Watching the Seattle Mariners the last few nights I am beginning to believe they will win the AL West. Here are a few reasons.

1) They are able to wait games out. In other words the longer the game goes the better the team gets with its bullpen and its clutch hitting. This is the sign of a good team.

2) Depth. John McLaren is using the bench far better than Hargrove and the team should stay fresh unlike a year ago when Hargrove emptied the tanks to get into contention briefly.

3) The saying in baseball is guys will do what is on the back of their baseball card. In other words, over a season players will get to their yearly average. This means the middle of the Mariners line-up should pick up.

4) Starting pitching has to be more consistent.than it has been this season.

5) Re-enforcements will add strength to this team. Bill Bavasi and his crew have done a wonderful job building a minor league system that for the first time in years has players that can fill gaps due to injuries and slumps. This is a huge element of who wins pennant races.