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As the 2013 season begins, the Seattle Mariners, like many teams, have several story lines to monitor moving forward. Whether they are at the major league level now, or on the verge of being there, Mariners fans will have plenty to think about other than the win-loss record.

It is far too soon for fans to start worrying about anything since it’s only one series into the season, but there are still plenty of things that could be taken away after just four games in Oakland.

With that in mind, here are the 10 story lines Mariners fans should be keeping an eye on early in the 2013 season.

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The 2013 Major League Baseball season is finally underway, and the Seattle Mariners have one series under their belt. In the first two games of the opening set with the Oakland Athletics, the Mariners looked like the hot team of 2013.

In the second half of the series, fans were reminded why this team has struggled over the last few seasons.

It is obviously difficult to make an extended judgment on a team after one series, but there are some things that immediately stand out about this squad. Some results from the series were positive, while others are reasons for concern.

This team may look very different after a month of play, but here are five lessons from the opening series between the Mariners and the A’s.

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The Seattle Mariners have not made a decision on their final roster spot, but as noted by MLB.com, signs point to Jason Bay winning the job. Casper Wells may still be in the running, but in this case, Seattle may go with the veteran presence of Bay.

A tweet from Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times suggests that Bay may be the guy:

#Mariners hold off on the Casper Wells/Jason Bay decision. BUT..Wells staying in Ariz. to play minor league games, Bay going with M’s to SLC

— Geoff Baker (@gbakermariners) March 28, 2013

Assuming that Bay does make the team, it will be interesting to see what role he plays for the Mariners. Will he make a solid contribution, or will he simply occupy a spot on the Seattle bench?

Realistically, Bay is not necessarily going to be an impact starter unless Franklin Gutierrez cannot stay healthy or another outfielder is unproductive. At 34 years old, Bay was never intended to be a long-term solution.

The Mariners hope that spring training will be a reflection of Bay’s performance during the regular season. When you look at the 2012 stats, there were certainly signs that there was trouble ahead for Bay.

His 2012 stats looked like this:

Spring training: 46 at-bats, .196 average, 9 hits, 0 home runs, 0 RBI, 15 strikeouts

Regular season: 194 at-bats, .165 average, 32 hits, 8 home runs, 20 RBI, 58 strikeouts

His 2013 stats are significantly better, at least in spring training.

Spring training: 52 at-bats, .327 average, 17 hits, 2 home runs, 6 RBI, 17 strikeouts

Regular season: TBD

Obviously the spring training statistics have to be put in context. Many players hit well during camp, as they are facing a wide variety of pitching talent. In addition, the strikeouts are still a bit high, as Bay is striking out almost 33 percent of the time.

Still, the .327 average and a .407 on-base percentage are good signs that Bay has regained some confidence at the plate. Realistically, the Mariners do not expect Bay to be a dominating presence in the lineup, but it would be nice to have some solid offense off the bench or in an occasional start.

Again, Bay has not officially been awarded the final spot on the roster. However, it seems reasonable that he will be in a Seattle uniform on April 1 when the Mariners face the Oakland Athletics.

If Casper Wells does not make the squad, what will be his fate? Greg Johns of MLB.com tweeted this about the reason that Seattle has yet to announce a decision:

@tjmaurizio I don’t think it’s about seeing Wells. It’s about buying time to make a move or for him to clear waivers.

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) March 28, 2013

It will be interesting to see if there is actually any market for Wells. What team wants a 28-year-old guy who hit .228 in 2012? At best, the Mariners might receive a low-level minor league or the always popular “player to be named later.”

It is time for Jason Bay to show that he can still play. Otherwise, he won’t be on this team for very long.

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The Seattle Mariners are inching ever closer to solidifying their starting rotation for the 2013 season. More decisions will likely be made soon as players are moved to the bullpen, sent to the minors or politely asked to seek employment elsewhere.

Jon Garland is out (via MLB.com) after Seattle was unable or unwilling to guarantee the 33-year-old veteran a spot in the rotation. Garland looked solid during the spring, but was apparently not effective enough to write his name in ink just yet.

Garland’s departure will be a disappointment to those who were rooting for a veteran presence at the backend of the rotation, but the move is not a shock. The opt-out clause in Garland’s contract suggests he anticipated this possibility.

Now the veteran pitcher still has time to catch on with another club. He may just have to wait a little while for a pitcher on another club to get hurt or prove to be short on effectiveness.

So, who is left? The general consensus is that Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Joe Saunders are the top three. That leaves Blake Beavan, Erasmo Ramirez, Jeremy Bonderman and the surprising Brandon Maurer.

Beavan was arguably a solid, but unspectacular pitcher in 2012. Through March 23, he has looked very good, posting a 3.86 ERA in 14 innings of work. In his last outing on March 17, Beavan went six innings and only gave up one run on three hits while striking out two.

Ramirez has never been hyped as much as other pitchers in the Seattle system, but he just keeps hanging around. He had a nice outing on March 16, but got tagged for four runs and six hits and a home run in a two-inning appearance in March 21. Ramirez may have his name on the current depth chart, but he will need to be effective in the last few outings.

Bonderman represents that veteran presence that could provide experience to young pitchers in the lineup. When you look at the overall numbers, they aren’t particularly impressive as Bonderman has a 7.20 ERA in 10 innings of work. However, the appearances are getting better, and Bonderman is still around.

Then there is Maurer. Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen and James Paxton are all gone from camp, but Maurer is still here with his 1.20 ERA in 15 innings of work. He leads the team with 15 strikeouts in the spring to go with only five walks. The young hurler may very well pitch his way into the rotation.

Picking the eventual starters is tough, only because there is no clear leader at this point. Statistically, Maurer has the best performance of the four this spring, but there may be hesitancy to put a rookie in the rotation.

Of course, the Mariners did it with Michael Pineda a year ago.

In theory, Beavan and Ramirez are the incumbents, but Maurer and his strong pitching may bump one of those players. Garland was arguably pitching better than Bonderman, but Seattle was unwilling to guarantee him a spot. That may not bode well for Bonderman’s eventual fate.

If I were a betting man, I would put my money on bearded Beavan and young Maurer at this point. Ramirez and Bonderman are going to keep it close until the very end.

Let’s just say I would not put a lot of money on this prediction. All predictions are subject to change without notice.

Much can change over the last few days of spring training as outings get longer and management is faced with making tough decisions. Stay tuned.

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This spring, the Seattle Mariners have been, dare I say, entertaining. 

As an organization, there are quite a few positive signs to point toward for the future, but what about this season?

With a mix of youth and experience, the team seems keen on taking a positive step forward toward competing in the American League West.  

Do they have a shot to put up a fight against the Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s? 

Or will they be fighting to stay out of the division cellar with the Houston Astros?

Although it’s always hard to place much value on what happens in spring training, for fun I wanted to see what are some of the key takeaways we’ve seen from Mariners camp as we approach Opening Day. 

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The Seattle Mariners started spring training camp with 61 players. They are now down to 47, and more cuts will be coming soon as opening day is not that far away.

Fourteen cuts down. Twenty-two to go. Can you feel the tension start to build?

Some of the cuts have been expected, while others are intriguing. As is usually the case, certain players have stepped up and surprised people enough to warrant additional consideration.

Battles are tightening up, and the remaining players hope that they still have a chair when the music stops.

On March 14, the Mariners made some decisions on the starting rotation, sending the “big three” to the minors. This includes top prospects Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Danny Hultzen. More cuts were made on March 15 as the team continues to trim players.

While fans may have hoped for a repeat of Michael Pineda in 2012, Seattle is not going to force these pitchers onto the Major League roster. As noted by The News Tribune, “With Jon Garland looking healthy, the Mariners had no need to rush them into the big leagues.”

What is intriguing is the fact that prospect Brandon Maurer is still in camp. Through March 15, Maurer has appeared in four games, compiled a record of 2-1 and kept his ERA at 0.90 for the spring. He has 11 strikeouts in 10 innings of work.

Maurer may still be battling long odds to make the rotation, but he is still in the mix with veterans Jon Garland and Jeremy Bonderman as well as Erasmo Ramirez and Blake Beavan. This race is too close to tell at this point.

The outfield is still crowded. So far, it appears that Jason Bay is potentially going to make the roster. Bay has cooled down a bit, but he is still hitting .292 with two home runs and four RBI. Julio Morban was actually hitting better, but the 21-year-old prospect was sent to the minors after showing that he may have a future in the Seattle outfield.

In addition to Bay, there are seven other outfielders still in camp. One assumes that three of those may have to go. Michael Saunders is actually not hitting particularly well in Arizona, though he did play extremely well in the World Baseball Classic.

Eric Thames may not make the roster, and Casper Wells will need to hit a little more consistently if he is going to win a spot on this team. The wildcard may be Carlos Peguero, who has displayed some solid hitting in Peoria despite leading the team in strikeouts.

Nick Franklin and Mike Zunino are still in camp despite the fact that neither prospect is hitting particularly well. Still, Zunino is making a good impression (via ESPN) in terms of poise and leadership. It will be interesting to see how long it takes him to become the man behind the dish at Safeco Field.

Slowly but surely, the roster is starting to take shape. Stay tuned for more cuts.

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The Seattle Mariners are going to have a good season. In fact, they might be one of the surprise teams in 2013. As one might expect, some of the early 2013 predictions (via CBS Sports) are not particularly favorable. One can assume that many previews will keep the Mariners towards the bottom of the American League West.

It isn’t like the M’s are necessarily going to rise up, take the league by storm and make a miracle run to the World Series in 2013. However, this team has real potential and if they can get into a groove, they could make some noise this season. The predictions are not insulting, but there are a few reasons this Seattle Mariners team may be better than some experts think in 2013.

The Mariners will hit

Seattle has struggled to get on base, and this has been a glaring weakness the past few seasons. As noted by Dayn Perry of CBS Sports, “Yes, Michael Morse and Kendrys Morales have pop, but they don’t address the team’s central shortcoming, which is getting on base.”

The reality is that Morales is a career .281 hitter and Morse has hit .295 during his eight-year tenure. Will this not theoretically have a positive impact on a Mariners team that finished with a .234 team average in 2012?

There are other reasons to believe that this team will hit better in 2013. While nothing is guaranteed, it seems reasonable to project that Dustin Ackley will improve on his 2012 average of .226 and Justin Smoak will not hit .217 again. In addition, there is optimism that young players like Jesus Montero, Kyle Seager and Michael Saunders could continue to progress.

Add in the tutelage of Raul Ibanez, and this team just might produce on offense.

This is not to suggest that Seattle will jump from a team average of .234 to .275 in 2013. However, a .250 average and a .315-.320 OBP seems reasonable. If the Mariners had hit .250 in 2012, they would have ranked 19th in the league, which is lot better than 30th. How many more wins might that have produced?

The future may be now

Perry also notes, “Yes, Seattle’s strength lies not in the present, which, insofar as the 2013 season is concerned, is not a good thing. But as dismal as things are in the short term, the Mariners have cobbled together an exceptional collection of young talent.”

To suggest that the present is “dismal” seems a bit negative given the changes that Seattle has made since the end of last year. This is a team that finished 75-87 in 2012 and arguably improved their roster in the offseason with the additions of Kendrys Morales, Michael Morse and Raul Ibanez.

In addition, it would not be a shock to see some of the top prospects in Seattle this season. Perhaps players like Taijuan Walker, Mike Zunino, Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, Nick Franklin, Stefen Romero and Brandon Maurer will not make their presence felt until 2014 and 2015.

Then again, some of these players have looked pretty good in spring training. Seattle is obviously going to be hesitant to rush their young talent, but why couldn’t the Mariners start infusing young talent into the lineup this season?

Does the plan always have to be focused on two to three seasons from now?

The finish will be strong

It seems reasonable to assume that most experts are going to project that the Mariners will finish fourth in the American League West. The prediction from CBS Sports is in line with this prognostication. Still, there are some flaws in the argument.

The worst-case scenario presented by CBS Sports is that the Mariners will finish in last place. Obviously this prediction is a way for the author to cover his bases (no pun intended), but there is no way that the Houston Astros finish ahead of Seattle. To be fair, anything is possible, but a last-place finish is not going to happen.

This may be a bit bold, but a second-place finish is not out of the realm of possibility for this team. Certainly a lot of things would have to go right, but could the Mariners show offensive growth and maintain their solid pitching? Could this lead to overcoming the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Angels or the Texas Rangers?

The Angels and the Rangers obviously have formidable offenses, but pitching is what gets things done in baseball. If either of these teams take a step back on the mound, the Mariners could actually find themselves at the top of the division rather than the familiar cellar.

Perhaps the Mariners will have another mediocre season. Then again, perhaps there is reason for genuine optimism.

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Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

So far in spring training, the Seattle Mariners have looked like world-beaters. Going into Tuesday’s action, the Mariners sat in second place in the Cactus League standings at 11-5 having outscored their opponents by 25 runs while also leading all MLB clubs in home runs with 31.

Now usually any type of Seattle Mariner hot streak is big news for Mariners fans, especially with the lack of success over the past decade, but fans must understand that spring training success has not always translated into the regular season.

In fact, the only team in front of the Mariners in the Cactus League standings is the Kansas City Royals, a team who has struggled through the same kind of futility that the Mariners have over the past several seasons.

Though it is exciting, Mariners fans should look to these three reasons to avoid overreacting to the Mariners’ hot start.

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The Seattle Mariners will have some tough decisions to make when the roster needs to be trimmed to 25 players. There is the issue of the starting rotation, but perhaps more complicated is the outfield. Seattle has a fairly large slate of players who will be competing for the three outfield positions plus some bench spots.

On paper, the starting outfield could be Michael Morse, Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Saunders. Through March 8, those three players are hitting .300, .313 and .222 (respectively) through 14 games. Conceivably any of these players could lose their starting jobs, but they are arguably the incumbents for now.

Who are the contenders?

Raul Ibanez was added to this team for veteran leadership and depth, and he has been one of the hottest-hitting outfielders this spring, as he is hitting .500 with two home runs and five RBI.

Carlos Peguero is hitting .375 with three home runs and four RBI. The slugging prospect has a lot of power, but he has not proven that he can maintain a solid batting average. Peguero strikes out a lot, and he has already whiffed eight times in 24 plate appearances.

Casper Wells has been a bit streaky. He started slow, but then contributed nine RBI over a two-game stretch and now leads the team with 12. Granted, he only has a .259 average and is also the team leader in strikeouts with nine. If Wells is going to make this squad, he will need to find some consistency.

Eric Thames is arguably toward the end of the list, and the young outfielder is only hitting .227 this spring with no home runs. Thames has been provided with the opportunity to play quite a bit, but he has not delivered at the plate.

There is also 21-year-old Julio Morban, who is holding his own with a .278 average and two home runs this spring. It seems reasonable to assume that Morban will start the year in the minors, but he could make an appearance in Seattle if others fail to perform at the start of the regular season.

Jason Bay is perhaps the most intriguing of the group, simply because he has had success in the past. As noted by Greg Johns of MLB.com, Bay feels as if he has “regained his stroke.” This is always an interesting aspect of baseball because one has to wonder where Bay’s swing went in the first place. In addition, is it here to stay or will it get lost again in Seattle?

Will the real Jason Bay please stand up? Here are Bay’s stats over the last five seasons:

2008: .286/31/101
2009: .267/36/119
2010: .259/6/47
2011: .245/12/57
2012: .165/8/ 20

Obviously, it would be nice if Bay could party like it was 2009, but at 34, the slugger’s best days may be behind him.

The difficult part of spring training is that players can get very hot in the month of March and then significantly cool down once the regular season starts. Justin Smoak hit .378 last spring, only to hit .217 during the regular season.

If I were a betting man, I would project that the starting outfield will remain the same, though Saunders will need to pick it up a little bit over the next couple of weeks. On this team, no one in the outfield is truly safe. Saunders is hitting very well during the World Baseball Classic.

As tweeted by Greg Johns:

Michael Saunders named Player of Game for Canada in 10-3 win over Mexico (4-for-4, 2 2Bs, 3RBI). Saunders hitting .857 (6-for-7 in WBC).

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) March 9, 2013

It is probably safe to assume that Ibanez will be on the roster. If Bay keeps hitting like this, he may also be on the team, though there is still a lot of time for evaluation. Peguero will probably ride his strikeouts back to Tacoma, and the status of Casper Wells will depend on his hitting and how many pitchers the Mariners carry.

Tough choices will be coming up very soon. We will see which outfielders are up to the challenge.

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Is it time to break up the Seattle Mariners?

So far this spring, after only five games, the M’s are 4-1 while averaging nearly seven runs per game with power coming from several surprising sources with players such as Casper Wells and Jason Bay having already hit home runs. Meanwhile, pitchers Hector Noesi and Jeremy Bonderman have both struggled in brief stints on the mound.  

Granted it’s still early and the ball does have a tendency to jump a bit in the Arizona heat, but can one entirely afford to dismiss or downplay what happens in the early stages of spring training?

I suppose that’s up to M’s skipper Eric Wedge and the rest of the team’s coaching staff. 

Right now the Mariners’ current active roster (according to Mariners.com) is a long list of players both young and old, established and obscure, but at the end of the day, all of them have the same goal of making the final roster before Opening Day.

Last week when piecing together the Mariners season preview, I focused on the more established players who should get the majority of playing time this season, but today I thought it might be worthwhile to focus on the players who have something to prove in their quest to make the final roster.

In other words, hot prospects like Mike Zunino and Taijuan Walker may have an outside shot at making the final roster, but realistically speaking we’re looking at the competition between established veterans like Bay and Bonderman seeking one last shot going up against players like Wells and Noesi who simply want another chance.  

So who are these fringe players? 

Let’s take a few minutes to take a look…

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