It’s kind of sad when the most excitement you can get out of Mariners fans is the return of Ken Griffey, Jr. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see Kid retire in a Mariners uniform but still, this team didn’t do much to improve from their 101 losses in 2008. Yes, they were the surprise team of 2007 but that’s removed now that it’s a pretty distant memory.
It’s funny that out of the holes the Mariners have, it’s the bullpen that worries me the most. J.J. Putz is gone and it looks like Brandon Morrow is being pushed into the rotation. I like the idea of a Hernandez/Bedard/Morrow/Silva rotation though and that might actually make the Mariners better then a lot of people think. And who knows, maybe Adrian Beltre has one more monster season left in the tank. He is playing for a contract after all.
It also looks like Jeff Clement might get the nod over Kenji Johjima as the top prospect finally gets his chance. This battle is particularly interesting to my son, who’s taking on the catching duties on his little league team this year. He’s been breaking in his new catcher’s gear that he got for his birthday. He also got a new baseball bag, and all of it we picked up at Baseball Rampage.