The AL West is home to three of the best teams in all of baseball with the Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Seattle Mariners. If the season were to end today, all three teams would be playoff bound, but there is still quite a bit of baseball left to play, and the Mariners have their work cut out for them moving forward.
As the Mid-Summer Classic approaches so does the trade deadline, and the Mariners must make a move to make a playoff push. The M’s are in third place and eight games behind the A’s in the West despite their 50-43 record. The West is a talented division and the Mariners don’t have what it takes to compete with the Angels and A’s right now.
Seattle’s pitching staff has carried them this season posting a team ERA of 3.16, which is third in the league behind Washington and Oakland. They have a nice one-two punch of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, but the backend of the rotation isn’t all that impressive.
The main concern with the Mariners is the offense. The M’s have only scored 371 runs this season, which is ranked 18th in the league. Robinson Cano has lived up to the expectations when he signed a monster deal this offseason, but the Mariners don’t have a lineup capable of manufacturing runs against serious contenders. They’ve been able to take advantage of the weaker teams in the league, but when they are up against some of the best teams, they struggle.
They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, but have failed to get their pitching staff some run support against the White Sox and Twins; two sub .500 teams. The Mariners have been in the middle of some trade rumors lately involving both pitching and hitting, but what they really need is a power threat in the lineup.
Oakland made a statement when they traded for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel last week, now if the Mariners want any chance in the West they must make a move.
LA Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp could serve as a solution, as could Colorado Rockies Justin Morneau or Minnesota Twins Josh Willingham. Tampa Bay Rays starter David Price has also been mentioned with Seattle as a potential landing spot, but the offense is most concerning.
The Mariners haven’t made the postseason since the 2001 season, and haven’t had a winning season since 2009 when they were 85-77. The last four seasons have been tough on the Mariners, not winning over 75 games in that span. This year, they have been playing good baseball and have a winning record, but their roster, as it is now, isn’t made for postseason play.
Seattle has a big series this weekend against the division leading A’s. They could either make a statement and gain some ground in the division, or find themselves even further behind.