Mariners September Review/Season Wrap Up

Remember when the Mariners started off their season by beating Oakland 5 of their first 7 games in the first two weeks of the season?

Yeah, me either.

At the begining of the year, I woke up super early for our first game against Oakland... that was held in Japan. While I was a little too aggressive with the time I woke up, I took the extra few minutes to jot down some season thoughts.

Man, am I an optimistic little bitch. Here are some of the classics:

• "Smoak should, he was batting .263 with 12 home runs before taking a ball off the hand that derailed his season." Damn.
• "Jesus Montero by all accounts has Mike Piazza power" Eh, he had flashes. But they were very brief. Very, very brief.
•  (in reference to a good hitter emerging out of the young bunch) " Will it happen? Ackley will, I'm confident in that" If the word "good" in Seattle is translated to .226 avg and 12 home runs, then yes, I would be correct.
• I also said Mike Carp was going to be good. HA!
• "Ichiro needs to either get back over 200 hits, or he needs to put 20 balls in the seats. He is batting 3rd this year, so I wouldn't be opposed to him showing more power." He didn't do either. And actually wasn't good till he found a locker next to Derek Jeter and his vat of HgH.
• "Michael Saunders needs to not suck"  He actually didn't. So I'm going to give that to myself. He hit 19 bombs, good for 2nd on the team.
• I didn't talk about Kyle Seager at all in the opener. I was drinking the "Chone is a lot more comfortable at lead off juice." I was wrong on both accounts. Thankfully, being wrong on Seager was a good thing.
• I mentioned that "Felix needs to be Felix." If we forget that he didn't win in September (0-4 in 6 starts) and just remember August and the Perfect game... then I was right.
• I asked for a .300 hitter or a 30 home run season. We got 20 home runs out of Seager and a .260 average out of Jesus Montero. So, fuck.
• Lastly, I made a brief plead for one of the "three amigos" to get called up and make a Pineda impression. None of them made it to the majors this year, but Denny Hultzen made it to Triple A. He should have a good shot at making the team next year. We are also on the clock for shortstop Nick Franklin and catcher Mike Zunino. 

Real quick, before I put a bullet in this seaons head let me touch on something. The fences. The Mariners announced they were moving them in for next season. My thoughts? Thank God. Maybe the field wasn't the problem and the players were, but at some point it becomes psychological (right, Justin?). These players seemed to have dreaded home games (we were 7th in runs scored and 6th in homeruns on the road), and desperately need a shot in the arm.

Maybe with the pulled in fences they could lure Josh Hamilton to come roam right field for us? That would be swell.

Well that will wrap it up. Another up and down here that ends 13 games below even at 75-87. One day we'll get back in the playoffs, I'm sure of it.

Side Note: Before I go, I want to get in an offseason prediction. With the fences moving in, some of team ideologies are going to change.  Some players have been hindered by those deep fences, while some have exploited them. One such player, American League Pitcher of the Month for July, Justin Vargas has had more then his share of bail outs due to playing in Yosemiti National Park  Safeco Field.  He went 14-11 with a 3.85 era over 217 innings this year.

With the fences coming in, I bet Seattle looks to sell high on Mr. Vargas. His value will never be higher then it is right now. It only makes sense (shit, use him in a package to drop Chone Figgins).

See you next year, guys.