The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT April 3, 2013

The Seattle Mariners contending for a playoff berth?

You're saying there's a chance this year?

Good enough for me.

FOR AS much as I've been down on the Seattle Mariners in recent years, showing some promise with young players, but always coming up well short of the playoffs, it surprised me that they made some moves to try to improve the roster over the offseason.

Raul Ibanez - still the only guy I've seen hit a walk-off homer to win a game for Seattle - is back. For how long remains to be seen as I figure if things go south in a hurry, Ibanez will be traded to help a contender somewhere.

Jason Bay is known around these parts as a Hall of Fame inductee at North Idaho College, and also played at Gonzaga.

Then again, Bay hasn't quite played up to what expectations have been over the last couple of years, struggling and eventually getting released by the New York Mets. If he becomes half the player he was in Pittsburgh, who knows, maybe the Mariners can hang around until June, but if not - he could find himself looking for a place to play a lot sooner than later.

If it doesn't work out for Bay, he could return to Coeur d'Alene, help get that NIC baseball program resurrected at a nearby stadium and maybe help train younger kids how to get to the majors just like him.

Acquiring Kendrys Morales to play first base or be the designated hitter helps the offense, but giving up the No. 2 pitcher from last season, Jason Vargas, to get him might have been a little steep.

The best move of the year so far didn't come with a free agency addition, but by signing Felix Hernandez to a 7-year, $175 million dollar contract extension.

Not only does it keep one of the top pitchers in the game in Seattle for a while longer, it also gives fans a reason to get out to the games.

AS FAR as opening games go, Monday’s game against the Oakland Athletics couldn’t have gone much better for Seattle.

They won, despite the offense not being able to drive in runs again, mainly because Hernandez pitched much like the guy they expected him to when they signed him.

Guys like Ibanez and Bay will be counted on to help them get out of last place in the American League West.

One thing fans are counting on is that with the Houston Astros moving into the AL West from the National League, the Astros — who lost 107 games last year — might be the worst team in the division.

That being said, Houston beat Texas — which advanced to the playoffs last season — in their opener, and who knows, maybe some change did them good.

Which brings me back to Seattle.

Overhauling the roster and putting some veterans in with some of the younger players, as well as another year of experience, maybe they’ve got a shot at doing what Oakland did last year and win the AL West.

There’s a chance again.

And that’s good enough for me.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]