Projecting the Mariners 2011 Roster, v. 3.0

I've been neglecting this blog a bit lately, but that will change soon. As of tomorrow, I'm reinventing the way I cover music, plus we'll have Spring Training in motion for the Mariners. All in all, I should have plenty to talk about. However, before all that begins, I want to take one more stab at predicting who the Mariners are gonna throw on the field when the season begins. In light of the recent signings on Gabe Gross and Manny Delcarmen, here's how things will probably shake out:

Rotation
RHP Felix Hernandez
LHP Jason Vargas
RHP Doug Fister
LHP Luke French
RHP David Pauley

This is the ultra-conservative guess. It assumes that Bedard will fall apart again and that Pineda will start the season in Tacoma. Both are likely, to be honest, but both Erik and Michael would make April a lot more fun to watch.

Bullpen
RHP Brandon League
RHP Dan Cortes
LHP Garrett Olsen
RHP Josh Lueke
RHP Chris Ray
RHP Manny Delcarmen
LHP Nate Robertson

David Aardsma will almost certainly start the year on the DL, making League our temporary closer and opening up more spots for non-roster guys. Ray, Delcarmen and Robertson are all veterans with upside. Compared to last year, this lot actually looks kind of exciting.

Lineup
RF Ichiro Suzuki
3B Chone Figgins
DH Jack Cust
1B Justin Smoak
CF Franklin Gutierrez
C Miguel Olivo
LF Michael Saunders
SS Jack Wilson
2B Brendan Ryan

No changes here. Ackley will show up at some point, but Ryan's got the inside track on the second base gig when the year opens. Like many people, I wouldn't mind having Ichiro bat third, allowing Figgy to be a leadoff man again and probably improving our offense by leaps and bounds. But that won't happen. Ever. Tragic.

Bench
C Adam Moore
INF Josh Wilson
INF Adam Kennedy
OF Milton Bradley

Barring a complete offensive meltdown, Kennedy should snag a bench spot over Tui, Mangini and whoever else wanders into camp before April. Milton's legal situation is another to monitor. Finally, the team could decide to have Adam Moore start the year getting regular at bats in Tacoma, opting to carry Josh Bard as Olivo's backup. But again, that would be the boring move. We do want people to watch/go to games in April, don't we?