THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Patience, M's, 2022 will be here soon enough

Never mind the chilly nights.

You’ve got major league baseball in April.

Would you rather spin it back a year and have a “traditional” opener on July 23?

No need to worry.

Baseball is back, and right on time.

Admittedly, with Gonzaga shooting for a title and Russell Wilson aiming to run the Seahawks front office, the national pastime has snuck up on us.

But…

What do you know?

The Mariners are opening at home next Thursday night against San Francisco — and with 9,000 actual human beings in attendance.

We’ll still need masks, social distancing and common sense in MLB this year, but at least we get a full season (hopefully), along with a return to fewer playoff teams, no DH in National League parks, and so on.

Let baseball’s power brokers sort that out when they try to write a new collective bargaining agreement after this season.

THIS MAY be a strange year for the lovable M’s, who are still trying to snap the playoff drought that dates back to 2001.

Two seasons ago, GM Jerry Dipoto announced that Seattle would adopt a “step-back” policy that basically involved unloading expensive veterans who gave the team a ceiling of 85-89 wins — not enough in a division that includes Houston and Oakland.

So, the Mariners traded away tons of aging talent.

In return, they grabbed young major leaguers and some super prospects — hoping to add all these treasures to some solid draft picks.

It’s worked…

More or less.

Unfortunately, last year’s COVID-wracked season meant that kids already in Seattle (Kyle Lewis, Evan White, J.P. Crawford, Justus Sheffield, Justin Dunn and others) didn’t get enough action under fire.

Prospects like Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, Cal Raleigh and more were stuck in that purgatory called the alternate training site.

Kelenic, among others, has stated loudly that those occasional intramural games were a waste of time.

He wanted to be with the Mariners, while Dipoto wanted him playing a full year of minor league ball – but that’s a story for another day.

IT’S FAIR to say that we’re all glad to have baseball back, even if April in the Northwest makes you think more of the Iditarod than nachos and cold beer.

Just for discussion, though…

Where exactly are Mariners in their building project?

Basically, the talented kids who were supposed to get reps in Seattle a year ago are back to try again.

And those highly rated prospects?

In spring games through Thursday, Kelenic and Rodriguez each were hitting exactly .333, with two homers apiece — though with a very small sample size.

Still, they get your heart pumping.

J-Rod looks like something awfully special, hitting line drives that put you in mind of 3-wood shots.

Kelenic missed about 10 days with a muscle injury, so he needs at-bats (even if he disagrees).

Looking at the glass half full, the season lost to COVID has moved the Mariners’ drive to be a regular postseason candidate from this year to 2022 — but, hey, everyone’s a year older and more mature.

LOOKING at the glass half empty, well…

It’s been empty for two decades, so let’s get on with winning.

Nonetheless…

Dipoto and his bosses absolutely MUST resist the temptation to rush the kids along.

We’ll almost surely see Kelenic in left field at T-Mobile Park by June or so.

Gilbert, a big and polished right-hander, should slide into the Mariners’ starting rotation sometime this season.

Sure, if the team that opens against the Giants next week (with just a few tweaks) winds up close to a playoff spot in late summer, and various youngsters are tearing up the minors…

By all means, go for it.

Add a couple vets at the trading deadline, as long as you’re not selling out the bright and shiny farm system.

But for heaven’s sake, we’re close to something special here, so don’t hurry things right into a ditch.

If heaven must wait until 2022…

So be it.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the NCAA tournament. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, will return and run each Sunday after Gonzaga’s season is concluded.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which will be published each Thursday during the tournament.