Mariners' Brilliant Offseason Capped By Signing Hernandez Longterm

Seattle Mariners new third baseman, has done a excellent job in bolstering his up-and-coming team" width="399">

Jack Zduriencik, here introducing Chone Figgins as the Seattle Mariners new third baseman, has done an excellent job bolstering an already up-and-coming team.

Prior to this past season, the American League West was one of the weakest divisions in the major leagues, second only to the horrid National League West. The Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers had watched the Los Angeles Angels win division title after division title, and though the Angels took home the divisional crown once again in 2009, these three teams increased their level of play, and one, the Mariners, carried over their success to the offseason.

Billy Beane’s A’s tied their 2008 mark with 75 wins, a total one victory less than accomplished in 2007. They won with a plethora of no-names, relying mostly on young players, with their starting rotation members of the 25-and-under club. As their youth matures, Oakland will only get better.

The Texas Rangers missed out on the playoffs in 2009, but that doesn’t take away from their accomplishments. A pitching staff that had struggled mightily for years and years flourished under the tutelage of Mike Maddux. They won 87 games, even though their star power hitter, Josh Hamilton, was plagued by injuries throughout the campaign. Texas’s offense was, as it has been for the past 10-plus years, built around the longball, but backed by a solid pitching staff, they were actually able to contend and do so until the end.

The Mariners contended until mid-September, winning 85 games, a 24-win improvement over a 2008 season in which they lost 101 games. Like the Athletics, their offense wasn’t made up of many well-known players, but despite hitting just .252 as a team, anchored by Ichiro Suzuki’s ho-hum .352 batting average and a surprising 31 homers clubbed by a resurrected Russell Branyan, they gave their superb albeit patched-together pitching staff enough to work with on a regular basis.

The Mariners team-ERA was an excellent 3.87, and they were paced by Felix Hernandez, their 23-year-old right-handed ace who posted a 2.49 ERA and won 19 games. He recently signed a five-year deal worth $80 million.

What makes Seattle’s accomplishments remarkable is the fact that they only had two pitchers start more than 20 games. Hernandez made 34 starts, and Jarrod Washburn made 20 before being traded to the Detroit Tigers. Ten other pitchers took the mound, with none making fewer than six starts.

Once again, like the Athletics, their rotations featured a crop of very young pitchers, and the youth movement paid immediate dividends. With their core presumably set heading into the 2010 season, the Mariners were already equipped to make a run at the American League West title. But despite their standing and impressive one-year turnaround, General Manager Jack Zduriencik wasn’t about to stand pat this offseason, given their impressive improvement.

Following the 2008 season in which the Mariners became the first team in major league history to lose a 100-plus games with a payroll over $100 million, Zduriencik took over for the fired Bill Bavasi and got to work. After a busy first offseason at the helm, he signed free-agent third baseman Chone Figgins , who is equally gifted with the glove and the bat and has extraordinary speed, to a four-year contract.

Figgins won’t mirror the power provided by Adrian Beltre , who manned the hot corner for the Mariners the previous five years before moving on to the Boston Red Sox, but he gives the team a devastating one-two punch atop their batting order alongside Suzuki. He’s a great clubhouse guy and, unlike Beltre, is a consistent producer offensively.

The second-year GM signed Hernandez longterm, inking the Venezuelan to a five-year deal worth $78 million . As one of the best young pitchers in baseball, this deal was a no-brainer on the part of Zdurienick. Though he was clearly worth such a deal, the Mariners put him on the trade-market earlier this year just to see if they could get a world of talent in return. No offer satisfied their wishes, so Seattle decided to reward the young star for his efforts, which was a very smart move.

Zduriencik also re-signed Ken Griffey Jr. to a one-year deal , keeping The Kid in Seattle. The future Hall-of-Famer’s numbers have decreased rapidly during his twilight years, but now at age 40, anything positive from him brings back the memories of old.

The one-year deal gives Griffey the chance to spend another season with the team that drafted him more than 20 years ago so that he can play in front of the fan base that watched his smooth stroke club homers throughout the '80s and '90s in the famed Kingdome. He will see a limited role and may hit in the low-.200s again, but just his presence will once more be enough for the team and fans he grew up with.

A smart signing, a feel-good signing, an obvious signing, and now a high-risk, high-reward trade. Zduriencik managed to get the Chicago Cubs to take the regrettable contract of pitcher Carlos Silva in exchange for another bad contract, Milton Bradley . But unlike Silva, Bradley has tremendous talent and can harness it if he behaves.

He has an awful temper that has hurt his reputation significantly, yet Zduriencik gave him the all-important fourth chance to get his act together and succeed. It’s simple: if Bradley is happy, he can hit 30 homers and drive in upwards of 100 runs. If not, it will be a nightmarish situation (just ask the Cubs, Rangers, and San Diego Padres).

Considering Zduriencik has made Seattle the place to be by turning a bottom-dweller into an ever-so dangerous team, Bradley should be ecstatic and ready to help improve the already much-improved Mariners, as they attempt to topple the other two division foes and dethrone the Angels.