THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Complex, but the M's still have a shot

The Mariners are alive in the American League wild card race.

For today.

After tonight, no guarantees.

To actually have a genie pop out of a magic lamp and grant the Mariners their most fervent wish, well, you’ll get a serious headache trying to figure out how this wild card thing might still happen.

For starters, Seattle has to sweep Oakland in the final three games of the regular season.

Even if the M’s are busy mourning a lost season by then, at least fans at this Sunday’s game will get to witness some history.

It will be Oakland’s final game, as the A’s begin the ludicrous trek to Sacramento and then presumably on to Las Vegas.

Meanwhile.

Back to the frustrating, underachieving Mariners.

There is a “camel-through-the-eye-of-a-needle” chance that Seattle could be playing for a postseason spot on Sunday — but honestly, it’s more likely that leadoff hitter Victor Robles can solve a Rubik’s Cube between a couple of pitches during his first at-bat.

Aw, never mind, Victor.

The wild card will be gone, so just go ahead and bunt for another base hit.

WAIT!

Just to be safe and remembering that baseball is crazy, let’s the phrase wild card situation this way: It surely OUGHT to be gone.

The Mariners are sitting on 82 wins (yes, they’ll finish over .500) as they begin that last series Friday night against the Oakland A’s.

They need 85 wins, barring an even more insane Lourdes-level miracle, to have that ghost of a chance.

Kansas City and Detroit each had 83 wins, and Minnesota 81 — prior to their games Wednesday night.

The Mariners have three problems here:

1. They have to sweep the A’s, who have been annoyingly difficult (4-6 against Seattle in a string of close games). That would give the M’s 85 wins. The other three teams have four more games, plus the results from Wednesday.

2. There are only two wild card spots left among the four teams in mathematical contention. Baltimore has locked up the top position among teams who didn’t win divisions, so the Mariners need TWO of the remaining three teams to fall short of 85 wins.

3. All three of other contenders own tiebreakers over the Mariners. Detroit (5-1) and the Twins (5-2) are head-to-head winners, and Kansas City (3-3) gets the next tiebreaker by virtue of a better division record. The Royals were 33-19 against the AL Central, the best intra division record in MLB (helped along by a 12-1 record against the White Sox).

IT’S TRULY a shame that the final week of the season has come to this.

The Mariners have the talent to breeze into the playoffs and, frankly, they should have won the AL West.

They’re sitting four games behind Houston (the champs, again), which feels absurd.

Seattle’s starting pitching is good enough to win any division in baseball.

Unfortunately, there were some bullpen hiccups late in the season, and the offense didn’t come alive in time.

It’s amazing how much better some of these guys have hit (Julio comes to mind) since Edgar Martinez hung around as interim batting coach.

Edgar made a point of selling the hitters on swinging at 80 percent, which he believes produces just as much velocity — but with better bat control and the ability to maintain balance through the swing.

Once Edgar came around, the Mariners started whacking line drives.

Everyone’s batting average went up, removing the possibility that Seattle might have five everyday players stuck beneath the Mendoza Line.

You might ask: Why didn’t somebody mention this “easier swing” philosophy earlier in the year?

The Mariners fired TWO hitting coaches during the season, which kind of tells you that the front office got around to asking that same question.

Maybe if Edgar had been summoned a month sooner, these hitters would be tuning up for the playoffs.

We’ll never know.

But the core of the offense will be around next year, and Seattle’s prized prospects should begin reaching the major leagues.

Every one of the hitters must be made to watch an Edgar Martinez video as part of his pregame routine.

Heaven knows they have plenty of iPad info as it is.

What’s a few more minutes, when you’re listening to a Hall of Famer who could actually hit?

Listen to Edgar, and finally put Houston in the rear-view mirror.

Just 80 percent, gentlemen.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”