The Mariners gotta get this rotation into the playoffs. Something tells me that it would do just fine against the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies.
LOL! Considering the M's just very recently took 2 of 3 from both the Phillies AND the Yankees, I'd say they'd indeed do fine. Get some semblence of offense from 3B and LF/DH and they could go all the way with this pitching staff (caveat of course being the health of the pitchers...).
I'm still trying to come up w/a list of potential bad contract swaps that the M's could make to get Figgins a fresh start elsewhere, preferrably in the NL. I can think of Zito, whose contract is the same length, but the Giants have Panda at 3B, and they probably still like Zito (who should still be able to somewhat hold his own in the NL). Anyone else?
But precisely because the M's could use some SP depth that's ready (Walker, Paxton & Hultzen being the coming-soon-but-not-quite-yet-ready-to-step-in longer-term future) is why I'm interested in Zito. I wouldn't turn Pauley back into a SP either - I agree that the M's need one of Kelley or Aardsma to find the healer quickly, and/or Lueke or Cortes to find the strikezone. Too bad Atlanta's kicking tail in the NL - I'd be just fine with a dominating-again GS52 reunion ;-)