Projecting the 2013 Lineup:

By: Anthony

Once again Patrick and I have dropped the ball on providing consistent content. I have been on a beard quest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Patrick has, well, been busy. He has already projected the 2013 rotation and I will now take on the more daunting task of projecting the 2013 starting lineup. Note: I will be incorrectly assuming that the Mariners take the same position players they had this year into next year because of the infinite possibilities of signings and trade Jack Z could make. If you want to read my offseason plan for the Mariners, here it is.

Jaso

Smoak

Ackley

Ryan

Seager

Wells

Gutierrez

Saunders

Montero

Carp

Franklin

Robinson

Catricala

The definition of a successful beard quest

Catcher

John Jaso should start, plain and simple. He was one of our best hitters last year with an OPS of .850. He also made a successful beard quest mid-season and was only marginally below average on throwing out base runners with a caught stealing of 20% versus the league average of 26%. Mike Zunino will not be ready to break camp with the team. We do not need to sign a veteran scrap heap guy to break camp with the team. We will for depth purposes so he can sit in AAA and be ready to play if Jaso gets hurt. Our backup will be- drum roll please- Jesus Montero. I understand why people don’t want him to catch, it is not where he will play in the future. But how much damage can another half-season of backing up Jaso until Zunino is ready do? He wasn’t a disaster defensively and we need to get his bat in the lineup as much as possible.

First Base

I really hate Justin Smoak but of course there is nobody in the system right now who can push him for a regular starting spot. It will be a battle between him and Carp for first and Smoak will get more plate appearances because of his September. The team will stick with Smoak until he once again reveals his ineptitude in months that don’t rhyme with Feptember. To fill in his place, Carp and Montero can split reps. Yes, the timing of this will be weird. But once Zunino is called up and displaces Montero from backing up Jaso, Montero will switch to backing up Carp at first base and getting most of his reps at DH.

Second Base

Dustin Ackley will once again get his playing time. We must hope that the most advanced bat in the draft will figure out how to hit and not become a defense first second basemen. Backing him up will be tough to figure out with Nick Franklin knocking on the door in the AFL. With a good spring, Franklin will  fill in at both shortstop and second.

I guess he is kind of good at defense

Short Stop

Brendan Ryan. Is anyone here surprised? He can hit .230 and be an above average player because of his defense. Enough on him and Franklin backs him up.

Third Base-

Kyle Seager should not be a surprise and Chone Figgins should leave. So in the backup role we have Vinnie Catricala. This is what I would call a “power move.” Not in the way that Catricala has tons of power, but after struggling in AAA Tacoma last year he lost much of his prospect shine. He will turn it around and backup Seager and also get some time at first to introduce him to the big leagues.

Pray to any and all deities that he stays healthy

Outfield

Saunders, Wells, Robinson and Gutierrez. I include four people here because of the almost guarantee the Guti gets hurt. Right now Wells, Saunders and Guti will start and Robinson can back them up/ be ready to play once Guti suffers a freak injury that nobody saw coming. Carp can also play left to split time with Robinson post-Guti injury.

This roster will win roughly 75 wins. Almost the exact same as last year, which is the reason why some moves will have to be made and some guys cut loose. But it is good to know that we have enough organizational depth to fill in with talent and let some young guys get their feet wet.