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Mariners need more pieces than Robinson Cano

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Mariners need more pieces than Robinson Cano

The city of Seattle acquired two successful sports figures. Not only did the University of Washington football team fill its head coaching vacancy with Boise State’s Chris Petersen, but the Seattle Mariners did some Christmas shopping of their own by grabbing New York Yankees’ star second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano and the Mariners agreed on a 10-year deal worth $240 million.

The move instantly upgraded Seattle’s struggling offense and could potentially make the Mariners a threat in the American League West next season.

As a Mariners’ fan, I’m excited they brought one of the best second baseman in the league to play at Safeco Field. It shows they are trying to improve offensively for next season.

This past season the Mariners finished 22nd out of the 30 teams in runs with 624 (3.9 per game) and 28th in batting average (.237). Cano hit .314 with 27 home runs and 107 RBIs for the Yankees.

Seattle’s Kendrys Morales led the team with a .277 batting average and 80 RBIs.

Although I think the move to acquire Cano was a smart one, I don’t think one player is going to be able to turn a 71-91 team into an immediate playoff contender. The Mariners either need to acquire a couple more free agent sluggers or hope their current players step up the offensive production.

Nobody in the Mariners’ lineup is too scary to face late in a close game, so opposing teams can pitch around Cano to force other Seattle hitters to beat them.

Besides Morales, a free agent who declined the Mariners’ one-year qualifying offer last month, third baseman Kyle Seager showed this season he can produce in the batter’s box. Even though he only hit .260, he led the Mariners with a .338 on base percentage, hit 22 home runs and played solid defense at the hot corner. Raul Ibanez was a pleasant surprise last season blasting 29 home runs despite turning 41-years-old in early June. But, the Los Angeles Angels are close to finalizing a deal with Ibanez, a free agent.

If the Mariners don’t pick up any other great-hitting free agents, they will require their young players to step up like Dustin Ackley, Michael Saunders and Mike Zunino. If a few more players step up offensively, opposing pitchers will have to concentrate their attention on more than just Cano.

The Mariners are definitely moving in the right direction by acquiring Cano and proved they are willing to pay almost any amount of money to bring a winning ball club back to Seattle.

They could be on the brink of playing meaningful baseball in September next season and chasing down a playoff spot, but they need to figure out a way to put more runs on the scoreboard.

Even though the Mariners finished the year 20 games below .500, Cano making the trip to the Pacific Northwest gives Mariners fans hope heading into next year. The Mariners can feel good about heading into next season with one of the best pitchers (Felix Hernandez) and best hitters in the game.

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