What to make of the 7-2 homestand???

How does a team that loses 11 in a row, then go 7-2 against the Yankees, Red Sawx and Angels? Baseball is a funny game.

Part of the answer is that the Mariners are probably a .500 team in terms of talent this year, so after an 11 game losing streak, some regression to the mean is inevitable. They are going to win somewhere between 78-85 games this year, so they've got to beat somebody.

There is an interesting parallel with the Twins this year though. After starting the year with "proven veterans" like Tony Batista, Juan Castro, Rondell White, and others, the Twinkies were dead and buried in the AL playoff chase. But they cut those guys loose and started playing guys from the farm system like Bartlett and Kubel, Liriano goes into the rotation and boom! They took off and currently hold the wild card slot.

The Mariners don't have quite the talent of the Twins, but the lineup they trotted out last night is so much better than the ones early in the year featuring Everett as the DH and Bloomquist in center:

CF, Ichiro
RF, Snelling
3b, Beltre
LF, Ibanez
1B, Sexson
DH, Broussard
C, Johjima
2b, Lopez
SS, Betancourt

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to start next season with that lineup right there, would it? Another big bat would be great, but wouldn't you rather we signed two starters? 3 maybe?

As the season winds down I expect both Jason and I will take a look at what we think the M's should do in the offseason, but at quick glance, I think I could live with that lineup.