again, just don’t expect him to be a offensive force.

32 year old Jose Vidro could play second base if the Mariners got in a pinch.  The Mariners prefer to keep him at designated hitter all season to keep him healthy.  Vidro only made 5 errors in 107 games at 2B, but showed below average range.

The Mariners hope that they can keep 32 year old switch hitter Jose Vidro healthy this season because he can still hit.  Last season he batted 463 times which is the most times he’s batted since 2003.  He’s been dealing with knee problems since 2002, but they felt good for him last year but he had problems with his hamstring.  Last season Vidro hit .289 with a .743 OPS, 7 homers and 47 RBIs in 463 at bats.  With Vidro DHing full time instead of playing second base he might be able to stay healthy this season and that would really help the Mariners and it will bring back Vidro’s power swing.

Lefty swinging 30 year old Ben Broussard will also get some at bats at DH and if Vidro gets hurt, Broussard will be able to fill in and provide power for the Mariners.

32 year old Richie Sexson will be the starter for the Mariners and he’s the prototype first baseman.  He doesn’t hit for a high batting average but he has big-time power to all parts of the Stadium.  He also has been very consistent in his two seasons in Seattle as he’s hit .264 combined with an average of 87 runs scored, 36.5 homers and 114 RBIs per season.  The Mariners would like him to be more consistent in season this year as he only hit .218 before the All-Star break and .322 after it.  He also is super smooth on defense despite his size as he only made 4 errors all last season.  He makes the other infielders better on the Mariners.

30 year old lefty swinging Ben Broussard will give Sexson a day off when he needs one.  Broussard had a solid season between the Mariners & Indians last season.  He hit .289 and hit 21 homers, knocked in 63 runs and had a .815 OPS.  He’s been very consistent the last few seasons but he can’t hit lefties and very rarely plays against them.  He also will get less playing time then he ever has in the majors unless Sexson or DH Jose Vidro get hurt.  He also needs to work on his defense at first base as he made 9 errors in only 641.2 innings there.