What's at Stake? The Rotation

As pitchers and catchers reported this week, (Yay!) I thought we would hit the 4 main areas of the M's roster and review what jobs are up for grabs in Spring Training. Who could make the club, who could get the boot and what it would mean for the M's season coming up.

We'll start off with the rotation. What's at Stake? Since the Bedard trade, not bloody much! Here's how the rotation shakes out:

SP1 Erik Bedard
SP2 Felix Hernandez
SP3 Carlos Silva
SP4 Jarrod Washburn
SP5 Miguel Batista

Silva, Wash and Batista could actually start in any order there, I listed Batista as the 5 only because if the pen should struggle or we lose JJ for any length of time they could move him to the pen and start someone else. I expect he is on the shortest leash of any of the Craptastic Three should they struggle. Although given what we have seen of McLaren so far, we know that the leash is pretty damn long for all of them. This is the guy who gave HoRam 20 starts with an ERA over 7!

These are the guys in the running to be the first guy up from Tacoma. Spring Training is important for these guys, because the Mariners in the past have let the manager make the call on callups and fill-ins, so pesky things like AAA stats are not going to be a huge factor in the decision, at least not compared to whether or not they "showed us something," in the spring.

40 Man Roster candidates
Horacio Ramirez - Probably will be in big league pen as a mop-up guy. Sucks.
Cha Seung Baek - 12 starts last year and wasn't terrible. Pretty much the definition of a replacement level pitcher. He's got the best BP PECOTA projection of anybody fighting for a job here.
Ryan Feierabend - Baek with a cooler name. Actually Ryan is 22 and throws harder, so there is more upside here, but his 9 starts were not as good as Baek's.
Ryan Rowland-Smith - Lefty who spent some time in the big league pen last year and has a shot a job there this year. Worked as a starter in Venezuela this winter, with limited success. Baseball America has him as our 9th best prospect.
R.A. Dickey - Rule 5 selection this offseason, if he doesn't make the big-league club, he must be offered back to the Twins. Had an ERA under 4 in AAA Nashville last year as a knuckleballer.

NRIs with an outside shot:
Jake Woods - He's still here?
Robert Rohrbaugh- Finesse college lefty with good control.

Up next: The Bullpen!