The Seattle Mariners Actually Could Be the AL's Best Team Entering 2015

Take a moment and come up with your answer to this question: In the middle of spring training, with the 2015 regular season only three weeks away, which team is the best in the American League right now?

Now this question: How many teams did you ponder before even considering the Seattle Mariners?

Did you stop before getting to Seattle? Or did the M's quickly flash across your mind, only to be dismissed in a hurry? 

Blame East Coast bias. Or that dysfunctional-front-office narrative from last offseason. Or maybe it's because the Mariners haven't made the postseason since 2001. Heck, perhaps it's all of the above.

Not many, it seems, consider the Seattle Mariners contenders at this point, and yet this is a club that won 87 times in 2014, missing out on October by just one game.

"Coming down to the last day and not getting in," manager Lloyd McClendon said, per Greg Johns of MLB.com, "I think it's going to motivate [this team] and inspire them to new heights."

Something's brewing in Seattle. And it ain't just Starbucks.

Unlike the National League, where the Washington Nationals are just about consensus favorites with the Los Angeles Dodgers hot on their heels, the Junior Circuit is wide open, with no clear front-runner.

Take the Los Angeles Angels, whom you might have settled on as the answer to the question above.

Morry Gash/Associated Press

Seattle's AL West rivals won an MLB-high 98 games last year, but their rotation comes with questions—can C.J. Wilson bounce back? is Matt Shoemaker for real?—and two of their biggest names, righty Garrett Richards (knee) and outfielder Josh Hamilton (shoulder) come with injury issues. And Hamilton's likely suspension for an offseason relapse is a potential pitfall, too.

The Baltimore Orioles, who finished just behind the Angels with 96 wins, had a quiet offseason on the credit side of their ledger. On the debit side, they lost reigning home run champ Nelson Cruz (now a Mariner!) and Nick Markakis.

Having won four straight AL Central titles, the Detroit Tigers' window still might be propped open if stars Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Justin Verlander prove healthy, but without stalwart starters Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello, the club no longer appears to be the undisputed class of the division.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

That's partly because the Kansas City Royals just so happened to capture the AL pennant in 2014, although they enter 2015 without staff ace James Shields or longtime designated hitter Billy Butler.

Then there's the upstart Cleveland Indians and remade Chicago White Sox, the former a promising collection of pitching led by AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, and the latter a much-improved squad that had an efficient offseason by bringing in Jeff Samardzija, Adam LaRoche, Melky Cabrera and David Robertson.

While the Oakland Athletics traded away most of their big-name players (Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss, Derek Norris and Samardzija), the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox got better this winter. But both clubs still have significant questions to be answered (can Boston win without an ace?) and holes to fill (second base and the rotation in Toronto, especially in light of Marcus Stroman's season-ending torn ACL, news reported by ESPN.com).

So why not the Mariners?

That's not to say that the reason Seattle might be the AL's best team is because of the state of the league—although that's certainly a factor. No, the Mariners have become, in two short seasons, a talented, deep club that appears poised to go from afterthought in 2013 to relevant in 2014 to legitimate contender in 2015.

Baseball Prospectus' projected standings have the Mariners winning 87 games again this year, tied for second in the league with the Red Sox and behind only the Angels with 90.

Things look even better for Seattle over at FanGraphs, where the projected win total is the same, but that's good for the most in the AL at the moment.

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press/Associated Press

The M's core of Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Hisashi Iwakuma is very much in its prime.

There's rather a lot beyond that foursome, which has been augmented by the offseason acquisitions of Cruz—the only hitter to reach 40 homers in 2014—and savvy under-the-radar pickups who fit very specific needs, like Seth Smith (.839 career OPS versus righties), Justin Ruggiano (career .836 OPS versus southpaws) and Rickie Weeks (.361 OBP, .504 SLG against lefties last year).

The Hernandez-Iwakuma one-two punch at the top of the rotation is backed by a pair of the most promising young arms in the league in lefty James Paxton (2.66 ERA, 1.13 WHIP in 17 career starts) and righty Taijuan Walker (2.89 ERA, 1.21 WHIP in 53 career innings), both of whom are former top prospects who look healthy and ready to embark on their first full seasons.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

And don't overlook a bullpen that sported the best ERA in baseball (2.60) a year ago, starting with enigmatic but effective closer Fernando Rodney, who—despite a 1.34 WHIP—had a 2.85 mark and led MLB with 48 saves.

There's all sorts of support behind him from lesser-known but extremely valuable arms like Danny Farquhar (2.66 ERA, 10.3 K/9 in 2014), Tom Wilhelmsen (2.27, 8.2), Dominic Leone (2.17, 9.5) and Yoervis Medina (2.68, 9.5).

The top-tier talent is in place, with Cano and Hernandez, the former having won a ring with the New York Yankees in 2009, while the latter is motivated by the chance to get to October for the first time in what will be his 11th season.

The depth is there, too, thanks to Seager, Iwakuma, Cruz and others. And Paxton and Walker bring an element of youth and potential.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

But perhaps most importantly, these Mariners finally—after four straight losing seasons and eight in their 10 prior to 2014—have some experience playing meaningful games in September. 

"Now [we've] got experience, almost making it to the postseason," Cano said, via Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. "I know now it changed everybody’s mind in here."

All that's left, it seems, is to change everybody else's mind.

Statistics are accurate through Tuesday, March 10 and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Referenceand FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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