Entering the 2011 Season

Entering the 2010 major league season there was a lot of hype surrounding the Mariners and their new roster. Seattle had acquired ace lefty, Cliff Lee; traded for a big potential bat in Milton Bradley; signed the speedy third baseman Chone Figgins; and signed the sure-handed first baseman Casey Kotchman. These high profile additions would go along with the young ace Felix Hernandez, the always great Ichiro Suzuki, and Franklin Gutierrez who was just coming off of the best season of his career. It was hard not to get excited about the team as we headed into the season especially with the best one-two punch at the top of the rotation in all of baseball. Many experts began picking the Mariners to finish first or second in the division.

High expectations put pressure on a team regardless of who the team is. In 2009, the Mariners barely finished above .500 and in 2008 they lost 101 games! They have not won more then 90 games since the 2003 season. To have people predict a near 100 win season for 2010 puts pressure on the players. A clubhouse mixed with young players and new faces might not handle the pressure well together.  

Well, we all know how the season turned out. The Mariners certainly disappointed people through all of baseball. As we enter the 2011 season, people do not have high expectations for the Mariners at all. Is this such a bad thing?

                                                

Seattle has a handful of young guys with the opportunity to break camp with a starting job at the big league level. Justin Smoak, Adam Moore, Dustin Ackley, Michael Pineda, Michael Saunders, Mauricio Robles, Dan Cortes, and Josh Lueke are among the guys that I think have a chance. The average age among these players is 23.5 years old. There is a very good chance that the Mariners have one of the youngest teams in 2011.  

Obviously Mariners fans want to win now, but with the current roster the second best outcome to wish for is for the young players to develop in the majors. A low-pressure environment is ideal for prospects at the big league level. Being in a lower-pressure environment, there are less possible distractions that could affect these prospects for the worse. They won’t be getting caught up in the hype or attention that they would receive while playing for a large market team that people expect a lot from. The key for their development is focus focus focus! They must focus on the repetition of their mechanics. Repetition leads to muscle memory and allows fundamentals to be more sub-conscious. We want players to do the right things because it is natural and they are used to it.

The overall point I want to put across is that no body expects much of the Mariners in 2011. The low-pressure environment will reduce distractions and in return allow younger players to focus more on the development of repetition in their mechanics at the big league level. The Mariners are being dealt all the right cards. Now it is up to the coaching staff and front office to play their cards right.