THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Baseball fans have heard all the talk about the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals being the two teams to beat in the American League this season.

But why not the Seattle Mariners?

Are some experts afraid of all the moves the team made not being enough to contend?

Or, are those M’s fans just doomed for another long year?

FOR THE first time in a long time it seems, second baseman Robinson Cano is healthy.

Incredible news, isn’t it.

Cano was a guy that had the entire weight of the team on his back when he signed his huge contract two years ago, and promptly began to disappear as the power hitter that the Mariners needed him to be. But following surgery for a hernia during the offseason, he just seems different this year.

Heck, the guy smacked three home runs in an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs a few weeks ago. There’s been times when all fans could expect was a home run — eventually — within the span of a few weeks.

His health could end up being a big key in the team’s success, or lack thereof this season.

And it appears, for now, that the team’s pitching staff — at least the starters — are healthy, with Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker ready to take the mound from the start of the season.

Iwakuma was hurt early in the season last year and Walker was better in the second half of 2015 than in the first for Seattle.

With Hernandez, you pretty much know what you’re going to get each and every night, at least six to seven solid innings and a chance to win more often than not.

In Monday’s opener, Hernandez allowed one hit — one — in a 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers. Cano homered on his second swing of the season, and they still couldn’t quite finish the deal.

BUT WITH those mainstays in the lineup, what can be expected of the newcomers that are going to be counted on to put these guys back in the postseason for the first time in 14 years.

Wade Miley and Nathan Karns are the two guys expected to be the bookends of the starting rotation. Miley’s had his moments, as has Karns during the spring, but pitching in the spacious Safeco Field surroundings should help a ton.

As for the guy that catching all these guys, Chris Iannetta, he’ll have to get familiar with what these guys do best quickly if the team wants to get out to a fast start.

In the outfield, the additions of Nori Aoki and Leonys Martin should provide the team with a little more speed to run down some fly balls, rather than seeing Dustin Ackley struggle to find the ball at times.

GRANTED, THIS might be another one of those years where the team underachieves, and it very well could be.

Injuries in the bullpen and one setback to either Cano, Nelson Cruz or Kyle Seager might be enough to derail the season before it even gets a head of steam.

As a ton of prep coaches have already said, “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

There’s plenty of optimism, despite losing in such a terrible fashion on Monday.

Hopefully at the four-mile mark, they’ll be near the pack instead of lying on the pavement waiting for the medics to come pick them off the ground.

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 jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.