TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – Life is full of ups and downs and sometimes it takes you to unexpected heights. Take the Seattle Mariners season last year as an example of that. The Mariners were projected preseason to win 76 games by all analysis that does these sorts of things. Yet, despite being outscored by 51 runs, the Mariners won 90 games and had a chance to break their 20-year playoff slump right up to the last series of the season. In other words, they defied the odds and did the unthinkable. The odds of them doing that again this season is against them. Most experts around the country think maybe at best the Mariners will win 87 games and fall short of the playoffs once again even through the playoff field has been expanded to 12 teams. Since life is full of ups and downs and the Mariners had a big up last season it’s logically to expect the team to go down this season. The roster has been upgraded with last year’s American League Cy Young winner, lefty Robbie Ray, second baseman Adam Frazier, outfielder Jesse Winkler, a career .288 hitter and third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who hit 49 home runs in 2019 and 31 last year. And outfielder Julio Rodriquez, a phenom projected to be a future superstar, starts with the team this season. So the added pieces are there to expect the Mariners to be better this season. But there is that darn expected downer. Will that wipe out all the positive additions? I think we all get carried away with the promise of spring and expect “our” team to roll into the playoffs and make a serious run to the World Series. It’s human nature to jump on the local bandwagon and expect good things. The reality is the Mariners will probably not win the close games, the extra inning games, like they did last season. They will fall back to normal. And except for Oakland, which has pared its payroll down to $32 million, second lowest in the AL to Baltimore’s $30 million, teams in the AL West have enlarged payrolls. Houston’s payroll is just over $173 million, Los Angeles Angels are at $169 million and Texas is estimated to be $130 million. Seattle’s payroll is just under $93 million. If having the largest payroll equates to wins, Houston will again win the AL West. The Los Angeles Dodgers will win the World Series if spending big means big wins. The Dodgers’ payroll is the highest in baseball at $277 million. Next are the New York Mets at $253 million and the New York Yankees at $240 million. … I just have to say this, Kansas deserved to be the NCAA basketball champions. I didn’t pick them in my brackets, but they were solid, played fundamentally well and shot the heck out of it. When the Jayhawks got down 40-25 at halftime to North Carolina in the title game, I wasn’t worried. Kansas had the better coach by far in Bill Self and North Carolina had a bad habit of losing its mental edge. Remember the 25-point lead the Tar Heels gave up in the second half to Baylor? The Tar Heels regrouped and won in overtime, but this time they didn’t escape another lack of mentality. Kansas outscored North Carolina 47-29 in the second half. One other thing about March Madness, the Blue Bloods were the last four teams standing – Villanova, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas. The smaller schools that made a good run like Saint Peter’s were finally undone by teams with better players and better coaches. Nice try, but no cigar. That’s it for today. Stay safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.