5 Reasons The Seattle Mariners Are In Trouble

The Seattle Mariners are a frustrating ball club to watch.  Just when you think they might be on the verge of turning things around they lose 2 out of 3 to the lowly Cleveland Indians.  It's not that they lost 2 games, but how they lost them that concerns me.  In the first game the Mariners blew a 7 run lead and in the rubber game managed to score only one run.  The Mariners lack consistency and have yet to find an identity.  It's still early in the season so there's still time to turn things around, but I don't see any signs that things are going to improve.  Here are 5 reasons the Seattle Mariners are in trouble.

1.  The Mariners have too many "tweeners" on their roster.  They have too many players that are too good to be playing AAA ball, but not good enough to be in the majors on a daily basis.  Someone besides Dustin Ackley needs to prove they belong in the bigs for real.

2.  After watching Cliff Lee pitch 10 scoreless innings on 102 pitches it's painfully obvious the Mariners got hosed in the Justin Smoak trade.  Smoak has never shown superstar ability and it's time to get over the hype.  He's not who we thought he was going to be.

3.  Adam Jones should be starting in center field, but instead he's going ballistic in Baltimore.  Jones is hitting 60 points higher than any of Seattle's outfielders and he has 5 home runs.  The Mariner outfielders have 3.

4.  King Felix gets no run support.  The Mariners are fortunate their ace has shown loyalty and commitment to an organization that refuses to address the problem.  Not sure how much longer Felix will wait for the Mariners to make a move.

5.  Ichiro is a one man show.  Regardless of where you put him in the line up Ichiro Suzuki is the only Mariner you can count on to get a hit.  Without his production I don't think the Mariners would win 50 games.