One of the highly questionable signings this past off-season was Robinson Cano leaving the Bronx, and joining the Seattle Mariners. With that signing, Cano left a regular playoff favorite in the Yankees, and joined a Mariners team that hasn't reached postseason baseball since 2001. Meanwhile, Cano had been to the postseason all but 1 year in New York since debuting in 2005, including winning the World Series in 2009. Not only have the Mariners been on a 13 year hiatus from October, coming in to the season they showed no signs of ending that hiatus any time soon. Many have questioned why Cano would join a lineup where he seemed to be the only proven hitter, and not many thought Cano was enough to carry the Mariners to success. They do have one of the best pitchers in baseball in Felix Hernandez, but offensively they had nothing of postseason caliber. They were coming off a season in which they hit just .237, good for 27th in all of baseball. Robinson Cano has won Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, but never a batting crown, or HR title, so that one free agent acquisition didn't seem to be enough to lift the Mariners' offense, according to baseball experts. Cano has silenced those critics as he currently sits at 2nd place in the batting race, behind only Jose Altuve, with a .330 average. Seattle has gotten help from other unlikely sources, at least from a power standpoint, such as Kyle Seager with 18 HR's and 74 RBI in an All-Star season, and the recent trade to bring the powerful Kendrys Morales back to Seattle. Seattle still sits in 20th place as a team in batting, but have combined their impressive bullpen, good rotation, with some clutch hitting to keep themselves in the playoff hunt. The extra wild card spot certainly has come in handy for Seattle to remain relevant, but they have surprisingly done more than enough themselves to remain relevant. The fact that they are in the American League West division with two of the top teams in baseball (Athletics and Angels) have kept the Mariners nearly unnoticed around the league. They sit 6.5 games out of first place in the division, so they seem to be focusing on a wild card spot. They are 11 games over .500 and could be the most dangerous team in a one game wild card playoff with Felix Hernandez leading their rotation. Under first year manager Lloyd McClendon the Mariners remain underrated late in the season, even with very little expectations for their team. In the end, it may work out in their favor.
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