Red Sox Seattle

Red Sox Seattle

Red Sox Seattle

Seattle Mariners Tickets - Lee Could Be Heading For D.l

For the first time in a few seasons, there is serious buzz around the Seattle Mariners, coming off an impressive offseason in which they added several big pieces to their roster. One of the main pieces certainly is Cliff Lee, who is among the most dominant left-handed starting pitchers in the league and is a perfect complement to Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. But don't start chalking the Mariners in for postseason play just yet, as it looks like Cliff Lee might just start the season on the D.L. with an abdominal injury.

After helping to carry the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series last season, Cliff Lee brought high expectations to the Mariners when they landed him this offseason. After winning a Cy Young in 2008, Lee has earned a reputation as a dominant starting pitcher that had fans clamoring about a division title. The division title talk needs to be put on hold (for now anyway), as Lee looks to recover from an injury he suffered in a collision with Chris Snyder of the Arizona Diamondbacks a few weeks back. The Mariners recently shut down Lee for nearly a week and there now is a strong possibility that he will miss his first couple starts of the season.

If a couple starts are all that Lee misses, however, then the Mariners are still in great shape to challenge for the A.L. West division title, as the division is at its weakest point in quite a few years. The Mariners won 87 games last season with only one solid starter in Hernandez, who was a Cy Young finalist, and could have won if it were not for the unbelievable season of Zach Greinke. Adding in the speedy Chone Figgins to the lineup and the Mariners still could be the team to beat in the division, but only if Lee can come back and be the pitcher he's capable of being.

Without Lee, it seems that the Mariners are little better than mediocre. The Mariners have a general lack of viable starting pitching after Lee in the rotation and will be relying on pitchers like Ryan Rowland-Smith and Ian Snell to get the ball back to King Felix without losing too many games. Even with a rising star in closer David Aardsma, Lee is absolutely essential for the Mariners' staying ahead of the rest of the division.

Even if Lee does struggle with getting back into the starting rotation, though, the Mariners still do have a solid overall team that will at least compete for the division title. If Lee doesn't make it back, they will not be the favorite in the division but will remain a tough team to beat, especially considering the key losses that the Los Angeles Angels have endured in the offseason and the general inconsistency and lack of star power on the Texas Rangers. <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/seattle-mariners-tickets/">Seattle Mariners tickets</a> should still be hot commodities for the first time in several years as the team is sure to compete with or without Lee as their second starter.

But with a healthy Lee, who has proven to be a big-time postseason pitcher as well, 2010 is an auspicious season that will have Mariners fans contemplating a deep run in the playoffs. If his abdominal injury lingers throughout the season, however, the Mariners simply don't have the bats in their lineup to counteract the rest of their shaky rotation and are in no position to compete with the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees for an A.L. pennant. It's early yet, but what happens over the next couple of weeks with Lee could help determine what happens in the A.L. West, which could very well be a three-team dogfight all the way through the season.

About the Author

David James wrote this article, which was sponsored by <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/">StubHub</a>, one of the finest places in the entire world wide web to get <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/seattle-mariners-tickets/">Seattle Mariners tickets</a>, concert tickets, theatre tickets, special events tickets, or almost any kind of sports ticket out there.