The 2018 Mariners Don't Inspire Much Optimism

Spring training for the 2018 MLB season is just around the corner, and I gotta say, I can't remember a time feeling less optimistic about the Mariners season.  The Mariners didn't make any particularly notable moves in the offseason and they aren't coming off a winning or even positive season.  They ended the 2017 season on a sour note, falling out of the playoff race alarmingly fast.  With the Buffalo Bills in the NFL having made the playoffs, the Mariners now own the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports.  I hate to say it, but I think that drought will continue because these Mariners just aren't good enough and play in too tough of a division.

The Mariners had a relatively quiet offseason.  They acquired Dee Gordon from the Marlins and Ryon Healy from the Athletics.  Their pitching staff didn't get a huge upgrade, just depth in Juan Nicalsio.  These moves to me to scream the typical Band-Aid type job the Mariners usually get, which never results in anything great.  They just sign or trade for who they can, constantly hoping the new guys they acquire will be able to lift a team to the playoffs.  It hasn't worked before, so I have very little hope or reason to believe it can happen this year.

But for me, the biggest reason to not be optimistic about this season is the strength of the division the Mariners play in, the AL West.  The Houston Astros are the reigning World Series champs and will no doubt be a great team again.  The Los Angeles Angels made the biggest move of the offseason and acquired Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani.  The Mariners were in the running but lost out to their division rival, something I know will haunt us for years to come.  The Angels expect to be improved and since they just missed the playoffs themselves last year, they'll be in the running again more than likely.  The Texas Rangers still boast a ton of talent and could win a bunch of games.  And the A's always have the ability to surprise and win games when no one expects them to.  If I had to pick right now where I expect the Mariners to finish, I would say fourth, not because I think they'll lose a lot of games, but because their division is just that tough.

But for some reason I think the Mariners could fly under the radar.  Felix will be desperate to prove his career is not over.  Paxton will want to prove he can be a front of the line ace and pitch an entire season.  Iwakuma still wants to pitch and should be healthy.  The bullpen should be better, and Edwin Diaz should have better control.  And that's just the pitching.  The lineup could be one of the better ones in the American League.  There's speed (Gordon, Gamel), power (Cano, Cruz, Seager), and contact hitting (Cano, Segura).  The dominoes have to fall just right for this team.  They certainly did not last year.  But if the rotation can stay healthy, and the hitters can have productive seasons, the Mariners have a shot.  But it's a slim shot, and no Mariner fan in their right mind should hold their breath over this team.  Give them a month or two to prove themselves, because I think we will learn by May what kind of team the Mariners will be in 2018.  I'm tempering my excitement, because this time the Mariners have to earn my excitement for the team.

My Idea for Fixing the DH Rule

For years, Major League Baseball has dealt with having the designated hitter in the American League and the pitchers hitting in the National League.  There has been some talk of abolishing the DH, some talk of enacting the DH in the National League, but nothing too serious.  Many people want a change, but no one can agree on one. 

My proposal (or compromise, if you want to call it) is to have the DH in the first 3-5 innings of a game.  I'll go with 3, because the game of baseball likes to do things in multiples of 3.  What this would mean is that any team, whether they be a National League or American League team, would have a DH for the first 3 innings of a game.  Then, with the start of the 4th inning, the DH position becomes the pitcher's spot and the player who was the designated hitter gets sent to the bench, but can be used again, but only one more time, such as pinch-hitting for the pitcher when the pitcher's turn comes up in the order.

This would be good for multiple reasons. 

1) It would keep the DH and allow hitting numbers to go up, which is good for baseball, having high-scoring games.
2) It would keep the chess game that the National League currently has.  Managers would have to decide whether to use up their DH to pinch-hit for the pitcher, or to have their starting pitcher take one or two at-bats. 
3) Players on the bench would appear in a lot more games.  Some bench players I've seen can go weeks at a time without any playing time. 
4) Players who become too old to field (Think Jason Giambi, Jim Thome, Frank Thomas) don't have to go to an American League team, they can DH on the team they're currently on.  They also wouldn't have to play a full game ever, slightly prolonging the careers of some players.

I'm not completely set at the 3rd/4th inning as the time to make the switch from DH to pitcher, but I do believe the DH should be in the first part of the game and not the end.  The DH being used early means that starting pitchers usually wouldn't have to worry about hitting, unless they're going the distance.  No one really wants to see starting pitchers hit, and with this rule in place it would mean the average 6 inning starter would only get a plate appearance once every couple starts, on average. 

I also think baseball rosters should expand to 27 players (keeping with the rule of 3) because of the rash of injuries happening, and if they enforce this DH rule I am proposing.  There would be more possibilities for each manager, with a bench of 5, not counting the DH.

This is quite a radical change, but it's something to consider.  Obviously, the time in which the designated hitter would stop being used is debatable.  But if you let the DH come back into the game, then the switch-over can be made early.  If you don't let the DH come back into the game, the switch-over should probably be made later, such as the 6th or 7th inning.  I'm usually not a huge fan of rule changes when it comes to my favorite sports leagues, but this one I would certainly be in favor of.