There is a precedent for the Mariner's situation on a championship team in the early and mid 90's Atlanta Braves who had Jeff Blauser, who had a good bat, but was Jeter-esque in the field, and Rafael Belliard, who was a great glove, but made Brendan Ryan look like a slugger (career OPS of .530 !).
Eventually Blauser played more and more until he was the main guy. Then the Braves got Walt Weiss. But a number of pennants and their series win in 1995 were with Blauser as the main SS. and Belliard used as a defensive replacement at SS, allowing Blauser to also backup 2B and 3B.
I would say that Miller is a CONSIDERABLY better SS than Blauser or Jeter, who between them had more championship seasons as shortstops than anyone since Rizzuto and Reese. And Taylor, even after his BABIP comes down to earth, promises to be closer to Weiss (.677 OPS career) as a hitter than to Belliard.
But like the early-90s Braves, the Ms have the pitching, but need the offense, so my money is on the Miller-starter, Taylor-defensive-replacement/pinch-runner alignment being the norm. And like the Braves and Blauser, Miller might be the guy to cover for Cano and Seager while remaining the #1 SS. But I expect Miller to get >100 starts at SS in 2015 to get his bat, energy, and leadership in the lineup.
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