Seattle Mariners News and Notes

After a couple of losses, some weaknesses have manifested themselves up in Seattle. These weaknesses, though, were expected at the beginning of the season and were hidden when the Mariners were on that nice little win streak.

First, certain players stink, such as, oh, Carlos Silva and Yuni Betancourt.

Silva can't even throw strikes anymore, which is weird, considering his best assest is his control. Yuni's defense couldn't get any worse. Some things are not going to go away, including the Mariners' weak middle-infield defense. I don't know the solution to the fat problem we call Carlos Silva, but after Ronny Cedeno's performance on Sunday, I would advocate having him replace Yuni on a daily basis. We'll see.

I would mention Griffey as a weakness, but I think Wakamatsu is using him well. He's putting him out in the outfield to satisfy is Griffey's desire to play the field, but at the same time Wak is willing to sit him against left-handers. Griffey's .233 avg right now is the lowest in his career. I'd also like to see the Mariners get a better pinch-runner than Wladimir Balentein or Ken Griffey Jr.

Kenny and Wladdy aren't pinch-runners, they're just faster than the players they're replacing. Why not get one speedy guy on the bench to use for that purpose exclusively? It's important to note that the M's offense has been performing above average. Most notably Endy Chavez, who won't be able to keep hitting .385.

But right now, the positives far outweigh the negatives of this ball club, one reason they are atop the AL West.

Although the team is bunting like crazy, the overall small-ball approach has helped the Mariners tremendously. The outfield defense is amazing. With Franklin, Ichiro, and Endy, that is a three-headed monster that will kill anything that flies.

The starting pitching (minus Silva) has finally lived up to its potential. Even with Felix pitching mediocre ball, Bedard has proven to be one of the best pitchers in the Majors. As long as everyone stays healthy, this team will be playing meaningful games in September, which is crazy considering we only won 61 games last year.

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