The Mariners have spent a lot of money in the off season so it will be up to Mike Hargrove to get the players ready to win.  Hargrove is 147-177 (.454) in two seasons for the Mariners and they finished in last place both seasons and that will not be tolerated much longer by the front office of the Mariners.  Over his 15 year career as a manager, Hargrove has compiled a 1,143-1,140 (.501) record during the regular season.  He also has won 5 Division Titles and has a career post season record of 27-25 (.519).

The Mariners had better hope that J.J. Putz sore elbow stays in one piece this season because they traded their safety net at closer (Rafael Soriano) in the off season.  30 year old Putz has an aching right elbow and that’s not good news for the Mariners who are a little thin in the bullpen.  The 30 year old Putz had a breakout season this year for the Mariners as he was 4-1 with 5 holds, 36 saves, a 2.30 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP in 72 games last year for the Mariners.  Batters only hit .207 last season against Putz and he whiffed 104 batters while only walking 13 in 78.1 innings!  Look for Putz to have another good season for the Mariners if he stays healthy.

29 year old righty Chris Reitsma will likely be the top set-up man for the Mariners and the #1 insurance policy in case Putz breaks down and that’s a scary thought as he was awful last season in Atlanta.  He was 1-2 with 3 holds, 8 saves, a 8.68 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP in 27 games for the Braves last year.  Batters hit .362 (lefties .422) against Reitsma last season and he allowed a whopping 7 homers in only 28 innings for the Braves.  Look for him to pitch better than last season but he’s not that good of a pitcher and I see a lot of blown saves in his future.

29 year old righty Julio Mateo is a better pitcher than Reitsma is but the Mariners have never trusted him in close games.  He was 9-4 with 7 holds, a 4.19 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP in 48 games for the Mariners last season.  He allowed batters to hit .297 against him and lefties mauled him for a .394 average.  Look for Mateo to pitch better this season if he can handle the pressure.

23 year old righty Mark Lowe has injury concerns and he might need surgery to correct them and that’s a shame because he looks like he’s going to be a good pitcher.  He was 1-0 with 6 holds, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 15 games for the Mariners last season.  Batters only hit .190 against him last season and he whiffed 20 batters in 18.2 innings which shows what kind of stuff he has.  He’ll be a future closer if he can just stay healthy and that’s a huge if.

37 year old lefty Arthur Rhodes will try to rebound with the Mariners this season.  He was 0-5 with 23 holds, 4 saves, a 5.32 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 55 games for the Philadelphia Phillies last season.  He still has good stuff as evidenced by the fact that he whiffed 48 batters in 45.2 innings.  He will be fine if he just cuts down on his walks (30 last season).  Look for a return to Seattle to spark Rhodes into pitching well this season.

Soon to be 30 year old George Sherrill will likely be the lefty specialist in the Mariners pen this season.  He was 2-4 with 17 holds, 1 save, a 4.28 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 72 games for the Mariners last season.  Batters only hit .213 against him (lefties .143) and he whiffed 42 batters in 40 innings, but, he walked 27 batters and that’s way too many.  Look for Sherrill to be really good if the Mariners limit him to pitching against lefties and he improves his control.

Soon to be 28 year old righty Sean Green will likely get a chance to be the mop up man for the Mariners this season.  He was 0-0 with 3 holds, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP in 24 games as a rookie for the Mariners last year.  Don’t expect much from Green this season.

25 year old righty Jon Huber looked really good for the Mariners in his first taste on the majors last year.  He was 2-1 with 6 holds, a 1.08 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP in 16 games for the Mariners in 2006.  He limited batters to a .172 batting average in 16.2 innings so it’s possible that the Mariners might have something in Huber.  He saved 23 games in the minors last season.

22 year old lefty Eric O’Flaherty got his first taste of the majors and it was a mixed bag of results.  He was 0-0 with 1 hold, a 4.09 ERA and a 2.18 WHIP in 15 games for the Mariners last season.  Righthanded batters mauled him to the tune of a .438 batting average, but he held lefties to a very weak .238 average.  Look for O’Flaherty to start the season in AAA ball and get a call to the majors if the Mariners need a lefty specialist.

22 year old lefty starter Cesar Jimenez will likely miss the entire 2007 season as he needs surgery.  He has a stress fracture at the tip of his left elbow.  Jimenez was 5-12 with a 4.15 ERA in 27 games (22 starts) in AA+AAA ball in 2006.  He got clobbered in 4 games (1 start) with the Mariners as he had a 14.73 ERA and a 2.32 WHIP in 7.1 innings.

The Mariners released Jesse Foppert after he pitched badly this Spring.  Foppert pitched in 2 games (1 start) and he only lasted 1 inning and gave up 6 earned runs on three hits and three walks. 

The Mariners added three new starting pitchers for 2007.  They signed free agents Miguel Batista and Jeff Weaver to help fill up the middle of the rotation and traded for Horacio Ramirez.  21 year old righty Felix Hernandez had a rough sophomore season but he’s come into Spring Training focused and much lighter.  Part of Hernandez’ problems last season were due to him pitching with shin splints most of the season.  He was 12-14 with a 4.52 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 31 starts last season for the Mariners.  Hernandez did whiff 176 batters in 191 innings last season so it wasn’t a question of stuff with him.  Look for Hernandez to have a really solid season for the Mariners in 2007 with 16-18 wins with an ERA in the 3.50-3.75 range with 200+ K’s.

32 year old lefty Jarrod Washburn had an off year in his first season for the Mariners.  He was 8-14 with a 4.67 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP in 31 starts in 2006.  Washburn allowed 25 homers and a .268 batting average against him so he wasn’t missing many bats last season.  Look for him to have a better year in 2007 with 12-14 wins and an ERA in the low 4.00’s.

30 year old righty Jeff Weaver hit a gold mine in Seattle based on how he pitched in the playoffs last season.  He started 5 games for the Cardinals and he was 3-2 with a 2.43 ERA in the post season for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  Weaver started 31 games last season for the Cardinals and Angels and he was 8-14 with a 5.76 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.  Look for Weaver to struggle again as he’ll pitch the majority of his games against teams that thumped him last season.  Look for him to win 8-10 games with an ERA around 5.00.

35 year old righty Miguel Batista was signed as a free agent to help fill out the rotation.  He started 33 games last season for the Arizona Diamondbacks and he was 11-8 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.  Batista has to be very fine to be successful as he allowed 231 hits and walked 84 batters in 206.1 innings last season.  Batista will need to throw more strikes to take advantage of Safeco Field’s large demensions.  Look for Batista to win 10-12 games with a 4.25-4.60 ERA in 2007.

27 year old lefty Horacio Ramirez was added to rotation in a trade with the Atlanta Braves.  He had an injury marred season in 2006 as he was 5-5 with a 4.48 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP in 14 starts.  Ramirez is a soft tossing lefty that has to be fine with his control because he gives up a lot of hits.  Ramirez allowed batters to hit .287 against him last season.  Look for Safeco Field to help Ramirez out as long as he can stay healthy.  Look for him to win 10-12 games with an ERA between 4.15-4.40 in 2007.

25 year old Jake Woods pitched pretty well for the Mariners last season and he was in the rotation late in the year for them. He finished the year at 7-4 with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP in 37 games, 8 of them starts.  Woods needs to cut down on his walks as he allowed 53 in only 105 innings in 2006 and that’s too many.  Look for Woods to be a spot starter for the Mariners and he will do a decent job for them.

26 year old righty Cha-Seung Baek did a good job for the Mariners in 6 starts in 2006 as he was 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.  Baek was also really good in AAA ball as he was 12-4 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP in 24 starts.  Look for Baek to start the year in AAA and be one of the first starters called up when the Mariners need one during the season.

21 year old Ryan Feierabend is a longshot to start for the Mariners this season.  He pitched in 4 games (2 starts) for the Mariners last season and he was 0-1 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.  He was 9-12 with a 4.28 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP in AA ball last season.  Look for Feierabend to start the season in AAA ball and wait for a call to the majors.