Where will the Mariners go?

Ok, football and basketball are the sports that are on TV now but baseball is just heating up. That's right, it's hot stove time. This year's free agent class is not as strong as years past, but I know that a few of the free agents this year can help the Seattle Mariners.

While it is still early, I am going to go through the positions that need improvement and who I think the Mariners should get to fill that position.

The Mariners desperately need at least one starting pitcher to go along with Felix Hernandez. This is priority number one. While they have a number of people who can start, I don't think anyone can complement Hernandez yet. I think Ryan Roland-Smith will get to that point, but for now the Mariners need to get a veteran. For this I look at John Lackey. This year's list of starting pitchers is thin. Lackey is the best pitcher on the free agent market. Saying this I think many teams will look to sign him, meaning that Lackey is going to get paid. The Mariners are not going to spend a lot of money on one player. So where does that leave them? A good second option, I think, is Rich Harden. Yes he is injury prone but when he isn't he can be dominate. He could go very well with Hernandez. Last year Harden started 26 games, most since 2004. He only went 9-9 with a 4.09 ERA but he has 171 strikeouts in 141 innings. He has had more strikeouts than innings in five of his eight years in the majors. He is 50-29 with a 3.39 ERA in his career. He also has 783 strikeouts in 753 and two thirds innings. Harden is a risk but I think it's a risk the Mariners should take. Harden also wouldn't cost a whole lot to get.

Russel Branyan is the best option for the Mariners at first base. Although he was hurt at the end of the year, he did hit 31 homeruns with 76 RBIs. He is 34, but last year was his first full season as a starter. I believe he has a couple more years. Look at Raul Ibanez. He didn't start until late in his career and this year had the best year of his career. It wouldn't be a risk for the Mariners to sign him to a two year contract. He would still be pretty cheap.

Jose Lopez at second base is fine with me. Offensively he is improving every year. He could potentially be a 30 home run, 100+ RBI guy. Defensively, I could live with him at second. He makes a few errors, but I don't think he is going to hurt the Mariners on defense.

Third base is tricky to figure out. There could be a couple options for the Mariners. One is through free agency. Chone Figgins is the top option. Now saying that, he is going to get the big money, so I think Figgins is out. I think the option they should consider is Matt Tuiasosopo. Some people would say that he is too young and inexperienced. That may be, but I think Tui is going to be a very good third basemen. He has a very good glove and his hitting is going to get better. He needs experience and the way he is going to get it is if they play him. I believe he is ready now.

Shortstop is already set with the re-signing of Jack Wilson. He give them a solid defender and someone who can handle the bat well.

In the outfield, the Mariners have two of the three positions taken care of, with Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez. I think in left field it will be Michael Saunders. Yes, Michael Saunders. He is excellent defensively and I think he is starting to get the hang of major league pitching. That means Griffey will be the designated hitter while playing a little in left.

The bull pen was one of the bright spots last year. David Aardsma, Mark Lowe, and Sean White had career years and I think they'll get better. The one thing the Mariners need in the bull pen is a situational left handed pitcher. Joe Beimel seems like a good answer. Last year with the Nationals and Rockies, he has a 3.58 ERA with 35 stikeouts in 55.1 innings. A wild card in this would be a pitcher by the name of Mike Gosling. I never really heard of this guy but despite a 5.04 ERA in 25 innings last year, he held left handed batters to a 1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings. He has five years experience so he has room to improve.

Like I said in the beginning, these are my opinions on who I think the Mariners should go after to improve their team. Feel fee to disagree and post your opinions.