Mariners added 10 wins with Junior signing

Sometimes, players can work magic. Following the accounts of excitement among Mariners, it is clear Ken Griffey Jr.’s return stills last year’s stormy weather in the clubhouse. Days after we heard from J.J. Putz, who was traded to the Mets over the winter, that Ichiro Suzuki wasn’t a team player, the signing of Griffey has the Mariners Spring Training camp snapping with a new energy. The Kid won’t arrive in camp until Saturday.

Ichiro & Griffey, Mark Harrison, The Seattle Times

As Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times wrote in 2007, Junior brings out the best in people, particularly Ichiro, and The News Tribune’s Larry LaRue makes the point that Ichiro will enjoy having the attention focus on someone else. Watching Ichiro, it has always been clear that he plays best when competing to be the best. During 2008, the competition among Mariners was only off-field, to see who could be in the worst mood.

The entire team is reportedly “ecstatic,” according to LaRue, and John Hickey at the Seattle P-I says the team is “buzzing” with excitement, leading me to make the bold claim that the Mariners will add 10 wins over the season because Junior is in the dugout and on the field. The Baseball Prospectus has projected a 67-95 record for the Mariners in 2009. I’ll be surprised if the team doesn’t win 77 games, which would place them firmly in third place in the AL West, just because the team is coalescing around Junior’s presence, as well as Ichiro’s opportunity to battle for the limelight and the general influence of confidence on the rest of the team.

In other news, Erik Bedard appears to be poised to have one of his good seasons, at least he’s smiling. Of course, when he’s throwing baseballs, he can be very good. In 2007, before the Mariners made a blockbuster five-player deal to get the left-hander from Baltimore, he was arguably as good as Johan Santana. Bedard got 1.41 strikes per inning pitched to Santana’s 1.07 SO/IP, albeit Santana is always more durable than Bedard. We shall see if, should he encounter any setbacks, whether he’ll disprove the criticism of other players who say he doesn’t pitch through pain. 

With Bedard on his walk year, and a Scott Boras Mark Pieper client, the M’s have to hope he comes out of the gate strong so he can be moved for some young talent. Perhaps the Atlanta Braves, despite losing the Griffey sweepstakes, will be in the hunt in the NL East and willing to trade Tommy Hanson and Jordan Schafer for a healthy Bedard.

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