THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Mariners just might be ahead of schedule

Next year.

That’s the Mariners’ plan, to have their corps of exciting prospects come together with a few veterans in just the right mixture.

Originally, it might have been this year when the magic concoction launched Seattle into pennant contention — that wonderful place where GM Jerry Dipoto intends for his club to take up more or less permanent residence.

Ah, but the COVID-19 misery that hammered us all had a profound effect on the Mariners, whose minor leaguers got left without a year of development.

So, everything has been pushed back a year, and now 2022 is the target for Dipoto, manager Scott Servais and the Mariners ownership.

Except…

The current club perhaps didn’t get the memo.

The Mariners begin a five-game homestand tonight — three against Houston and two with the World Series champion Dodgers — and Seattle is sitting on top of the American League West.

Small sample, I know.

The M’s are 8-5 after putting together a nice 5-2 road trip to Minnesota and Baltimore.

IT’S FAIR to hold off on pennant fever for the moment.

Go ahead and chuckle…

That’s the result of two decades without a playoff appearance.

But the building project is coming along nicely, really.

We’ll probably need to wait another year to see this thing seriously rolling.

Hey, most of the newcomers Seattle hopes will make a long-term splash still haven’t been involved in action at T-Mobile Park.

It’ll be quite a bit later this season, if I had to guess, before Mariners fans finally see hero-in-waiting Jarred Kelenic take over in left field, or big right-hander Logan Gilbert step into the rotation for good.

Switch-hitting catcher Cal Raleigh probably will get his first big-league action sometime this summer, as well.

And perhaps the most thrilling of them all, 20-year-old outfielder Julio Rodriguez, originally had been penciled in for an appearance in 2023 – but J-Rod looked SO good in spring training that his trajectory actually could resemble something like the Ken Griffey Jr. model.

I’m not saying that Julio is the next Griffey — that would be crazy — but club insiders have watched his progress, seen the explosion when the ball leaves his bat, and they’re beginning to dream.

Some members of Dipoto’s potential pennant winners are already in Seattle, of course.

Kyle Lewis was the American League rookie of the year in 2020, but he’s been nursing a knee bruise and hasn’t played yet this spring.

Lewis is due to return tonight.

But several other key pieces to the future are present and looking good, players like Ty France, Luis Torrens, J.P Crawford, Taylor Trammell and Evan White.

Meanwhile, Mitch Haniger has shaken off two years of injury and inactivity, and he looks like the All-Star of 2018.

I’D SAY the hardest thing to do when creating a team for the long haul is putting together a pitching staff.

It’s a two-part job, obviously.

You need a stable starting rotation — hopefully a few guys who will be around a while — and then you scramble around to find a useful bullpen.

There’s almost an art form to it, getting your hands on pitchers whose careers are heading up, others you rescue and revive when they’re slipping down.

Your target never stays still, either.

Seattle seemed to get a terrific break when talented lefty James Paxton signed a very reasonable deal to return after a stint with the Yankees.

Then…

Paxton threw one scoreless inning in his first start, felt pain in his arm, and is off for Tommy John surgery.

On the other hand, Japanese lefty Yusei Kikuchi never quite put things together during his first two years in MLB, but suddenly he’s unlocked something — throwing 97 with (better) command and getting hitters out.

YOUNGSTERS Justin Dunn and Justus Sheffield now appear as they belong in an upper-level rotation.

Raphael Montero, Kenyan Middleton, former starter Kendall Graveman and Rule 5 acquisition Will Vest look surprisingly good at the heart of the bullpen.

Again, small sample size, but…

Most the Mariners victories so far have come in close games.

Solid bullpens give you that edge.

Look, I’m not saying the Mariners are going to win the West.

I will say, however, that Dipoto seems to be on the right track and that the Mariners are in good hands.

Newcomers in the Northwest may tend to write off the Mariners — hey, all those frustrating seasons, the Seahawks are always good, yada, yada.

Well…

In the late ‘90s and into this millennium, the Mariners drew over 3 million fans for six consecutive seasons.

There is a crazy fan base around, waiting only for a reason to wake up and go nuts.

I think it’s coming.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the offseason.