Some of the challenge in critiquing this Seattle Mariners roster has been that expectations were so low. A club expected to contend for nothing more than a top-10 pick instead is still grasping at the embers of a Wild Card flame in mid-September. It’s pleasing in an intellectual sense, but when viewing Seattle as a contender in contrast to the teams they’re jockeying with, the limitations that have undone the M’s all season are clear. Their lineup simply does not match up with that of a contender, and nowhere does it glare through more obviously than in the top and heart of their order.
The Mariners’ heartless lineup has caught up with them
