Mariners Morsels - aka "Free Adam Moore and Rich Poythress! (George Sherrill is FREE!)"

And we have survived. It's been a .500 year, so far, and were it not for a bench that has more lumber than the players that sit on it, we'd probably be a few games over. I still don't understand Hargrove's decision to keep 7 guys in the 'pen, when we desparately need a bat on the bench.

Still, the bullpen and the defense have to be the stars of the start of this team so far. The hitting (outside, of course, of Ichiro) actually has been worse than it was last season. However, Reed, Ibanez and Winn all are starting to find their strokes. Sexson and Beltre, while they haven't blown anyone away, still have been relatively productive. When the switch is turned on for those guys, watch out!

My report card:

Offense: C-
Bench: F
Starting Pitching: B-
Bullpen: B+
Defense: B+

Average grade: C (just barely below it). Consistent with the .500 record for April. It should stay the same or slightly improve in May. It could certainly be worse -- and we're only 2 games out of first place. **Added May 3rd: It is worse. We've started May off 0-2, and with the next several games against Anaheim, Boston, and New York, I retract my statement for May -- I doubt things will actually improve in May. We'll be fortunate to be .500 in May.

The offense will come around, and the bullpen will probably have its issues. All and all, I expect this team to slightly improve, and be around a C+/B- team.