2001 Seattle Mariners

The winningest regular season team of all time, the 2001 Mariners racked up an incredible 116 wins over 162 games. Since Showdown squads are entirely based on regular season performances, this team is understandably a really good Showdown team... which is surprising, since they just came off losing superstars Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez. However, the arrival of AL MVP and ROY Ichiro injected a real spark in the team, which got career seasons out of players like Bret Boone and rode deep pitching and a well-rounded lineup to their hefty win total.

Lineup: The Mariners lineup is built around speed and consistency. No one exemplifies that better than hit machine and lead off spark-plug Ichiro! The 2001 MVP may not have an eye-popping card, but he'll speed his way around the bases and should score plenty of runs. Bret Boone is the only real power threat on the team, but he'll see plenty of pitches to hit being around high on-base hitters like Edgar Martinez, John Olerud, and Mark McLemore. The back end of the order is pretty weak, although Mike Cameron is a really solid sixth hitter. As long as Ichiro sets the table effectively, this offense should motor along effectively.

Rotation: Seattle's rotation is reminiscent of the 1998 Yankees - deep with stellar arms and a tier 2 ace. The Mariners are an improved version though, mainly thanks to having to Tier 2 pitchers lead the way. Personally, my favorite building rotation block is a card like Freddy Garcia. Control 5 to stay out of too much trouble, on at 17 to avoid the inevitable and frustrating Greg Maddux/David Cone innings where one pitcher gives up four to five straight base runners off their own chart. Jamie Moyer certainly won't have that problem with his Control 3, on at 19 card. Moyer will be especially great against weaker hitting teams, but could struggle mightily against anyone with a string of high OB hitters. Sele and Abbott round out the rotation as serviceable Tier 3 pitchers.

Bullpen: Thanks to his MLB Showdown 2002 and 03 cards, I really thought Kaz was going to have a Mariano Rivera-like card. However, the new pitcher formulas were most kind to him (I guess), as his 3.24 ERA lands him this Tier 3 closer card. Sidenote: how great was using a Control 6, on at 18 closer? WHEW, I guess the 02-05 cards did have some benefits! Anyway, Kaz's underwhelming card is backed up by two stalwart relievers in Rhodes and Nelson. Arthur lived up to his 4 on at 20 card from 02, putting together a Tier 1 season. He's going to pitch a lot of innings for this team and could have (with a savvy manager) an Andrew Miller like role. Nelson also brings a high control with good chart and should be useful in short bursts or for a couple innings. Paniagua is just a guy to use when everyone else is tired or the game is out of hand. Overall, a pretty decent bullpen but not thanks to the pitcher I figured would be anchoring this squad.

Overall:

As always, we include the regular version of our "foils." There are a LOT of them in this group, as the Mariners had EIGHT all stars in 2001.