Part 1

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Let's run the table again, and this time remember the 40 runs a season that the benchies will cost the real AL team withs their bats.  "Normalized," Marcel the Monkey predicts these 2010 deltas:

• +0.08 ... KC ... 4.23 ... 4.31
• +0.12 ... CHW ... 4.47 ... 4.59
• -0.18 ... Det ... 4.56 ... 4.38
• +0.27 ... Bal ... 4.57 ... 4.84
• -0.19 ... Oak ... 4.69 ... 4.50 (gimme five, dude)
  
• +0.26 ... Cle ... 4.77 ... 5.23
• +0.26 ... Tex ... 4.84 ... 5.10 (yowch)
• -0.33 ... Tor ... 4.93 ... 4.60
• +0.20 ... TB ... 4.96 ... 5.14
• +0.21 ... Min ... 5.01 ... 5.22
• -0.10 ... Bos... 5.38 ... 5.28
• -0.51 ... LAA ... 5.45 ... 4.94
• -0.07 ... NYY ... 5.65 ... 5.58
• +0.72 ... Sea ... 3.97 ... 4.67

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=== Bill James 1978 Whirlpool Principle ===

1.  Notice how ever-lovin' hard it is, to get any big net gain in your offense.  The biggest one, after the Mariners, was a mere 0.27 runs per game. 

There are a lot of FA dollars changin' hands in order to tread water.  The Angels didn't spend 'em.  The Angels figure to shed 80 runs 'cause of this.

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=== How Was YOUR Offseason, Pal ===

2.  Notice that the Mariners' strides are indeed colossal.

2b.  That's not shocking.  As Blengino put it on Hot Stove, when you have big holes in your ballclub, it is easy to improve.  Far, far easier to patch a 75 hole with a 100 player, than to replace a 100 player with a 120.

2c.  The M's aren't generally given credit for improving their offense.  But 0.72 times 162 games is 117 blinkin' runs.

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=== Audit Dept. ===

3.  Is this true?  The M's stand to gain 100-120 runs over 2009?

Sure.  For one thing, he M's had 3 guys in the OPS+ 60's last year -- C, SS, LF.  They also had Adrian Beltre, 82, at third base.   That's 4 lousy offensive players -- half the lineup.

Wlad Balentien, Endy Chavez and Michael Saunders went 66-80-44 last year, but in 2010 the Mariners will have their left fielder hitting 4th.

The catchers will hit better, and Beltre is replaced by a star.  The Mariners could easily go from having 5 decent hitters to having 8 of them.

Eight 100 OPS+ players and Jack Wilson, you're going to have a 100 OPS+ lineup, and then some.

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But for another thing, check the RC comments next.

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Part 3