David Aardsma

The 2011 baseball season is upon us, and that can only mean one thing for eager fans: a fresh start.  With hopes of celebratory bliss, you announce confidently, “this is our year,” as you retrieve the enormous foam finger lodged behind your bed. The once prized possession is now dusted with crumb remnants and dead ants. 

Hey, did you hear? The Mariners were lousy in 2010. Terrible. Awful. Dreadful.

Ah, heck. I'll just link you so you can see all the synonyms for "bad."

That poor, poor dead horse.

Life is pretty funny sometimes. I was sitting in my office late in the afternoon thinking about what I was going to write about tonight.

In a much publicized battle of the aces, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Dan Haren matched Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez pitch for pitch. Neither backed down.

After the two aces hit the showers, Seattle capitalized, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Angels, 3-1.

Well Mariners fans, lets face it, the 2010 season is a bust.

There will be no comeback, no 1995 style legendary run to the post season. No, I'm afraid the last exciting moment for the Mariners will be watching who they dump in the upcoming midseason fire sale.

Cliff Lee is a lock to be traded, and rumor has it that everybody not named Felix or Ichiro is up for grabs. I'd expect a lot of familiar names to be playing in different markets come August.

So, what does that mean for the 2011 squad? What does the future hold for Seattle baseball?

In 2008 the Seattle Mariners lost 101 games, second only to the lowly Washington Nationals. Last season, the Mariners finished with a record of 85-77, signaling a 24 game turnaround, best in the league. This year the Mariners have their eye on 95 wins and an AL West title, and neither is out of the questions.

The Mariners have some household names that every baseball fan is familiar with. Ichiro Suzuki, who holds the all-time record for hits in a season, is easily one of the game’s most recognizable stars.

David Aardsma of the Seattle Mariners will be this year's best closer. Seattle rebuilt itself this year by adding a defensive crew capitalized by Chone Figgins, and added Cliff Lee to make a solid one-two punch in its rotation.

Only one thing remains, a closer. Certainly with a team that many suspect to win the West and with two pitchers that will gain a pile of wins, saves would become a common feature in these low scoring games.

I’ve seen multiple places rank David Aardsma as a Top 20 relief pitcher heading into 2010.  Some even have him ranked as a Top 15, borderline Top 10 option.  I have to wonder, why?  Are we talking about the same pitcher here?

I know, he was fantastic in 2010, just look at his line:

3 Wins
71.1 Innings
2.52 ERA
1.16 WHIP
80 Strikeouts (10.09 K/9)
34 Walks (4.29 BB/9)
.271 BABIP

After the 2008 season, the Mariners fired GM Bill Bavasi and hired Jack Zduriencik.

Led by GM Jack Zduriencik, the Mariners made bold moves over the last couple of years to make them the favorite to win the AL West in 2010.

This is a look at the seven best moves JZ has orchestrated.

Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section.

Begin Slideshow

This is an open letter to the Seattle Mariners front office with a realistic list of moves that need to be made whether that be trades, call ups, free agent signings etc.

The reason I have included the word realistic is because this will not include dreams like Ronny Cedeno to the Cardinals for Albert Pujols. No, all of the moves will be realistic.