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Thursday, April 5
Seattle Mariners preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	After 12 years, Edgar Martinez remains a hitting machine.

Strength of schedule
.502, 9th in AL
Lineup ranking
10th in AL
Pitching ranking
3rd in AL
Prediction
3rd in AL West

The lowdown
2000 record: 91-71 (2nd in AL West), won wild card, advanced to ALCS
Runs scored: 907, 4th in AL
Runs allowed: 780, 2nd in AL

Three key issues for 2001
1. How good will Ichiro Suzuki be?

2. Will an infield of Carlos Guillen, David Bell, Bret Boone and John Olerud provide enough offense?

3. Can Jamie Moyer rebound from a poor second half?

Three key facts
1. Edgar Martinez, who led the AL with 145 RBI last season, has six straight seasons of 20 home runs and a .320 batting average. Ivan Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra have the second-longest active streak at three years.

2. Carlos Guillen hit just .257 overall, but check his first half/second half splits:

1st half: .147 average, .247 on-base pct., .160 slugging pct.
2nd half: .296 average, .352 on-base pct., .479 slugging pct.

3. Safeco Field played as the best pitchers' park in the AL last season. How did it affect Seattle's offense and pitching. Consider this:

Seattle ranked first in the AL in runs on the road, but ninth at home.

Seattle ranked seventh in the AL runs allowed on the road, but first at home.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	E. Martinez	.324
HR	E. Martinez	37
RBI	E. Martinez	145
RUN	E. Martinez	100
SB	M. McLemore	30
WIN	A. Sele	17
SV	K. Sasaki	37
ERA	P. Abbott	4.22
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Tim Kurkjian's scenarios
Best case: Ichiro Suzuki energizes the top of the order, the 12-man staff leads the league in ERA, shortstop Carlos Guillen doesn?t get hurt and the M's repeat as the wild-card team.

Worst case: The Mariners can't generate enough offense, Guillen gets hurt, their efforts to trade for another bat get nowhere and they acknowledge the loss of A-Rod was simply too much to overcome.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
I. Suzuki, RF	Seven straight batting crowns in Japan	8
C. Guillen, SS	If he gets hurt, who plays shortstop?	6
J. Olerud, 1B	Good OBP, great glove, lacks first-base power	5
E. Martinez, DH	Top 10 in AL in OBP and SLG last season	2
M. Cameron, CF	Should have won Gold Glove last season	4
A. Martin, LF	M's need help here if Buhner can't play	10
B. Boone, 2B	Fourth team in four years tells you something	9
D. Bell, 3B	Tried to get Phil Nevin, wouldn't part with Antonio Perez	14
D. Wilson, C	In four-year slide; Widger, Lampkin around to share time	12
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
F. Garcia, RHP	26-13 first two years, needs to improve 79/64 K/BB ratio	11
A. Sele, RHP	11-3, 3.95 before break; 6-7, 5.16 after break	16
J. Moyer, LHP	65-34 (.657 winning pct.) since joining Mariners in 1996	22
P. Abbott, RHP	Injury to Gil Meche assures spot; had 3.98 ERA as starter	28
Middle relief	Hardthrowing corp of Nelson, Rhodes, Paniagua, Tomko	2
K. Sasaki, CL	Tough to hit (.184 average), but prone to HR (10 in 62.2 IP)	5

	Position average (AL rank):	7.77 (10th)
	Pitching index (AL rank):	3.50 (3rd)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each AL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

AL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-14 basis, with 1 being best.
AL starting pitchers ranked on 1-56 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 14.00 the worst.

Click here for AL position-by-position rankings.

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