Bright Spots: The Mariners

As I'm sure some of you may have noticed using your deeply analytical minds, the Mariners aren't exactly doing well this season. In fact, the recent question and answer period with the GM, assistant GM, and scouting director, attended by this blog, helped shed light on a lot of these problems and some of the bright spots for the future.

One excellent point made was that the Mariner had a wide range for this season: the best case scenario for each player ended with the Mariners winning around 90 games, while the very worst case scenario put the team at exactly where they are now.

This may make it seem like every single player has failed. Obviously, this isn't true. The Mariners do indeed have a few bright spots:

Felix Hernandez: Sure, Felix has had a few struggles, mainly early in the year, but this year has served to cement the fact that Felix is, at his worst, one of the five best pitchers in baseball and can shut down just about anyone. With him around for the long haul, at least the Mariners have a strong foundation in the pitching staff.

Rob Johnson: Just kidding. On the bright side, he's probably gone forever now, so there's that.

Tacoma: The Mariners suck, that is undeniable. Luckily, the Rainers have been killing it, as has most of our minor league system. All our best prospects have performed up to standards if not over expectations. Hell, even Greg Halman had a great year, as long as you don't mind strikeouts. Lots and lots of strikeouts.

San Diego Padres: Oh wait, that's just for me.

Franklin Guiterrez: Yes, his average isn't amazing and yes, he was pretty horrible last month. Even so, Cute-ierrez has managed to display some amazing all around skills, hitting for light power, stealing bases (20 as of today), wooing the ladies, walking aplenty (at least when not frustrated), and still playing great defense.

So there you have it. Now let's never, ever mention Jose "Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now" Lopez.