M's Youngsters Fun To Watch

I had the opportunity to cover Major League Baseball for five months during the 2007 season, writing roughly 70,000 words for MLB.com. Most of my reporting was on the Yankees, but when the M's were in the Big Apple, I would always drop into Seattle's clubhouse. I grew up in Bellingham, Wash., so I've followed the M's closely every season since I was a kid.

Despite the poor start this year, I'm optimistic. Not because I believe the team will just come around, but because the M's management has started leaning on its youngsters.

Jeff Clement is a big league player. His swing is pretty, and he's a great guy to boot (a pleasant interview). Wladimir Balentien, well, it's hard to tell how he will adjust to the bigs. My glass is always half full, though. I truly believe he'll be successful because he's cut back on his strikeouts by leaps and bounds throughout his career. Dude's got pop in his bat, too.

It will take both of them time to adjust, of course, but they are an improvement over Brad Wilkerson and Jose Vidro. And it's just flat-out fun to watch rookies play.

Remember Scott Podsednik? He starred for the Brewers and White Sox before getting injured. The Mariners never gave him a chance in Seattle. I'm glad the M’s are going to live or die by these kids. I'll watch that any day.

What's your take? Are the M's done? Do they have a shot with Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez at the helm? Here's a couple of good sites to visit: U.S.S. Mariner and The Seattle Times' beat writer Geoff Baker's blog.