Seattle Mariners 2009: Starting Rotation?

As detailed by Jeff, the Mariners' starting rotation is a complete disaster. Despite the current state of this year's rotation, I believe a solid five man rotation can be put together next year in order for the team to contend (barring that the offense is improved of course).

Current Rotation

1. Erik Bedard

2. Felix Hernandez

3. Miguel Batista

4. Carlos Silva

5. Jerrod Washburn

Along with those five, R.A Dickey and Ryan Rowland-Smith have also stepped in and started nine games combined.

1. Felix Hernandez- Whoever the next manager is, they would be an idiot not to give the No. 1 spot to Felix. Felix has shown his work ethic and his commitment by putting out a 100% effort every game. Next year will be his Cy Young coming out party.

2. Erik Bedard- Now that his trade value has been diminished by the Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, and CC Sabathia trades, it looks like Bedard will be suiting up as a Mariner next year.

There will be a lot of trade talk surrounding him in the off-season, but my bet is that he stays a Mariner. With that said, I want to invest my hope in that he'll live up to my expectations, but after hearing about his clubhouse poison, I have some doubts. Maybe I'm not giving him the credit he deserves. For now, I'll give it time.

3. Carlos Silva- With the current Mariners' defense, Silva is not a No. 3 starter. He is more of a No. 5 starter. Although he holds a 5.62 ERA, I think with an improved defense his ERA would hover in the 4.20-4.40 area.

Silva, unlike Bedard, is durable. Silva has the most innings pitched and the most games started out of all of '08's rotation. If the defense issue is addressed in the off-season, Silva will turn out to be a decent pitcher at the No. 3 slot.

4. RA Dickey- The knuckleballer has more than proved his worth. At first, he had a difficult adjustment to the starter role but now has developed into a solid starter who has been working to cement his spot in the rotation. His last start was a four hit-seven inning shut out.
 

5. Brandon Morrow- Hopefully the M's can shift Morrow into a starter over the off-season. He isn't fully developed and he won't be able to throw 97 mph fastballs and pitch seven innings at the same time. However, I think if he can develop another pitch and build on his pitch count over the off-season, he'll be more than adequate at the No. 3-5 spot in the rotation.

How about Miguel Batista and Jerrod Washburn? 

Since the M's still have Batista's contract, I think it'd be smart to move him to the bullpen. He would add closer insurance and long relief, and he could also double as a fill-in starter. With Washburn, I believe he'll be traded at the trade deadline, for either prospects or a veteran first baseman. We shall see.