NBCsports.com recently published their Mariners preseason preview and there’s no major surprises in here. The offense should be good enough but the starting rotation is pretty shoddy. I expect Felix Hernandez to bounce back especially considering he’s shown up in better shape, but after that, it’s hit or miss.
The final prognosis is that the Mariners won’t be there come playoff time, but who knows because nobody predicted the Tigers would be there in 2006. I think the key is to get off to a good start and not put this team into a hole. A team like the Yankees can survive that but I don’t think a team like the Mariners, who haven’t been in the playoffs in a while, could come back from a rough start.