Like you say, Stars and Scrubs, baby. I have argued for years that small market teams can simplify matters thusly: Go and pay what it takes to get yourself a stud #1 starter (loosely defined as someone who gives you 200 plus innings of 3.00 or sub ERA) and a stud hitter (.900 or above OPS). Pay the $50 million or more per season on these two, and fill in the rest with whatever money you have left. You will be hard pressed to find any team in history that had these two qualities from full time players and finished under .500.
With the signing of Cano, the Mariners have FINALLY done just this. It wasn't easy - Felix has been there, but until Cano there has been no ability to grab the other half of my recipe for success. Cano is on the lower end of the .900 mark (better to get someone who can flirt with 1.00), but he'll do.
With Felix and Cano, we are a winning ballclub. The rest determine how much winning we will do, but with the long term signing of Felix and now Cano, history suggests our winning is all but assured.
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