Salk’s Takeaway: This is most complete M’s team I have seen

There’s been a different feel around Seattle Mariners camp this spring than in past years.

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After falling one win shy of reaching the World Series, the M’s are no longer a team hoping to break through and make some noise in the playoffs. They’re a team with legitimate World Series aspirations that knows they’re capable of achieving their goal.

Brock and Salk co-host Mike Salk spent a week around the team at their spring training facility in Peoria, Arizona. He noticed something else different, too.

“If you’re asking for takeaways, I have them in general, but really it all comes down to one word: complete,” Salk said. “This is the most complete Mariner team I’ve seen in my 17 years of being around this organization. We’ll find out whether or not they’re the best one. You got to play the actual games to figure that out.”

What stands out to Salk is the way the Mariners have built a roster with few holes.

“Do they have a starting rotation? Yes. Obviously, that’s been the strength of this team for a while. Is the bullpen good? Yes, and it got a little bit deeper with the addition of Jose Ferrer this offseason. Do they have star power at the top of the order? Well, of course. Cal (Raleigh) took that vault last year and Julio (Rodríguez) is a star, regardless of how frustrating he can occasionally be to some Mariner fans who are waiting for him to take it to that ultra, ultra, ultra top level,” Salk said.

The way the Mariners have lengthened their lineup compared to recent seasons is the biggest addition Salk saw to the team. After taking a big step forward offensively last season, they re-signed first baseman Josh Naylor, traded for All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan and signed veteran lefty-masher Rob Refsnyder. With Donovan and Naylor batting near the top of the lineup, it’s helped the projected bottom of the Mariners’ order look more formidable with veteran players like Victor Robles and Luke Raley, who Salk likes as bounce-back candidates this season, mixed in with up-and-coming youngsters like Cole Young and potentially Colt Emerson.

“I just think they’ve built a team where, yeah, you’ve got a couple of platoons at the bottom of the order, but you’re not running out the Rowdy Tellezes and Donovan Solanos of the world,” Salk said. “You actually have somebody you want to be there in all nine spots in your batting order, all five spots in your rotation and virtually every spot in your bullpen. That is a complete baseball team.”

Salk shares his full thoughts in the video at the top of this post. Catch him on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays.

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