I've waited for the first month of the season to be over with to do my first Mariners PICKS AND PANS for the 2008 season.

After watching the Mariners closely this first month of the 2008 season, I must tell you, I'm for the most part disappointed with their progress. Not saying I will throw them under the bus quite yet, but yes, very disappointed indeed.

Lets get at it and I hope I don't offend anyone with my critique of the the players or coaches and their performance so far this season. I know its early and all opinions are mine and should not be taken personally.

Overall performance by the team, on a scale of 1-10, is about a 5 if you take 'potential' and compare it to what they have accomplished so far this season.

Lets start with the top of the order and work down, including utility players at the end of the list. After I have critiqued each player I will score them on a 1-10 scale.

Ichiro Suzuki - Another slow start with the bat is really hurting run production. .321 OB percentage is not up to Ichiro standards and I'm sure he is the first to admit to it. He seems to be taking more pitches this year and I believe that is hurting his batting average overall. I think pitchers are starting to catch up with him by pitching low outside and Ichiro needs to go to the opposite field more to compensate. I am glad to see his SB production is up and I hope that trend continues. His fielding is outsanding and his arm is one of the tops in the league. I will have to give him a 7.

Jose Lopez - .308 batting average with a .310 OB percentage. For a player batting in the second spot that is not very good. The 17 RBI's are impressive but if he needs to get on base consistently to be driven by the big bats behind. He just needs to find more ways to get on base. His fielding is about average. I will give him a 5.

Adrian Beltre - Beltre is off to an okay start with a .294 BA but his RBI production is not as hot as his bat. His fielding is down but he does make fine plays at times, at other times he should just hold the ball and not force things, he has good range and an excellence arm and plays hard and gives it 100% ever game. I will give him a 7 just on his hussle.

Raul Ibauez - Raul is having a good start and is driving in the runs when needed. If the batters ahead of him could find a way to get on base more frequently he would be in the AL top five in RBI. His fielding has been outstanding so far overall, but he needs to be more aggressive at the plate. He is probably the most consistence player the Mariners have. I will give him +7.

Jose Vidro - Jose being the DH has one of the hardest jobs on the Mariners. With that said I do believe his .202 BA would improve if he was moved to play first base full time. He is an adequate fielder when given the chance and the chance of playing in the field everyday would make him a complete ball player. I will give him a 5 at this time.

Richie Sexon - Richie has been struggling ever since he came to the Mariners with only an occasional sign of the type of player that the Mariners were looking for. He continues to struggle at the plate even when his HR power is up for the year. But his striking out at the wrong time has hurt more than his HR's have helped. Richie has a good glove and makes some hard plays look easy. Overall I will give him a 4.

Kenji Johjima - Johjima has been the biggest disappointment of the season for the Mariners. His overall game is just not major league caliber.  .175 BA and five RBI's just will not cut it and his arm is below average. Something has to be done by management to find a solution to this problem and soon. Hopefully Jeff Clement will be part of the solution. I will give Kenji a 3.

Yuniesky Betencourt - Having an okay season so far. Nothing special but nothing outstanding. His fielding has always been suspect in my opinion and his bat is to inconsistence and timid. Its either hot or its cold. He really needs to put 100% effort into what he does and in my opinion he hasn't done it yet. I will give him a 5.

Wladimir Balentien - Maybe one of the bright spots in the Mariners future. Although at this writing he has only played two games, I am impressed with his hitting. Fielding is an unknown, but he just looks comfortable out there and I hope he will be around for a long time. Anyone who  hits his first HR in the majors to the opposite field is my kind of player. I wish you all the best in the world. Welcome to the 'Bigs' Wladimir. I will give him a 5 due to too many unknowns.

Willie Bloomquist - Willie is a type of player who will never have a startiing position on the Mariners or any other team in the majors. He is and always will be a utility player. With that said he is an important part of the Mariners, filling in, in both the infield and outfield. His bat is quiet most of the time and his fielding is adequate. I will give him a 5 for what his is required to do.

The rest of the bench hasn't played enough to critique them so maybe next month I will include them.

 Middle refief Pitching:

Sean Green 

Brandon Morrow

Ryan Smith

Mark Lowe    

The opposition just loves to see this group come into the game. Up to this point of the season its usually lights out for the Mariners. Breaking them down separately would take to long so I will put them together. 35.2 innings pitched, 13 earned runs on 30 base hits and 25 walks. Bare in mind that the 13 earned runs are not counting the runners who were on base when they entered the game and scored when they gave up both hits and walks. If this is the future of the Mariners than heaven help us. I will give them all a  combined 3. I can't honesty say anymore without coming unglued. I have only one message for this group, quit walking people. 

Closers:

JJ Putz     

Arthur Rhodes                                            
                                                  

Knowing both JJ and Rhodes are coming back after injuries I will cut them a little slack. But come on, its time to produce and quit whining about every damn pitch that doesn't go your way. Throw strikes, damn it. Its no wonder that both of these pitcher have only  pitched 10+ innings with the middle relievers giving up so many runs. Not many save chances have been there for them. But when there is, for crying out loud, go out and get them. 14 hits in 10 innings will not cut it and neither will giving up 10 runs. I will give them a 4 overall.

Starting pitching:

Felix Hernamdez - Felix has had a good start in every game, but seems to run out of gas late. His 2.22 ERA is outstanding and his ability to get out of jams is uncanny, his strikes outs is right on schedule, but his walk to strikeout ratio is too high. Felix to me is too relaxed on the mound at times and doesn't seem to be able to bare down and concentrate on his job the whole game. He seem to have times where he loses concentration for about two or three hitters and it comes back to bites him. Look for greateness in years to come as soon as he learns to stay focused. I will give him a -7.

Cha Baek - Although Baek hasn't piched that much so far this season, look for him it take the place of any pitcher who begins to struggle or is injured. I do believe he will be fine with more starts to is credit. Because of that lack of innings I will give him a 5 up to this point. Look for good things in the future for Baek.

Miguel Batista - Batista has been a little inconsistence this season for one reason or the other. But overall he has done a fine job. His walks/strikeout ratio is a little too high but pitches well early and manages to keep the Marieners in the game. He sometimes fades late and struggles but overall he is doing just fine. Sometimes I think he would make a good middle reliever but with the lack of a quality starting pitcher to step in, it probably won't happen. You can blame his three loses on a combination of untimely Mariner hitting and the relievers. I will give him a 6.

Carlos Silva - Silva has lived up to his billing as a top notch pitcher in my opinion. His 2.79 ERA is outstanding this season as has been all his starts. The Mariners couldn't be happier with his acquisitiion for this season. He will be a starter for years to come, I only hope its with the Mariners. I will give him a 7.

Jerod Washburn - I don't think Jerrod is pitching as badly as many may think. Although he is the weak link in the Mariners staff, the stats don't bare out all the blame he is getting. For instance the game a couple nights ago against Cleveland he pitched 6 innings giving up only 6 hits. I will take that any day from a startinig pitcher. His problem is when and where those hits come. Overall I will give Jerrod a 5.

Erik Bedard - Bedard has one of the best ERA in the league a 2.04. He is truly a fine addition to the Mariners. I hope he will be around for a long, long time. He was a little rusty when he came back from the IR list and his walks were up to start with, but in his last start he only gave up two hits. Outstanding performance by an outstanding pitcher. I predict he will win at least 15 games this year. I will give him an -8.

The coaching staff:

John McLaren - Not sure  McLaren is a major league type manager. I think he is too mild. Even when he is tossed from a game it seems more staged than anger. Of course maybe I'm used to Lou's kicking dirt and throwing bases. But overall I don't think he gets it and is a victim of Peter's Principle, as in every person tends to rise to his level of incompetence. At least with Lou he could instill winning as opposed to McLaren's laid back attitdude. I will give McLaren a 4. If things don't improve in the next couple months look for a change.

Mel Stottlemyle - Mel has had many great years in the majors and was an outstanding pitcher and pitching coach, but, (and there is always the 'but factor') he is not doing the job in Seattle. Can I make it more plain then that. The starting staff is not improved because of Stottlemyle, its good because they have talent and kown how to pitch despite him. But the middle relivers are not very good and Mel hasn't made any head way to make them better, I will give him a -4.

The rest of the staff is to me not that important to the fans only to the players. So I will not point out anything one way or the other. From a fans point of view they are part of the game and don't pay any attention to them. However I will point out they know what they are doing and here is who they are:

Jim Riggleman

Sam Perlozzo

Lee Elia

Norm Charlton

Overall I will give the starting line up a 5 at this point of the season.

The men on the bench I will give a 5. 

The starting pitching staff I will give a 6.5.

Middle relief pitchers I will give a 3.

Closers I will give a 4.

Manager I will give a 4.

The rest of the coaching staff I will not rate at this time.

Your comments are welcome any time.