The CttP Five: Desperate Teams Call for Desperate Measures

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

#1 The MARINERS

The offseason headline-grabbers of 2014 have surely been the Seattle Mariners. In spite of the Rangers singing Choo and making a superstar trade for Prince Fielder, the focus has consistently been on the Mariners as baseball’s most improved team. (The Rangers probably deserve an honorable mention in this article due to the fact that Derek Holland is a dog person, but that can be for another time) The Mariners, notably, went out and inked Robinson Cano to be their second baseman until well after people are living on Mars, and added him and sluggers Logan Morrison and Corey Hart to a roster that already included King Felix Hernandez and unheralded stud Hisashi Iwakuma. Even with all their splashy noise, however, one must remember just how deep the Mariners sat below the behemoths in their division. The ever-rich Angels, successful Rangers and resourceful A’s have made the AL West one of, if not the, most hotly contested crown in the sport and they have shown no sign of relenting. Even with their improvements, Fangraphs projects the M’s for an 81-81 season, losing their division by 3 games and finishing in fourth place. Obviously the error bars are significant enough that some BABIP and homers could shift the winds of fate considerably, but the fact remains: the computer thinks that the Mariners are still the second worst team in their division by player talent. Luckily for them, the M’s can upgrade at a number of positions and are essentially looking to add any offense they can. A reunion with Kendrys Morales should not be ruled out, and upgrades could be forthcoming behind the dish and in the outfield. As such, the M’s would seemingly be happy if they could add 3-4 wins anywhere on the diamond, and that doesn’t seem unfeasible if they’re not maxed out on payroll. If they are, the signing of Cano appears to have made one of either Dustin Ackley or Nick Franklin expendable, and both have enough value to bring back a player with offensive impact that could push the Mariners into the position of ‘division favorite’ that they clearly so covet.