While the Seattle Mariners improved drastically by hurling a massive 10-year contract at free agent second baseman Robinson Cano this offseason, they can't rely on him to pitch. According to reports M's general manager Jack Zduriencik has hopes for fortifying a rotation with Felix Hernandez manning the top spot, with youthful question marks behind him.
When recently asked if he was comfortable with the team's rotation at the moment, Zduriencik said "not tremendously." Much of the rotation's success will hinge on top prospect Taijuan Walker panning out as a reliable arm for the whole season. James Paxton, Erasmo Ramirez and Brandon Maurer are all competing for spots as well, so the staff is high on upside but low on proven ability.
"I think there is certainly potential there. There are some things that have to come together. When you're placing a lot of faith and trust in young kids that have very short windows of success, that's risky," Zduriencik said. "I will say that they're talented but how quickly they become legitimate major leaguers, is yet to be seen. There may be opportunities for us in the next period of time, few days or so, maybe we'll be able to add something to it."
When asked about Walker in particular, Zdurencik said, "He's young, he's talented, he's got a ton of ability. He has to acclimate himself to being a big league starting pitcher. How quickly that comes, I don't know. Everybody is different."
The top-line starters left on the market are Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez, as Matt Garza appears headed to the Milwaukee Brewers, but after spending so much to ink Cano they might be out of the Mariners' price range. "I don't suspect we'll make a major move but we hopefully will do a couple of things that will be tweaks that help the club certainly for this year," Zduriencik said.
That could mean they make a pitch to Bronson Arroyo, who possesses a rubber arm with almost none of the flash of Santana or Jimenez. Last year in Cincinnati Arroyo was 14-12 with a 3.79 ERA. He struck out 124 batters and tossed two complete games while making 32 starts. Arroyo hasn't started less than 32 games in the past nine seasons.
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