Mariners Preview: Halos will rule the West

Editor's note: Veteran baseball reporter John Hickey has covered the Mariners for the Seattle P-I since 2000. He came to Seattle from the Bay Area, where he covered the Oakland Athletics for two decades.

1. How would you grade Bill Bavasi's offseason moves?

I was not a fan of trading Adam Jones, who will be a standout player before all is done. That being said, Bavasi identified the Mariners' major problem, poor starting pitching, and did what he could to remedy it, earning a 'B'. It's hard to see how anyone could have gotten two starters better than Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva, so it has to go down as a successful winter for Bavasi.

2. Was the Bedard trade a good one for the Mariners?

It will turn out to be a good one if they can sign him beyond 2009. He's young enough (28) to have plenty of upside left. Bedard has moved up in the past two years to become one of the best starters in the game.

3. Is this a better club than the 88-win team of a year ago?

There is more talent on this team than on last year's, simply because the starting pitching is so much better. The offense has taken a hit with the loss of Jose Guillen, however, and a team that had some occasionally tough times scoring runs could face more of the same.

4. Who will lead the Mariners in wins?

This should be the year Felix Hernandez steps forward. With Bedard being the No. 1 starter, Hernandez won't spend as much time paired up against the opponents' top starters. That alone could add two or three wins to the bottom line.

5. Who will lead the team in home runs?

I would expect Richie Sexson to rebound strongly from his disappointing output of last year, when he hit 21 homers. Safeco Field is hardly ideal for a right-hander, but Sexson has shown a rebirth this spring of being able to hit the ball to right and right-center, which is what he does when he's putting up big power numbers.

6. How good will the Mariners be defensively?

The outfield defense will be only about average, even with Gold Glove winner Ichiro Suzuki in center field. The infield should be better, assuming shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt has gotten over his habit of launching errant throws. The right side of the infield needs improvement over last year, and second baseman Jose Lopez has put in the time to get better.

7. Does the club have enough offense to compete with the Angels?

Speaking strictly of offense, the answer is no. However, the Angels aren't as good as they were in 2007, even with the addition of Torii Hunter. The loss of Orlando Cabrera will be huge. Seattle's addition of Brad Wilkerson in right field could pay off if he's healthy all year.

8. What do you anticipate from Sexson?

I'm not sure that John McLaren's prediction of a "Comeback Player of the Year" will be realized, but I do think Sexson will be much improved now that he's exorcised the 2007 season from his system.

9. What will be McLaren's greatest challenge?

McLaren likes to stick with a set lineup. It wouldn't surprise me if platoon situations spring up in right field or maybe at second base. The Mariners are going to have to produce more runs this season, and getting those extra runs across the plate will determine if McLaren's first full season as a big league manager is a good one or not.

10. What will Ichiro's season-ending stats line look like?

At some point Ichiro will no longer crank out 200-hit seasons automatically. This won't be that year. He'll finish with about 225 hits and a .330 batting average. He won't get the 80 stolen bases predicted by McLaren, by the way, but should finish with 40, give or take a few.

11. How many games will the Mariners win, and where will they finish in the AL West?

Even with the added pitching, the Mariners are probably not the AL West favorites. Seattle could win as many as 89 games, and in a close AL West, that should be good for second place, two games out.

12. Which AL teams will make the playoffs, and which one will go to the World Series?

The Tigers, the Red Sox and the Angels will win the division titles and the Indians will beat out the Yankees for the wild card. Detroit will make it to the World Series.