Mariners

This Mariners team is part of an unlucky pantheon - teams that have no chance whatsoever to make the playoffs, joining such illustrious teams as Kansas City, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Cincinatti, and Tampa Bay. Not to insult other well-'deserving' teams, like say Baltimore or Pittsburgh, whose chances are infitessimally small.

The team does have a few bright spots. Management wisely brought in another Japanese star - I would guess that the presence of Ichiro and Matsui have given the Mariners and Yankees mad $$ from overseas, much like Yao and the rockets. Jeremy Reed is a rising star, and Sexson is solid. The rest of their infield is quite forgettable, yes, even the tantalizing Adrian Beltre. Beltre is the poster child of the athlete who suddenly has a career year when he has a new contract coming - He'll wake up again when his current deal begins to run out.

The Mariners real problem is their pitching. Jarrod Washburn and Jaime Moyer are their top 2 starters? I'd be shocked if they win 15 games between them. Among all their pitchers (starters and BP) only Felix Hernandez, who is 3 years younger than me (man I am old), is the only one worth his salt. They are going to have a ton of runs scored on them, and will be lucky if they lose less than 100 games.