What do you guys think?

Anybody that feels we're competing for a pennant in 2010 is expecting a bit unrealistically. It'll still take us a couple of years to get where we need to be on the farm at each level and in the big league clubhouse but, Mike Brumley and the rest of our existing staff is a major stride in an appropriate direction. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely up for the M's pushing for a playoff berth next season and we'll just have to wait and see what's in store this offseason which, we should know relatively quickly with what kind of activities we're involved in during the winter meetings on what the immediate plan is for the here and now.

The Mariners actually becoming a driving force in 2010 definitely relies on Jack Z's. approach toward our future this offseason....

Re-signing Felix Hernandez?

Trading Jose Lopez/prospects for a top tier SP to compliment "The King?"

Re-signing Adrian Beltre and (or) Erik Bedard?

Hideki Matsui?

Chone Figgins?

Jason Bay?

Brandon Webb?

Adam LaRoche?

Bengie Molina?

Matt Holliday?

Jayson Werth?

John Lackey?

Jason Marquis?

Orlando Hudson?

What's big in your eyes?

Big for me.... sign Felix. If we cant then trade him. Hopefully once we sign him we do the following....

would like Figgins, gives you super utility value can play 2nd, 3rd or OF.... but unlikely we spend our money on him. Maybe something like this would work....

Trade Lopez, Aardsma and potentially Morrow (if we can get value for him).

Sign Hudson to play 2B - Leaves Tui, Hall competing for 3rd base. Get a decent bat for LF via a trade - would love Crawford, but not sure we have the ammo for that. If we cold get Crawford and Brignac for a deal like Aardsma and Saunders then that would be a dream come true. If not then just resign Jack Wilson on a cheapish 2 year deal - keeping the position warm for Truinfel.

Branyan/Carp to compete for 1B then pick up a DH like Matsui or Abreu (Abreu wil probably be too expensive). Or try gettig Milton Bradley off the Cubs.

Sign Bedard on a cheap incentive based one year deal. Then trade (with Lopez as the key piece) to get a number 2 starting pitching under team control for 2 or 3 years.

My ideal team for 2010

Ichiro RF
Hudson 2B
Crawford LF (Maybe Bradley as a back up plan)
Matsui DH
Branyan 1B
Guti CF
Tui 3B
Moore C
Brignac SS (sign Wilson as a back up plan)

Bench - Langerhans (or if he is still here saunders), Hall, Hanahan, Sweeney and Johnson

Felix
Bedard
Morrow - or the pitcher we get for dealing Lopez
Snell
RRS

I really think that this off season will be a buyers market, a lot of players will be finding them selves with out a team to play on unless they lower their signing demands big time. the current economic reality will show that other then the big time spend spend spend yankees alot of other clubs will fish the stream and even the bottom to snag what they want. so you look at a guy like noah lowry and say he is coming off surgery and he stinks. this may or may not be true but I 'm sure alot of clubs will give him a look and for the right price he may end up being a number 2 or 3 guy in somebody's rotation.
what I am trying to say is don;t jump to conclusions about a player being great or being a bust
nobody knows what type of a season a player will have. I bet nobody here thought that Russell Branyen would have done what he did this year and I say great job Russell props to you. but I am sure that Jack Z is going to take a look at alot of people in the off season. maybe even players you did not expect. now as for Jason Bay I like him, and would love the idea of him playing in left for the Mariners and it just might happen I do not see the Red Sox offering Bay a long term big money contract.
the days of long term big money contracts are long gone with the exception of Felix Hernandez or king felix...the Mariners need to build their team around him and sign him to a long term deal no matter what that should be priority number one.

please, please, jesus, see that bengie slow-mole-lina is on a different team next year.

I think that, as usual, a majority of the fan base will want/ask for us to spend a bunch of money on top free agents. And they will be upset when it doesn't happen.

I think that a majority of the fan base won't understand or be able to anticipate the kinds of moves this front office WILL make because they don't understand how this front office thinks. But that's just me.