When the Seattle Mariners dealt their probably No. 2 starter for 2012 in Michael Pineda to the New York Yankees (along with P Jose Campos) for C Jesus Montero and P Hector Noesi, they made such a gamble.

Pineda, 22, was pretty special in his rookie season in 2011. In 171 innings, Pineda struck out 173 and walked 55. His ERA was 3.74 and his WHIP 1.10. His impressive start to the season was good enough to make the AL All-Star team.

Despite these facts, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik made the right move in trading Pineda and Campos (who we will get to shortly) for the Yankees star young catcher, Montero (and Noesi).

Montero, 22, is a natural hitter. The fact that he has only played in 18 games thus far in his career has more to do with the fact that the Yankees didn’t really have the room in their starting lineup nor time while they competed for a divisional title, to play the youngster. What he is not, is a natural catcher and whether he is able to stay at that position will determine the true value in this deal.

Wherever Montero plays, whether it’s as a 1B/DH or C or even 3B, he will have value because of his bat. His hitting talent is such that he can contend for batting crowns while clubbing 30+ homers and driving in 100+ runs each and every season. But as the Mariners look to continue to improve an offense that has been historically inept the last two seasons, having the ability to add a player like Prince Fielder for instance, at DH or 1B, while Montero catches and Justin Smoak plays first, is critical.

The fact is the Mariners have pitching. Lots of it. What they were in desperate need of was, and still is, hitting. Lots of it. Adding a player like Montero, who can be a MVP contender in his career, is absolutely necessary for their chances to win divisional titles and make continual trips to the playoffs.

Because no matter how good the Mariners pitch, they still won’t win games without scoring runs. The past two seasons have shown that as the team finished 61-101 and 67-95 while posting team ERA’s of sub-4.00.

This was a deal that showcases four players that are laced with loads of potential but little results. Not a single one of these players have proved themselves yet.

Pineda could be a perennial All-Star and perhaps even a Cy Young winner with the Yankees. So could Campos who is just 19-years-old and probably three years away from making his MLB debut.

Montero, as mentioned, could also be a perennial All-Star and a MVP. Noesi could be a solid middle-of-the-rotation pitcher. Or they could not be.

It is a gamble. One the Mariners had to make and one that they will be able to endure due to the talent they are getting in return and the pitching depth they have in the system.

In the next couple of months, as the Mariners conduct spring training, you’re going to hear a few names over and over again. That of pitchers Danny Hultzen, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker. All three are former first round draft picks and on the short track to the big leagues. All three have higher ceilings than the 6-foot, 7-inch Pineda.

Hultzen and Paxton will be in the Mariners rotation in 2012. Walker will be there in 2013. They will all be good, possibly even great.

And now the Mariners could have an offense that matches them.

Last week’s Fielder update was a story out of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the Washington Nationals were now the frontrunners to sign the Brewers first baseman. Apparently Nationals’ team officials had a meeting with Scott Boras, the agent for Fielder, and Fielder was in the D.C. area.

I don’t know about any of you, but I take reports like this with about a pound of salt, nevermind the requisite grain. First of all, how do you think this reporter discovered that the Nationals and Boras were meeting? I don’t think it would surprise too many people if Boras himself publicized this with an “oh,-by-the-way” comment.

The other thing is Washington and Boras have a number of reasons to be talking to each other that don’t include Fielder. Boras, after all, has a number of clients and a couple of his more high-profile clients already play for the Nationals. I’m sure recent No. 1 picks Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper will ring a bell. He’s also the agent for Jaysen Werth, last year’s huge free agent signing.

So to take one small fact that the two parties had a discussion and immediately think they were talking about Fielder is jumping to conclusions. The fact is, there is no reason to believe that Washington is even remotely interested in Fielder.

Here we are a week later now, and still Fielder remains unsigned. Obviously Boras is holding out for additional teams to jump in the fray with the Texas Rangers being the most likely. The Rangers won the Yu Darvish posting sweepstakes last month with a $51.7 million bid. They were given a 30-day window to sign the Japanese pitcher and are down to their final days (January 18th is the deadline) in which they can agree to terms with Darvish before the posting fee is returned and Darvish is left to play in Japan for another season.

You would have to think that the Rangers are setting aside in excess of $100 million to sign Darvish with the posting fee included. If they suddenly find themselves with that $100 million in their pocket when January 19th rolls around, Fielder may have a hot new suitor.

At least that’s what Boras hopes.

But here’s the good news for Seattle fans. For one thing, it’s highly unlikely that Darvish and the Rangers don’t come to terms and for another, the Rangers were never interested in Fielder prior to winning the bid for Darvish and there is really no reason to believe that they would be after Darvish. Texas is looking to build its pitching, not hitting.

So while this isn’t any news on the Fielder front (which we are all hoping for), this isn’t rumor or speculation either. I report facts because I’m tired of listening to media reports that team A is possible interested and team b may be a front runner. All of it is just speculation by reporters who need something to write on. Considering I haven’t broached this topic in close to 40 days, I would say I have some credibility.

The candidates seemed to include former Mariner Jamie Moyer, Jeff Francis and Erik Bedard. All pitchers who could be had relatively cheap and all with ties to the Northwest.

Then Thursday happened.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim agreed to terms with Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson for a combined financial commitment of $331.5 million. Forget about adding the most dominant hitter of his generation in Pujols, adding Wilson to a rotation that already included 2011 Cy Young runner-up Jared Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana upped the ante to the three other current members of the AL West.

If the Mariners want to make an equally large statement, they will have to one up the Angels by putting in the highest bid for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish who was posted by his team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, on Thursday.

Teams have until the 5 p.m. Wednesday posting deadline to submit blind bids to the Ham Fighters. The highest bid will either by accepted or rejected by the Ham Fighters. If it is accepted, the team that submitted the winning bid will acquire a 30-day exclusive negotiating window with Darvish to sign him to a major-league contract.

Darvish, 25, posted the best season of his young career in 2011 for the Nippon Ham Fighters. In a league-leading 28 starts, Darvish went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA in 232 innings. He struck out 276 and walked just 36 batters all season. His WHIP was a miniscule 0.82.

Considering the fact that the Mariners are the only franchise in all of MLB to have a majority owner of Japanese descent in Hiroshi Yamauchi, the team has always been interested in acquiring Japanese players.

Chief among those has been recent franchise icon Ichiro Suzuki who was signed in 2001. Suzuki though, now 38-years-old, is in the last year of his contract and in the twilight of his career after suffering through the worst season of his career. It would take a remarkable turn-around season by Suzuki just for GM Jack Zduriencik to consider re-signing Suzuki at this point.

That’s where acquiring Darvish comes in. Darvish would be the Japanese star replacement, taking over where Suzuki left off. A seamless transition for the next five or so years (depending on the term of his contract) that would ensure the Mariners maintain a hold on their Japanese fan base and corresponding market.

Darvish won’t be without his suitors. Toronto, Texas, Washington, Miami and possibly the Yankees will all be involved on signing Darvish.

But the Mariners need to take control of this posting. They must be aggressive. If Yamauchi hasn’t already stated that he wants the team to sign Darvish at all costs, Zduriencik needs to go to the owner and tell him that Darvish is a necessary addition to not only supplement an improving rotation but to take up the mantle that Ichiro is soon to leave abandoned.

I doubt Yamauchi would proclaim at that point that he doesn’t want to add a star like Darvish to his team no matter the cost. Yamauchi is a fan of baseball and especially the players of his native land. That’s why he bought the Mariners in the first place. He stepped in to keep the team from moving out of Seattle.

A Darvish signing would essentially kill two birds with one stone. His signing (hopefully along with that of Prince Fielder) would give the Mariners and their fans an answer to what the Angels have done as well as give the team a Japanese star to take over when Ichiro retires.

Get it done Zduriencik.

To put it succinctly, draft and player development were the operative words. Quite a contrast from what is going on in the Winter Meetings this week as far as the Miami Marlins are concerned.

Quite frankly, Epstein knows what it takes to win a consistent winner in the game of baseball. Consistent being the key word. Sure you can go out and spend hundreds of millions dollars (see Miami this winter and New York Yankees in previous winters) and win one season in ten. But ultimately those deals will only stifle future progress.

How do you think the Yankees feel about still owing A.J. Burnett $33 million over the next two seasons? Or the oft-injured A-Rod another $169 million over the next six seasons?

If you don’t think it’s a serious problem, take a glance at the Mets trying to completely shed payroll and the White Sox re-tooling after a disastrous Adam Dunn signing from last winter.

The way you craft a perennial playoff and title contending ball club is to develop a corps of young and talented players through the draft and deft trading.

Now this process takes time initially, but once an organization is five years into this process, that youthful corps will have presented itself.

As long as it has been done right — forming strength in players up the middle (shortstop, centerfield, second base), a corner infield spot (either first or third) and elite pitching (two dominant starters), this team will be ready to contend in year five, if not sooner. All following seasons will only further progress the state of the organization.

The Seattle Mariners have been following this modus operendi for three full seasons under the Jack Zduriencik regime. Under Zduriencik, Seattle has built up a wealth of elite young starting pitching as well as a corps of young position players that are in the early stages of their baseball careers.

Players like Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Mike Carp, Trayvon Robinson, Kyle Seager and Casper Wells are in this early stage of their careers in which they are still growing into their bodies and learning the game at the major league level.

If you believe in that group of players, you don’t interrupt this process. It is absolutely critical in their development for very few players can come into the league and play at a high level from day 1.

If the Mariners were to sign Prince Fielder or any other free agent position player to an exorbitant deal (six years or above and $90 million or above), the move(s) will only end up hindering that progress.

“We’re not going to do anything in the short term that will hurt the long term.”

New Executive Vice President and General Manager for the Chicago Cubs, Jed Hoyer. Words that Mariners fans should take to heart this holiday season.

Life is an interesting phenomenon. I think we all have days like this where you wake up to devastating news and the rest of your day, perhaps even your week or month is left meaningless — you go about it in almost a haze.

Today was like that for me. While I didn’t know Greg personally, I guess I felt like I did having followed his career closely for the better part of the last three years.

As an avid Mariners fan I recognized Greg pretty early on as a talent that could soon be a major force in Safeco, one that would help carry the team to tremendous success in the near future. But then I got to see him play and I immediately was reminded of my idol, Ken Griffey Jr., with the passion in which he played and of course by his effervescent smile.

He only played in 44 games for the Mariners but every time he was put on the lineup card he gave it is all on the field. I’ll never forget a game this past season against the Chicago White Sox in which he went 4-for-5 with like three runs scored and two stolen bases when the rest of the team could do nothing against White Sox starter John Danks. His performance alone carried the team to a win. His talent just jumped off the screen at you.

A lot has already been written about Halman and the tragic end to his life and rather than try to expound on those thoughts, I’ll just send you to a couple pieces I found extremely moving.

Jeff Sullivan of Lookout Landing

Jim Caple ESPN.com

RIP, Greg. You will be missed.

Seattle added OF Chih-Hsien Chiang (23), 3B Francisco Martinez (21) and SS Carlos Truinfel (21) to its roster which previously sat at 35 and now leaves the Mariners with two openings for free agent additions or trade acquisitions prior to the draft on the 8th.

Since the end of the 2011 season, the 40-man roster for the Mariners has undergone change much like it has for the 29 other teams across the league. Gone are free agents INF Adam Kennedy, DH Wily Mo Pena, P Jamey Wright and C Josh Bard.

Also taken off the 40-man since September were former closer David Aardsma who underwent Tommy John surgery in July and won’t pitch until mid-summer at the earliest and starting pitcher Anthony Vasquez who made five starts as a September call-up.

Those detractions made room for the trio of Martinez, Truinfel and Chiang to all be protected from the Rule 5 draft as well as afford the team leeway to make moves in the coming weeks. One such move could be simply picking up a player off of another squad in the Rule 5 draft.

Ever since our creation, humans have resorted to fighting to survive amongst creatures such as wolly mammoths, sabertooth tigers and lions. Over time our means of fighting has evolved from bare fists to the creation of weapons until the technique and power of each has grown exponentially more devastating.

We fight for our survival. For our families. For our country. For our freedom.

Out of this instinctual behavior grew the sport of boxing. Boxing can be traced back as far as the 3rd millennium B.C. Over the last five centuries the sport has progressed as one that has clearly defined rules and regulations, weight classes and is highly technical.

But boxing over the last decade plus has seen its following decrease due to a number of factors but chief among those being too many different organizations and lack of premium heavyweight fighters. The death of former heavyweight champion and boxing Hall-of-Famer Joe Frazier brings these facts into even starker contrast. The glory days of the sport are long behind us.

Into that void has stepped the sport of mixed-martial arts and its lead organization of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The UFC has been around for some time (since 1993) but it only in the last five or so years has the sport of MMA and the promotion itself taken a strong foothold among the consciousness of society. The promotion’s president, Dana White, has for a long time stated his ultimate goal of making MMA (with the UFC at the forefront) the No. 1 sport in the entire world. For some, that was and remains a laughable notion what with soccer as prevalent as it is across the entire world and the NFL dominating North America. Yet, it remains White’s doctrine and the reason he has any kind of chance is because of the sports nature — fighting.

On Saturday, White takes his company to network television in primetime with a heavyweight championship fight between champion Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos on Fox. In many ways, it is the seminal moment for the sport and the UFC.

Back when White’s partners, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta purchased the UFC in 2001, the sport was held in such low regard and with such disdain that fights couldn’t even be shown on pay-per-view. Behind the Fertitta’s money and White’s vision, the sport has risen from the depths to the point where it now dominates pay-per-view. On average the promotion does 16 fights a year on PPV and another six on cable television networks like Spike and Versus.

Then, in August of this year the UFC and Fox agreed on a seven-year, $100 million broadcast partnership in which the UFC will transfer all of its cable programming to the Fox networks beginning in 2012 as well as show four primetime fight events annually.

The deal was a watershed moment for the sport. Putting the leading promotion of MMA on network television and in front of more than 100 million households across the nation (potentially double with partnership deals across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia) is the next step in achieving White’s ambitious goal.

On Wednesday at the UFC on Fox press conference, White detailed his feelings about the event and it’s importance in the long term goals of the UFC:

“As big as the UFC may seem, it’s not. We’re so far from mainstream still, and now we’ve been given the opportunity to do it. That’s why Saturday is so important. It feels good and I’m excited, yeah, but I’m nervous man.”

Saturday all the hard work over the course of the last decade culminates. It is without a doubt a seminal moment for the sport. When Velasquez and Dos Santos get in the cage to do what is so innate to our being, the UFC will have arrived.

In time, we all may look back at Saturday’s fight as the springboard to what became the biggest sport in the entire world.

One of the key dates to look forward to before any of that action really starts to heat up is November 18th when 40-man rosters need to be finalized in preparation of the Rule 5 draft on December 9th.

Teams like the Mariners will have big time decisions to make heading into the offseason of who to release in order to make room for free agent acquisitions, trades and those players with 4-5 years of service time in the minor leagues that they want to protect from the Rule 5 draft.

For those who don’t know what the Rule 5 draft is, a quick definition is that it involves minor league players with at least 4-5 (4 if drafted out of high school or college, five if signed as an international free agent) years of service in a team’s organization.

So once those players become eligible for that draft, teams have to either put them on their 40-man roster or risk losing them to another franchise. The purpose is to give players toiling in a particular organization’s minor league system (due to being blocked by more talented players at the major league level or a team hoarding talent, etc.) a better chance to reach the majors with another.

Currently (as of Oct. 12th) the Mariners 40-man roster looks like this:

Pitchers: Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda, Jason Vargas, Blake Beavan, Charlie Furbush, Anthony Vasquez, Brandon League, David Aardsma*, Shawn Kelley, Dan Cortes, Josh Lueke, Jeff Gray, Steve Delabar, Tom Wilhelmsen, Chance Ruffin, Danny Hultzen, Cesar Jimenez, Yoervis Medina, Mauricio Robles and Jamey Wright.

Infielders: Justin Smoak, Mike Carp, Dustin Ackley, Brendan Ryan, Chone Figgins, Kyle Seager, Alex Liddi, Luis Rodriguez and Adam Kennedy.

Catchers: Miguel Olivo, Adam Moore*, Josh Bard and Chris Gimenez.

Outfielders: Ichiro Suzuki, Franklin Gutierrez*, Trayvon Robinson, Casper Wells, Greg Halman, Michael Saunders, Wily Mo Pena, Carlos Peguero, Johermyn Chavez and Mike Wilson.

If you’re counting at home, that’s 43 players, three over the max as a result of having three players (denoted by an asterisk) being on the 60-day DL. Those players don’t count against a team’s 40-man roster during the regular season but do need to be added to the roster prior to the deadline or be released.

Gutierrez and Moore are locks to be added but given the fact that Aardsma is coming off of Tommy John surgery and won’t be ready to pitch until the summer at the earliest, he’s likely to be released.

Another point to keep in mind is that teams like to be well under 40 as the offseason gets under way for flexibility purposes. Last year the Mariners, I believe, were at 32 after making all of their moves so expect about the same.

Likely additions to the roster include shortstop Carlos Truinfel, 21, third baseman Francisco Martinez, 21, and outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang, 23, acquired from Boston in the Erik Bedard trade. There are other names but these three are locks to be added prior to the deadline.

Those three plus the two in Moore and Gutierrez means the Mariners need to at least clear five spaces just to get to 40 and, like I said, will likely clear another five plus for flexibility purposes.

I’ve bolded 15 names of the most likely candidates to be released from the 40-man (not including Aardsma who really isn’t on it right now to begin with) heading into the November 18th deadline. Let’s take a closer look at each, though.

Luis Rodriguez, Wily Mo Pena, Chris Gimenez, Adam Kennedy, Josh Bard and Jamey Wright are all not under contract for 2012 and are six players you can take off the roster right now.

So with those six cleared and the five I’ve already mentioned added, the roster now stands at 39. I think the Mariners release another five to get to 34 so who are the most likely candidates to be parted with by November 18th?

1. Mike Wilson: he made his major league debut last season in May but didn’t do much and now is a part of a crowded outfield group at the age of 28 looking to become the starting left fielder.

2. Anthony Vasquez: he received an extended look in the starting rotation at the end of the season due to the fact that the M’s were trying to preserve some of their arms and wanted to see what he could do. Quite frankly, he’s not ready at this point in time and may not ever be a major league caliber pitcher.

3. Jeff Gray: was picked up in May and finished with a 4.28 ERA in 48 IP with 21 walks, 23 k’s and a .275 avg against. The Mariners have a ton of young relief candidates already on the roster and more (Stephen Pryor and Forrest Snow in particular) knocking on the door. He turns 30 on Nov. 19th.

4. Cesar Jimenez: turns 27 in a month and is a career 5.40 ERA pitcher who has dealt with serious arm problems which have killed his velocity. The one thing going for him is that he’s a left hander, of which the Mariners only have two (Furbush and Robles) who are likely bullpen candidates heading into ’12.

5. Yoervis Medina: 23-year-old really struggled in 2011 between A and AA affiliates with a 1-14 record and 6.18 ERA in 24 starts. The Mariners like his promise which is why he remains on the roster currently but it’s doubtful he makes it through the next round of cuts with the pitchers coming up through the system.

I think you’ll see all five be released prior to the deadline. The other bolded names — Saunders, Peguero, Robles and Vargas — are serious candidates to be dealt this offseason.

Make no mistake about it, there will be serious attrition on the Mariners roster this winter and it will start in early November with the cleaning of the 40-man roster.

The Mariners finished 2011 with a 67-95 record (good enough for the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 draft), scored a league worst 556 runs and saw Ichiro, their perennial All-Star, begin his decline with a mere 184 hits and a .272 avg.

But it was necessary. And now with 2011 as an experience, every single one of the 18 rookies who saw action and the first full season guys like Justin Smoak, can go into the offseason with the knowledge of what it will take to be successful for 162 games.

Then on the other end is the front office and Manager Eric Wedge who get to evaluate what they saw from those 18 rookies, from the 25 veterans that they put on the field and start making decisions on their 25-man roster next year.

“We’ve had these young guys here long enough now for the most part that we have a pretty good idea of what  we have,” Eric Wedge said to a host of media gathered around him after the team’s final game Wednesday night. “We may not be able to set it in stone … We’re going to have to get into next year and beyond for that.”

Essentially Wedge and General Manager Jack Zduriencik have done their evaluations and are in the process of using that information to construct a foundation for the future — beginning with 2012.

But as Wedge points out in the second part of his comment, that process is ongoing — as it should be for well run organizations. You’re always developing and evaluating talent but it’s never more apparent nor important than when a team is in a rebuilding phase as the Mariners are now.

With 2011 in the books, the Mariners have gained valuable insight into what players they can begin to set in stone as part of a foundation that will lead the franchise to contention throughout the rest of the decade.

Here’s a position-by-position analysis of where the Mariners stand going into a critical offseason and an opinion on who some of those “foundation players” may be.

Catcher: Miguel Olivo returns for the final year of the 2-year contract he signed last season and although his bat provided some badly needed offense — he finished with a team high 19 HR and 62 RBI — he also hit just .224 in 130 games and committed 11 errors, yielded 11 pass balls and let countless other pitches get through him for wild pitches. Before he does return, Olivo will be asked to lose weight and improve his agility behind the plate so that he can be a better defender.

He also will be asked to play less. While he is one of the team’s best on-field leaders and can’t be dragged off the field, 130 games is too many for any catcher not named Brian McCann to be playing. The Mariners had Josh Bard and Chris Gimenez see action behind the plate as backups to Olivo in ’11 but neither is under contract for 2012 and appear unlikely to return barring injuries.

The key factor here may be Adam Moore who played in just two games in ’11 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Moore will participate in the Arizona Fall League beginning in November, and depending on his success, could challenge for the starting job in spring training.  How Moore fares will dictate how strenuously the Mariners front office goes after FA catchers on the market.

First base: Despite having a disappointing season to his own admission, 24-year-old Justin Smoak, has a firm hold on the job. Smoak lost his father in April, the person who taught him the game and whom he talked with nightly about his successes and failures. If that weren’t enough, he had the pressure of being the only good hitter in the lineup for the first two months of the season and dealt with injuries to his thumbs, face and groin. It was a trying year full of hardship for Smoak, one that he will use as a learning experience and be better for as he enters the second full year of his career in ’12.

Other options at first include Mike Carp who played the position while Smoak spent time on the disabled list and will certainly spell Smoak intermittently in ’12. But Carp is mostly a DH for this team moving forward.

Second base: Dustin Ackley made his major league debut on June 17th and from that time forward became the Mariners’ most consistent hitter. But that was somewhat expected, the fact that he could more than hold his own at the position defensively (which he did) was a welcomed surprise. After all, he had spent just 14 months playing it before he was called up.

Ackley is a cornerstone of the future for the M’s,  a player who should eventually hit leadoff through the end of the decade and beyond. Backing him up at second will probably be former college teammate Kyle Seager. Utility infielders Adam Kennedy and Luis Rodriguez each saw time in ’11 but are not under contract for ’12 and may not return. If either does, they will see limited action as a bench player.

Shortstop: One of the major highlights in ’11 for the Mariners was the play of Brendan Ryan who will return in ’12 for the final year of his contract — that is if the equilibrium problem that sidelined him in September is a thing of the past come spring training.

Ryan, though, will face challenges from Seager and highly touted shortstop prospects Carlos Truinfel (21) and Nick Franklin (20). The addition of Ryan last season, getting him from the Cardinals for two seasons, coincides perfectly with the timing of Franklin’s projected ascent to the majors. Can you say, “stopgap”?

Third base: Other than outfield, probably the one spot with the most questions. Chone Figgins began ’11 as the everyday starter only to hit below .200 for four months before being benched in favor of the rookie Seager. Seager (23), and another rookie, Alex Liddi (22), could be the main contenders for the starting job in spring training.

Not out of the question is a trade or free agent signing that brings in a player with the complete package that is desired from a starter at the position. Seager brings a steady glove and .300 potential bat but lacks power while Liddi brings power but needs more seasoning in the other areas.

Further down the road are youngsters Francisco Martinez (21) and Phillips Castillo (17) whom a “stopgap” type player may suit perfectly.

Outfield: Because of the way outfielders can be moved around from left to right to center, we’re going to group the players contending for these three jobs all in one category.

The Mariners began ’11 with Ichiro Suzuki manning right, Ryan Langerhans in center and Milton Bradley holding down left field. Well suffice to say that won’t be the case in ’12.

Both Langerhans and Bradley are gone and it appears unlikely that fourth outfielder Michael Saunders will ever fulfill the promise the franchise held for him for so long. The Mariners saw the biggest infusion of talent last season occur in the outfield and it is likely that all three positions will be open to competition come spring training. Who will emerge?

Well, with the team opening its season in Japan it is highly unlikely Ichiro does anything but return to the team in ’12 and will once again be the opening day starter in right no matter how he performs in spring training. The other starters should be Franklin Gutierrez in center (provided he transforms his body with added strength in the offseason) and Greg Halman in left. The fourth outfielder will be Casper Wells (again, provided he’s healthy) whom I project to be platooning in right field by June.

Trayvon Robinson, Carlos Peguero, Johermyn Chavez and Chih-Hsien Chiang will start the season in Tacoma in ’12 while Mike Wilson will be released. This clearly is a spot where Zduriencik could look to make a move in the offseason, trading one or two of this stockpile to acquire someone more ready to start in left. However, I believe the team can afford to allow Halman learn on the job, provided he learns quickly which I believe he will.

Designated Hitter: Mike Carp is the man here. Carp finished the season hitting .276 with 12 HR and 46 RBI in 290 ABs. Carp can also play first or some left field but frankly, he’s not an everyday left fielder and with Smoak at first, his main spot will be DH.

Competition could come from Prince Fielder if the team somehow manages to sign him or Wily Mo Pena if he’s retained. Don’t look for either to happen.

Starting Pitching: Frankly, the strength of the club. If the Mariners have a wealth of talent at one spot in their organization it is starting pitching. After all, this is a club that traded Doug Fister (who had four more years of club control!). They better have some arms that they believe are better ready to pick up the slack to make such a move. To answer succinctly: they do.

Blake Beavan, Charlie Furbush (acquired in the Fister/Pauley deal with Detroit) and Anthony Vazquez are rookies that all saw action in ’11 although Beavan looks like the only serious candidate for a rotation job moving forward. Furbush is more suited for the bullpen and Vazquez needs more seasoning.

With Felix Hernandez and probably Michael Pineda holding down the 1 and 2 spots in the rotation, the team will enter ’12 with three spots up for grabs. Who gets them?

Beavan will almost assuredly grab the No. 4 or 5 job. Where a casual observer will begin to notice the depth of talent at this spot is with youngsters James Paxton, Taijuan Walker and 2011 No. 2 overall pick Danny Hultzen who will be brought into spring training to contend for jobs in the rotation.

I think you will see James Paxton emerge as the No. 4 starter, Danny Hultzen spend a couple of months in Tacoma before making his pro debut in June and Walker spend time at AA before coming up in September.

Who gets the No. 3 job and where is Jason Vargas in all of this? Good question. I think Vargas gets non-tendered or packaged in a trade after the team signs Japanese phenom Yu Darvish. Darvish will be the No. 3 starter.

Bullpen: Brandon League was a revelation in ’11 as closer for the Mariners, his first season in such a role. Whether he comes back for ’12 is a whole another question. I think he does as the team looks to contend for a division title, it will need a sure thing at closer.

Filling out the bullpen will be mostly a spring training quest. There are a number of candidates for every role from set-up on down to long relief man. If the Mariners go with a 7-man pen to start out the season, I think the odds-on favorites to make the opening day pen in ’12 have to be: Tom Wilhelmsen, Josh Lueke, Chase Ruffin, Shawn Kelley, Dan Cortes and Charlie Furbush.

Steve Delabar, Jamey Wright (who had his best season of his career in ’11), Cesar Jimenez, and Jeff Gray will also be in the mix as will several minor leaguers like Erasmo Ramirez and Stephen Pryor. And don’t forget Zduriencik’s affinity for signing guys off the street to minor league deals to compete. No matter who comes out of spring training holding down a job, the pen will be one of the strengths of the team.