The Seattle Mariners spent the first half of the season looking like a nice collection of overachievers and a team possibly on track to getting back to respectability. Then they went and lost 17 straight games and undid any progress that their surprising start had built.
Even with that embarrassing streak marring their season, 2011 wasn’t a total loss for Seattle as they finally got a look at some of their top prospects and realized that things might finally start getting better before long.
Now that their season is done, let’s take a look back at what exactly went right and wrong for the Seattle Mariners in 2011.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
As usual, Felix Hernandez was downright awesome. He may not have posted numbers good enough to make him a Cy Young candidate again, but he was still one of the best pitchers in the AL and a big reason that the Ms were “only” the second-worst team in the American League.
But Felix wasn’t alone in putting up strong numbers in the rotation. Highly touted rookie Michael Pineda lived up to all of his immense hype by posting a 3.74 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 173 Ks in 171 innings of work. While he did seem to hit the wall a bit in the second half, it is pretty clear that Seattle has another front line starter on their hands, one that might even win AL Rookie of the Year. In fact, Pineda was so good to start the year that it renewed speculation that the Mariners might try and trade Felix Hernandez.
Pineda wasn’t alone either, in terms of being a stand out rookie. Former first round pick Dustin Ackley broke into the majors midway through the season and gave the Mariners something they desperately needed- someone who could actually hit. Ackley’s slash line of .273/.348/.417 isn’t eye-popping, but he frequently showed flashes of being able to elevate himself to being one of the best offensive second baseman in the league. Ackley might even garner some ROY votes of his own, but his limited at-bats (348) might dampen those hopes a little bit.
Finally, one of the highlights of the season was manager Eric Wedge’s mustache. I can’t prove it, but I think it won them at least three games this season before he finally shaved it off.
WHAT WENT WRONG
As a Seattle resident I can tell you one thing about the Mariners and it is that everyone is afraid to broach the topic of Ichiro. He is an institution in Seattle, but, well, he might not be good anymore. In fact, he might be kind of bad. Not only did his defense fall off this season, but even his legendary bat seems to have started to decline. Yes, he still hit .273, but that is a poor average by Ichiro’s standards. And when you consider that his lack of walks left him with a .310 OBP and lack of pop led to a pitiful .064 ISO. Now, remember that he always hits at the top of the order and you can understand why the Seattle offense was the worst in the majors.
Another major factor in their annual struggle to score runs was the nightmare season of Justin Smoak. As the prize of the Cliff Lee trade last season, Smoak was expected to be the potent middle of the order bat the Mariners hadn’t had in years, but his 2011 campaign ended up being marred by bad luck and tragedy. Not only did Smoak suffer numerous injuries that either sent him to the DL or clearly hampered him when playing, but he also had to cope with the death of his father early in the season. He still managed to finish the year with a .719 OPS, but that was short of the expectations the club had for him and he now is going to enter a pressure-packed season trying to answer questions about his ability to perform at a high level and stay healthy.
SURPRISES
Pleasant surprises were in short supply in Seattle this year, but one unqualified one was the comeback of Erik Bedard. The oft-injured pitcher hadn’t thrown a pitch in the majors since 2009, but he managed to stay healthy for much of the first half of the season. In that time, he put up ace-like numbers as if he had never had any health issues. Alas, Bedard did finally land on the DL, but in a second nice surprise, he got healthy again at the end of July which gave the Mariners the opportunity to trade him to Boston. Getting anything in return for Bedard at the trade deadline had to be something the Mariners weren’t counting on going into the year.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
The Mariners invested a ton of money in infielder Chone Figgins before the 2010 season only to see him turn into an overnight bust with .646 OPS in 2010. They had to be hoping that Figgins would find a way to bounce back in 2011, but those hopes were quickly and cruelly dashed. Amazingly, Figgins ended up getting even worse by hitting .188 with a .484 OPS which, as you might imagine, cost him his starting job. At least he only has two more seasons left on his contract.
Figgins wasn’t the only veteran bust though. The power-starved Mariners took a chance on Jack Cust and more or less handed him the DH gig. That little experiment lasted all of 67 games, and just three homers, before Seattle pulled the plug and released Cust. You know you are having a bad year when the Mariners don’t want you hanging around anymore.
Joining Cust in the unemployment line was Milton Bradley, yet another veteran misfire for the Mariners. The caustic outfielder didn’t hit at all to start the year and with his infamous attitude causing problems, Bradley was let go in May. I guess that was really only a disappointment because the Mariners needed a good veteran bat, but really it was a win for their fans who no longer had to watch Bradley embarrass himself with his temper tantrums.
2012 CHANGES
The Mariners have some tough decisions to make this off-season. While guys like Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp have finally given the Mariners some young talent that they can potentially rely on, the lineup still needs a ton of help. Letting the youngsters try and carry a lifeless offense might be cost effective, but it also could reach a point where it become such a mental struggle for everyone that it actually hinders development. That would seem to suggest the Mariners will address their holes in the outfield and third base, buta t the same time, this roster is so far from contending that Seattle needs to be careful about throwing away more money on veteran free agents.
The last thing this team needs is more money tied up in dead weight like Chone Figgins, especially if those veterans end up blocking prospects from getting a chance to play.
Where it might be smarter for Seattle to invest in their rotation. Right now, the Ms really only have Felix, Pineda and Jason Vargas as locks for the rotation. They will surely try and fill at least one spot from within, but since Seattle has had good luck in signing (and later trading) veteran starters since Safeco Field is such a haven for pitchers.
POSITION BATTLES
It seems like half of the Seattle lineup has the potential for a position battle.
Franklin Gutierrez is a great defender in center, but he struggled mightily with the bat after battling intestinal problems early in the season, so it is possible that Seattle will try and give Trayvon Robinson a shot at the job or find a free agent to compete with him.
In left field, Seattle could turn to Mike Carp or they could go with Robinson or maybe Casper Wells, who showed good power in his brief audition after being acquired from Detroit for Doug Fister. Lesser option are Greg Halman and Carlos Peguero.
Then there is third base. The Ms are probably done with the Chone Figgins experiment, so they’ll try and hand over the hot corner to the youngsters. Kyle Seager, who managed a .691 OPS last season, should get first crack at the job, but Alex Liddi, who has major power potential, will be lurking right behind him.
Whichever players lose out in left and third are then likely to do battle once again in the losers’ bracket to see who can “win” the designated hitter job.
Of course, all of those battles could be turned on their ear depending on what Seattle does in free agency, but given how well they have done on that front recently, anyone they sign will just be another entrant into these various frays.
