Mariners’ era of mediocrity closes

Maxwell Monson, Assistant Sports Editor

Robinson Cano
Robinson Cano

Unlike Boston’s “Curse of 1912,” or the Cubs “Curse of Billy the Goat.” Mariner fans don’t have a curse to blame, but they have been hearing “a rebuild takes time” for the last 14 years.

I believe this is the year the Seattle Mariners will find their way back in to the postseason and give us Northwesterner’s a little something we have been missing since 2001.

Our “Sodo Mojo.”

The 2015 Mariner’s roster has given their fans something to be excited about. Being a Mariners fan is not a walk in the park, with the amount of losing seasons we have compared to winning. So when you have a team that has this much hype around them, it is hard to not be excited.

It has been a long time since the 2001 miracle season when we got see the Mariners win 116 games. Since that season, Mariners fans have only seen five seasons finishing above .500. They have had multiple 100-loss seasons and zero playoff appearances.

However, waiting the last 14 years may be paying off for Seattle in a big way.

The Mariners have stacked their line up with  expensive free agents, bargain deals and drafted talent.

Signing Robinson Cano last year was a jump start that got the ball rolling for Seattle. Cano gave the Mariners that feared hitter that every team needs. He may not hit the most homeruns, but he has hit the ball more than almost any other player in the MLB over the last few seasons.

The Mariners also went on to sign the reigning homerun champ the following off-season, Nelson Cruz.

Cruz is a pitcher’s nightmare, just like Cano, and now they have a feared homerun hitter. This is something people have not seen in Seattle since Edgar Martinez retired in 2004.

Any successful team has to be able to draft players and develop them into major leaguers. Mariners did just that with Gold Glove winner Kyle Seager and left fielder Dustin Ackley. The waiting game on young players is never predictable or easy but it does pay off.

This combo has lead the Mariners to a very scary line up on paper, especially in the most crucial part of a batting order: the third, fourth and fifth batter.

The Mariners will line up Cano, Cruz and Seager in those critical spots. There is not a pitcher in the major leagues who would want to pitch against that stretch.

On top of the hitters, the Mariners have Felix Hernandez – also known as “King Felix”. There is one word that comes to mind to sum up Hernandez: “dominant.” Felix has been a force on the mound every year he has been in with the Mariners.

The rest of the rotation is not too shabby either, with a good mix of young talent in Taijuan Walker and James Paxton.

Walker has had the choir singing loud praises after a couple dominant years in the minors and an outstanding spring training.

A team will not win many games if they can’t close them out when it comes to clutch time. Luckily, the Mariners have a man that loves to shut teams down and shoot the arrow at the end of the game.

Fernando Rodney is entering his second year with the Mariners and has turned into a fan favorite with his iconic “shooting the arrow” move after each save he gets. Rodney has been elite since he put on the Seattle uniform.

I have high hopes for the Mariners this year. I would say without a doubt anything less than the playoffs would be a disappointment. With this roster full of hitting and the starting five rotation headlined by Hernandez, a playoff run is a must.

Come September, no matter how strange this sounds, we will be hearing “Mariners” and “World Series” in the same sentence. You will be able to officially say we got our “Sodo Mojo” back.