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Q.  The Mariners won 5 of 9 against three of the AL's best teams.  So they would play .545 at least, if the season started tomorrow?

A.  Actually the Mariners are playing a lot worse than it looks like.  For example, check this WAR table -- in the last 14 days, only three Mariners have more than 0.0 WAR (!!), and one of the three is Raul Ibanez.

Check the same table, full season, and you'll see that only one Mariner has more than 1.2 WAR during the entire 2013 season.  Prorated, that means that only one Mariner position player will finish the season with even 2.0 WAR, the threshold for an average player.  ::ulp::  (Edit to add, Miller and Zunino are special cases as Logan notes below.)

Nick Franklin's trouble with bendy pitches is scaring the spit out of the Mariners.  Dustin Ackley, though hot, is hot --- > in a complete absence of home runs.  (He's got one -- count it -- 1 homer this YEAR.)  How much does a hot streak count for if you have to bunt your way on base every time?  Michael Morse seemed like a good idea at the time; Baker says he's playing out the string and won't be back next year.  

The M's outfield has combined for -59 defensive runs lost (-14 LF, -30 CF, -15 RF) so you could argue that none of them are actually outfielders.  That's not a snide quip; it's a strategic observation -- it's possible that none of the Mariner outfielders qualify to play there.  Jesus Montero is now an afterthought:  supposing he ever did hit good, he'd probably simply be traded.

And despite the fact that the offense looks pretty good on paper, it doesn't feel that way, exactly ... the last two games against the Angels, they've scored 1 run in 18 innings, and it feels like they're capable of delivering many, many such performances.  Are these stats occurring only because the games don't mean anything?  That's what Geoffy is asking us on his radio shows.  Then the "lockdowns" occur when somebody really tries hard against us...

There are other problems also.  We just want you to know, LrKrBoi29, that SSI sees the problems as well (ahem...) as you do.

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Q.  So ... just blow our heads off with a 12-gauge right now.  We're done.  For 2014 too.

A.  Well... now that you're appropriately depressed, let's go contrarian again.

Three words:  103 OPS Plus.  

The depth of the lineup is stunning...

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If this team wins a pennant any time soon, it won't be the offense that carries it.  It will be Felix, WBC-San, Ramirez, Taijuan and somebody.

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Q.  Leaving us where?

A.  Well, supposing you took the above squad ... and added Asdrubal Cabrera, Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman this offseason.  Would that do yer?

Danny Farquhar equals Trevor Hoffman?  Let's throw that under the scope, in a Level 201 Scan, and guesstimate the chances.

Michael Saunders equals Ken Griffey Jr.?  Well, his .270/.360/.550 slugging line might be his non-injured line.  We read it on the 'net.  ... but let's say that Condor isn't Griffey.  Let's say he is The Real Deal Bab-Eh but isn't going to slug .550, because this isn't a Disney movie.  Who would he be then?

Curtis Granderson has hit .250/.340/.500 since 2010.  Matt Kemp has hit .290/.350/.500 since 2010.  Those have been the two BEST-hitting CF's in major league baseball, other than the two freaks Trout and Hamilton.  If Michael Saunders is going to slug anywhere near .500, he's going to be one of the five best-hitting CF's in the game.

Brad Miller equals Asdrubal Cabrera? ... hmm...

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Don't say this in front of the Mariners, but there actually is a Tampa Bay Rays route to contention.  It involves having two handfuls of your in-house players turning into Curtis Grandersons.

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