As bad as the Seattle Mariners have been in 2008, there is a bit of a silver lining around this horrible and seemingly interminable season.

Young pitchers Felix Hernandez (22), Brandon Morrow (23) and Ryan Rowland-Smith (25) figure to be the #1, #4 and #5 starters in 2009 (this is dependant upon the Mariners trading Jarrod Washburn).  Throw in the potential for a healthy Erik Bedard (13-5, 3.16 ERA in 2007) and a hopefully resurgent Carlos Silva (13-14, 4.19 ERA in 2007), and the starting rotation appears to have some promise.

Unfortunately, by removing Morrow and Rowland-Smith from the bullpen, Seattle's relieving corps is quite thin.  Sean Green, Mark Lowe and J.J. Putz will be the primary holdovers into 2009.  Roy Corcoran, Cesar Jimenez and R.A. Dickey are almost assured of roster spots in 2009.  Therefore, the question of how many pitchers to carry remains the only glaring unknown.  If Seattle carries 12, the final bullpen slot will likely be fought for between Eric O'Flaherty, Jared Wells, and as many as a hal####ozen current AA/AAA pitchers.

The strength of this team coming into 2008 was supposed to be their starting pitching, but injuries to Bedard, Hernandez and Batista have taken their toll (seven different starters have been used thus far), but the poor performances of Silva and Batista, two pitchers who did fairly well in 2007, have really hampered the team's ability to win games.  The expectations for this group were excessively high going into this year, as we can all say with relative confidence.  However, the concept of "if it can go wrong, it will" has destroyed the consistency and effectiveness of the starting rotation.  Batista has been a shadow of the man who won 16 games in 2007.  Silva, whose sinker was supposed to help him shine in Safeco field, is on pace to allow over 20 home runs.  Jarrod Washburn, who is big trade bait for the Mariners right now, had a horrific April and May but has been outstanding in June and July.  Erik Bedard hasn't been able to pitch past the 6th inning in what seems like a decade, and he is becoming noticeably injury-prone.  It hasn't been pretty for these guys, not at all.

However, the youth and vibrance in the pitching staff for the next several years will provide hope, opportunity, and the kind of consistency necessary to win baseball games.

Now it's a matter of being able to hit the ball.

Seattle has sunk millions upon millions of dollars into players like Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro and Adrian Beltre only to see half the production they thought they were buying.  Thankfully, those players are almost assuredly gone by the end of this season, and while I would like to see the Mariners retain Adrian Beltre at a lower contract price, his value on the trade market this summer is likely too high to pass up - the benefit for Seattle is that they don't have to trade him as he's inked throughy 2009.  Unfortunately, there is no one currently in Seattle's organization of minor league affiliates that has the tools as a third baseman to step up and perform at the major-league level.

A new age is going to begin for the Seattle Mariners.  And, while many of the players I have mentioned as key people for this club in the coming seasons may either be gone via trade or free agency or simply not pan out the way I think they can, there is enough youth and enough trade bait on the current roster to allow for the future to hold some promise.

All we can do now, as fans, is hope the young kids get their chance to shine and show they belong in the majors, because it will be through them that the Mariners will find their way back to prominence and respectability.