How are the Mariners doing so well this year? It strikes me that they have two guys having excellent seasons with the bat (Cano and Seager), a solid bullpen, and the amazing King Felix.

That said, the team is over .500 in games where Felix does not pitch...and I would not have predicted that at the beginning of the year.

What gives?

Mariners are last in the AL in wOBA at .300 (Red Sox and Royals are tied at .305) and tied for last in wRC+ at 88, but the Mariners are 8th in runs scored. They've been hitting pretty well with RISP (.265/.330/.435, 107 wRC+ (behind only the A's), but they also have a .314 BABIP with RISP.

Chris Young somehow has a 119 ERA+, but he has the 3rd worst FIP and worst xFIP among qualified starters.

Their bullpen's also been very good.

I'm going with team chemistry.

The rotation is really quite solid. If Walker can even be an average pitcher for the rest of the year (pedigree or no), Iwakuma is an all-star caliber starter and Elias has taken a step forward with his command to match his very good stuff and be better than anyone expected.

Brad Miller had a horrendous first two months but has started to hit and has been better than I expected defensively, so they're really solid at 3B, SS, and 2B. Zunino is one of those old-school catchers who can play defense, hit for power, and do nothing else. I think you can get by with Jones and Saunders at 2 OF positions, but that leaves them short a 1B, DH, and RF (Smoak, Ackley, Hart, and Morrison have not fixed anything). Even if they just added a legitimate RH bat that could play RF, that would go a long way toward fixing their holes.

Alphonso Soriano is available.

Wait, he's not? I guess we can't do that one anymore.

So this guy is not really from Taiwan after all???

Good hit luck, murderous bullpen, maybe the best 1-2 punch in the game. It's not enough to be dominant, bit it'll keep you competitive in the 2 WC era. And it's one #### of a lot better than Hydrocephalus Bavazi's tenure.

Alphonso Soriano is available.

Wait, he's not? I guess we can't do that one anymore.

I'd imagine Alphonso Soriano would be thrilled to play for the ML minimum.

I'd also imagine the Yanks would be thrilled if somebody offered them something for Alfonso Soriano.