THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Is this really happening?

Are the Seattle Mariners spending money to bring in the pieces to that playoff puzzle, after all these years?

It must be Christmas.

SEATTLE APPEARS to be on the verge of signing Nelson Cruz, who terrorized fans with clutch hits and home runs during his time with the Texas Rangers.

The move might have made sense last year, with the Mariners in desperate need of some hitting and him being available, but with Cruz coming off a suspension for performance enhancing drugs, the Baltimore Orioles were the ones to take a chance on him.

It paid off for them, as the Orioles advanced to the American League Championship Series before losing to the Kansas City Royals.

Now, he appears to be back in the AL West - that is, if he can pass a physical.

With the pending addition of Cruz, along with the team announcing that Kyle Seager agreed to a contract extension Tuesday, instead of seeing guys leave within two years, it seems that some key pieces are going be in town a while.

Seattle didn't need much this offseason, only missing the playoffs by a single game last year, mostly because the Mariners couldn't score runs.

Adding Cruz to a lineup that features Robinson Cano and a full year of Austin Jackson might not cure all those problems, but it definitely has the Mariners appearing to be on the right track.

WITH THE pressure for coaches to get their team into the college football playoff, it didn't surprise me to see a few fired over the holidays.

First, Nebraska fired Bo Pelini after his team went 66-27 in seven seasons, but failed to win a conference championship and advance to a BCS bowl game while coach.

Somewhere in that time, Nebraska jumped from the Big 12 to the Big Ten, a conference that doesn't make a ton of sense for them to be in.

Another Big Ten school, Michigan, fired coach Brady Hoke after he went 31-20 in four seasons. But a 5-7 record this season and a mess of problems left him without a job.

More is expected of you at those big-time programs, especially places like Michigan and Nebraska, who are expected to contend for national titles on a yearly basis.

For a couple of local fan bases, finishing 6-6 or 5-7 might be considered an improvement, maybe even landing a contract extension.

WITH THE exception of a few programs, there hasn't been much to get excited about as far as postseason hopes around the Northwest.

Maybe things are changing.

And maybe, we're used to settling for that lump of coal.

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]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.