the Mariners look like baseball’s most fascinating team
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canada goose outlet 2015 BALTIMORE There may be better teams in baseball than the Seattle Mariners, including one notable, highly decorated canadian goose jacket example looming atop their own division. There are sexier teams, including the two American League East behemoths who just finished beating up on them last week. And there are more rigorously analytical teams, including, oh, just about everyone. canada goose outlet 2015
canada goose stockists uk But it is quite possible there is no team in baseball more endlessly fascinating than the overachieving, small balling, one run game winning, 98 win pacing Mariners. Among the categories in which they lead their league: sacrifice bunts, one run wins, superstar drug suspensions and expectations exceeded. canada goose stockists uk
canada goose outlet official This is a perfect vantage point from which to consider the 48 canada goose black friday sale 31 Mariners, who are in line to secure the franchise’s first playoff appearance in 17 years, because Monday, which concluded with a 5 3 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, marked the midpoint of second baseman Robinson Cano’s 80 game absence for a positive drug test the event that has defined their season to this point and will continue to do so for many weeks to come, as his mid August return draws nearer. canada goose outlet official
canada goose factory outlet On May 14, Canada Goose Jackets the date of that tumultuous canada goose jolt, the Mariners were Canada Goose Online 22 17 and in third place in the AL West. But upon losing their best all around player and $240 million franchise cornerstone, rather than fall canada goose clearance sale into an aimless funk, they resolved themselves to not only survive the loss, but to embrace it. That day, Manager Scott Servais gathered the team, but didn’t make a long, fiery speech. canada goose factory outlet
canada goose outlet online uk “He just said, ‘We’re a good team. We can still do this,’ ” recalled ace left hander James Paxton, whose no hitter May 8 was a high point in the pre uk canada goose Cano suspension portion of haydar-furniture.com the season. “Losing Robbie was a blow to the team. But we knew at the time everyone would have to step up to cheap Canada Goose fill the void. No one guy could replace Robinson Cano.” canada goose outlet online uk
canada goose outlet london From the outside at least, the transition appeared seamless. Center fielder Dee Gordon was shifted to second base, his natural position. General Manager Jerry Dipoto, perhaps the most aggressive trader in the game, used some of the savings from Cano’s unpaid suspension to acquire reliever Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span from the Tampa Bay Rays. canada goose outlet london
canada goose outlet orlando And the Mariners kept on winning, going 22 7 in the canada goose uk black friday first five weeks without Cano and seizing first place in the AL Canada Goose Coats On Sale West from the defending World canada goose clearance Series champion Houston Astros. They kept winning, in fact, right up until June 14, when buy canada goose jacket they entered a stretch of 10 straight games against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees games viewed around the industry as a measuring stick for the Mariners’ legitimacy as a contender in the top heavy American League. canada goose outlet orlando
canada goose outlet in vancouver The result was not what the Mariners wanted. They went 3 7 during that stretch, losing six of the last seven and blowing two five run leads in the span of three games. With many critics already skeptical of the Mariners owing to their remarkable (and typically unsustainable) 23 11 record in one run games and their Canada Goose Outlet unremarkable run differential (which now sits at plus 12), the poor showing against the AL East titans only confirmed the suspicion. canada goose outlet in vancouver
canada goose outlet store new york “We’re 16 games over.500 that [bad stretch] didn’t do anything to our confidence,” Gordon said Monday, before the Mariners improved to 17 games over.500. “It’s just sometimes you lose. Every team goes through a low stretch. We’ll be fine.” canada goose outlet store new york
canada goose outlet toronto address Paxton, who lost in a showdown with Yankees canada goose factory sale ace Luis Severino in the middle of that stretch, went even further: “It didn’t do anything to damage our confidence,” he said. “We had a couple of bad innings that ended up biting us. But we’re still pretty confident in what we can accomplish. We have a really good team, and I think we’re postseason bound.” canada goose outlet toronto address
canada goose outlet uk The numbers back up that assertion. The Mariners entered Tuesday holding a seven game lead over the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A’s for the second AL wild card, and the simulated projections at FanGraphs give them a 71.6 percent chance of making the playoffs (though only a 1.6 percent chance of beating out Houston, whom they trail by only 3 games, for the division title). canada goose outlet uk
canada goose outlet authentic But the Mariners have at least one more major question to confront this summer: cheap canada goose uk how to integrate Cano back into the clubhouse, the lineup and the defense when the time comes. The question is complicated by the fact Cano will be eligible for the final six weeks of the regular season, but ineligible for the postseason, thanks to the suspension. canada goose outlet authentic
canada goose outlet near me “When canada goose store we get Robbie back, I know I’ll be excited to get him back,” Gordon said. “I’m pretty sure everybody in here feels the same way.” canada goose outlet near me
canada goose outlet london uk But should the Mariners plug Cano back into his regular spots Aug. 14, as if he were simply returning from an injury, then revamp their team canada goose uk shop yet again for the postseason? Or should they keep going the way they did in his absence, with Gordon seeing canada goose coats the bulk of the time at second base a position that, even if he were to cede it to Cano for the stretch run, he would need to get comfortable with again in October? canada goose outlet london uk
canada goose outlet toronto factory The answer, naturally, will depend largely upon the Mariners’ needs and playoff positioning in August and September. They could lean one way if their playoff canada goose coats on sale spot is already secured, but a different way if they are fighting for Canada Goose Parka survival. Either way, the team has already announced it will keep Gordon as the primary second baseman meaning Cano, who has never started a game in the majors at any other position, could have to see some time at first base and/or designated hitter. canada goose outlet toronto factory
canada goose sale uk “It’s hard to predict Canada Goose sale those things,” Servais said when asked about Cano’s return. “Quite frankly, I couldn’t have predicted we’d go on the run we did without having your three hole, all star second baseman. We don’t know what’s going to happen. I do know when he gets back, he’s very anxious to help the ballclub, and help it win. He feels that [with] the suspension thing, he let some people down. My thing is, I don’t want Robbie to come back and try too hard. Just come back and be Robbie. He’s a really talented player. He’ll be a welcome addition when he comes back.” canada goose sale uk
canada goose outlet montreal Win buy canada goose jacket cheap or lose, surge or implode, catch the Astros or get caught by the Angels, fall short of October for an Canada Goose Outlet 18th straight year or win it all for the first time in franchise history no matter what happens to the canada goose uk outlet Mariners from here on out, it will be fascinating to watch canada goose outlet montreal.