Jerry DiPoto has done a stellar job assembling a pitching staff from spare parts. It took a big hit to the Farm system to get the ace (anyone see what Tyler O'Neill is doing this year?) but Marco has been our ace for, what...three years now? Added to that a Flexen and a resurgent Tyler Anderson. By resurgent, I mean there were whispers he lost something midseason and was relying on foreign substances. But the bullpen...what a magnificent job. We've seen Mariner GMs piece together workable bullpens from spare parts, but this...this is inspired. Steckenrider and Sewald were AAA flotsam nobody much wanted. they were pulled in and cleaned up and they have been cleaning up late innings, night after night. Graveman was the mid rotation starter turned bullpen ace we've come to expect, at least one every 2-3 years. Fragile, he was flipped for a young second/third baseman with a major league ready bat and decent prospects Forman organization short in middle infielders and an aging Seager at third - another scarce item in our system. Not bad. Yeah, Graveman was the closer, and a good one at that, but the duo of Steck and Seawall have picked up the slack and more, with Castillo plugged in for added measure. Meanwhile Sadler is suppressing fire any from any 6th or 7th inning flank attack they could render the mighty S-men poorly utilized (Pitching while behind).

The bullpen has performed nearly as good and perhaps better than what we enjoyed in the 2000-2002 years of Kaz, Rhodes, Nelson, Panigua and Charlton. Who needs Gillick? In fact, DiPoto's unused parts special makes it even more possible to keep so much of our top flight prospect talent, where arms like Kirby Hancock (see what I did there), Williamson and Brash in the Mariner stable.

The bullpen has turned the "no way can we sustain this" Run Differential into the Scott Servais FUN differential (cue Spongebob here). The offense looks anemic on paper...you can't be serious looking at these OPSes...yet, it works, thanks to the DiPoto magic pitching beans.

Flexen, Gilbert, Anderson...and the best of the bunch, All Star Yusei. Time for him to assert himself.

Buckle up!

Rick