B2 THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2021
ON THE AIR
SCOREBOARD
SUNDAY
BASKETBALL
Men’s college, Rhode Island at George Washington
Women’s college, Purdue at Michigan St.
Women’s college, North Carolina at NC State
Women’s college, Syracuse at Virginia Tech
Women’s college, Tennessee at Georgia
Men’s college, Michigan at Ohio St.
Men’s college, Cincinnati at Houston
Women’s college, Ohio St. at Michigan
Women’s college, Georgia Tech at Boston College
Women’s college, Florida at Missouri
Men’s college, Maryland at Rutgers
Women’s college, Kentucky at South Carolina
Women’s college, Oregon at USC
NBA, Boston at New Orleans
Men’s college, Davidson at St. Bonaventure
Men’s college, UNLV at San Jose St.
Women’s college, Oregon St. at UCLA
Women’s college, Texas A&M at Ole Miss
Men’s college, Penn St. at Iowa
Women’s college, Arkansas at LSU
Men’s college, Navy at American
Men’s college, Wisconsin at Northwestern
Men’s college, Butler at Xavier
NBA, Brooklyn at L.A. Clippers
HORSE RACING
America’s Day at the Races
GOLF
PGA Tour, The Genesis Invitational
PGA Tour, The Genesis Invitational
HOCKEY
NHL, New Jersey at Washington
NHL, Philadelphia vs. Boston
WRESTLING
College, Nebraska at Illinois
College, Oklahoma at Oklahoma St.
College, Iowa at Wisconsin
MOTOR SPORTS
NASCAR Cup Series, Daytona road course
SOCCER
Women’s, SheBelieves Cup, United States vs. Brazil
Women’s, SheBelieves Cup, Argentina vs. Canada
GYMNASTICS
Women’s college, California at Oregon St.
TRACK AND FIELD
American Track League
TENNIS
WTA, Adelaide; ATP, Singapore
Time
8:30 a.m.
8:30 a.m.
9 a.m.
9 a.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
11 a.m.
11 a.m.
noon
noon
noon
12:30 p.m.
12:30 p.m.
1 p.m.
1 p.m.
1 p.m.
2 p.m.
3 p.m.
3 p.m.
4 p.m.
4 p.m.
5 p.m.
TV
NBCSN
FS1
ESPN2
Root
SEC
CBS
ESPN
ESPN2
Root
SEC
Big Ten
ESPN
Pac-12
ABC
NBCSN
CBSSN
ESPN2
SEC
FS1
SEC
CBSSN
Big Ten
FS1
ESPN
10 a.m.
FS2
10 a.m.
noon
Golf
CBS
11 a.m.
4:30 p.m.
NBC
NBCSN
11 a.m.
3 p.m.
6 p.m.
ESPNU
ESPNU
Big Ten
noon
FOX
noon
3 p.m.
FS1
FS2
2 p.m.
Pac-12
2 p.m.
ESPN
Tennis
11:55 a.m.
NBCSN
noon
3 p.m.
4 p.m.
4 p.m.
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
6 p.m.
6 p.m.
6 p.m.
ESPN2
Root
ESPN
ESPNU
FS1
ESPN
ESPN2
NBCSNW
FS1
3 p.m.
5 p.m.
Big Ten
Big Ten
Listings are the most accurate available. The Bulletin is not responsible
for late changes made by TV stations.
SPORTS BRIEFING
BASKETBALL
NCAA to allow limited number of fans in men’s, wom-
en’s tourneys — The NCAA will allow a limited number of
fans to attend all rounds of its men’s basketball tournament in
Indiana and later rounds of its women’s tournament in Texas.
The governing body said Friday it is permitting 25% capacity
at the men’s tournament venues to allow for social distanc-
ing. That figure will include all participants and essential staff
along with the family members of team players and coaches.
On the women’s side, the NCAA will allow a capacity of up to
17% at each venue from the Sweet 16 to the Final Four. Games
taking place for the first two rounds will limit attendance to
team guests. In each case, attendees must wear face coverings,
while cleaning and disinfecting efforts will be emphasized
at venues in keeping with COVID-19 safety protocols. The
NCAA said it acted in conjunction with local health officials
for each tournament.
GOLF
Wind forces Genesis Invitational delay — Tiger Woods
arrived at Riviera on Saturday just in time for the Genesis
Invitational to be delayed by high wind. Woods, the tourna-
ment host, is not playing this year as he recovers from a fifth
back surgery. He spent most of the late morning visiting with
Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and other players who
had time on their hands. The wind was gusting to 35 mph,
strong enough in such dry conditions that golf balls wouldn’t
stay on the green. And then a piece of communications equip-
ment was toppled near the 14th tee, and officials halted play. It
was supposed to resume after a delay of just over three hours.
But as players were warming up, play was stopped again. Sam
Burns, who had a five-shot lead going into the third round,
was poised over his opening tee shot when the horn sounded
to suspend the round. Johnson, who was five shots behind
Burns, had a 15-foot eagle putt when play was stopped. Jordan
Spieth, in contention for the third straight week, opened with
a birdie and was six shots back.
— Bulletin wire reports
POWERBALL
The numbers drawn Saturday night are:
4
Oregon
Lottery
results
As listed at
oregonlottery.org
and individual
lottery websites
Women’s college
PAC-12 CONFERENCE
Conference
All Games
W L Pct W L Pct
Stanford
17 2 .895 20 2 .909
Arizona
13 2 .867 15 2 .882
UCLA
11 3 .786 13 3 .813
Oregon
9 6 .600 12 6 .667
Southern Cal
8 8 .500 10 9 .526
Colorado
7 8 .467 9 9 .500
Oregon St.
5 6 .455 7 6 .538
Washington St. 7 10 .412 9 10 .474
Arizona St.
5 8 .385 10 8 .556
Utah
4 14 .222 5 14 .263
Washington
3 11 .214 6 11 .353
California
0 11 .000 0 14 .000
Friday’s Late Games
No. 6 Stanford 80, Arizona St. 41
Washington 78, Utah 61
Sunday’s Games
No. 13 Oregon at Southern Cal, noon
Utah at Washington St., noon
Oregon St. at No. 8 UCLA, 1 p.m.
Arizona St. at California, 1 p.m.
Colorado at Washington, 2 p.m.
Monday’s Game
No. 10 Arizona at No. 6 Stanford, 6 p.m.
TOP 25 SCORES
Saturday’s Games
No. 1 UConn 83, Xavier 32
No. 9 Maryland 94, Minnesota 62
No. 12 South Florida 78, Tulane 69
No. 16 Gonzaga 69, San Diego 47
Creighton 83, No. 19 DePaul 72
No. 19 West Virginia 81, TCU 78
No. 23 South Dakota St. 69, North Dakota St. 60
No. 24 Northwestern 67, Wisconsin 54
No. 25 Missouri St. 75, Bradley 62
Men’s college
PAC-12 CONFERENCE
Conference
All Games
W L Pct W L Pct
Southern Cal
12 3 .800 18 4 .818
UCLA
11 3 .786 15 5 .750
Oregon
9 3 .750 14 4 .778
Colorado
11 6 .647 17 7 .708
Stanford
10 7 .588 14 9 .609
Arizona
9 8 .529 15 8 .652
Oregon St.
7 9 .438 11 11 .500
Washington St. 7 10 .412 14 10 .583
Utah
6 9 .400 9 10 .474
Arizona St.
4 7 .364 7 10 .412
Washington
3 13 .188 4 17 .190
California
3 14 .176 8 16 .333
Saturday’s Games
Arizona 81, No. 17 Southern Cal 72
Washington St. 85, Stanford 76, 3OT
Colorado 61, Oregon St. 57
Oregon 67, Utah 64
Arizona St. at UCLA, 7 p.m.
California at Washington, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s Box Scores
Oregon 67, Utah 64
4:30 p.m.
MONDAY
SOCCER
Premier League,
Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Crystal Palace
BASKETBALL
NBA G League, Long Island Nets vs. G League Ignite
Men’s college, Pepperdine at Saint Mary’s
Men’s college, Syracuse at Duke
Men’s college, Wofford at Samford
Women’s college, Creighton vs. Marquette
Men’s college, Texas Tech at Oklahoma St.
Women’s college, Arizona at Stanford
NBA, Portland at Phoenix
Men’s college, Oregon at USC
WRESTLING
College, Maryland at Penn St.
College, Indiana at Purdue
BASKETBALL
8 22 32 58 4
The estimated jackpot was not available at press time.
MEGABUCKS
The numbers drawn Saturday night are:
8 12 17 26 41 42
The estimated jackpot is now $2.2 million.
UTAH (9-10)
Allen 6-14 3-5 15, Battin 1-4 0-0 2, Carlson 6-10 1-2 13,
Larsson 4-8 4-4 13, Plummer 5-11 3-3 17, Martinez 1-3
0-0 2, Thioune 0-1 2-2 2, Brenchley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-
51 13-16 64.
OREGON (14-4)
Lawson 2-2 0-0 4, Omoruyi 4-8 3-4 13, Duarte 4-12 5-6
15, Richardson 4-10 0-0 9, Figueroa 6-8 0-1 15, Williams
3-6 0-0 7, Kepnang 0-3 0-0 0, Terry 2-3 0-0 4, Hardy 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 25-52 8-11 67.
Halftime —Utah 35-33. 3-Point Goals —Utah 5-18
(Plummer 4-8, Larsson 1-3, Allen 0-1, Carlson 0-1,
Martinez 0-2, Battin 0-3), Oregon 9-23 (Figueroa 3-5,
Omoruyi 2-3, Duarte 2-7, Williams 1-3, Richardson 1-4,
Terry 0-1). Fouled Out —Omoruyi. Rebounds —Utah
25 (Carlson 9), Oregon 27 (Omoruyi 6). Assists —Utah
12 (Larsson 5), Oregon 12 (Omoruyi 3). Total Fouls —
Utah 13, Oregon 15.
Colorado 61, Oregon St. 57
COLORADO (17-7)
Battey 3-4 4-6 10, Walton 1-4 4-4 6, Parquet 1-3 0-0 3,
Wright 7-12 6-6 21, Schwartz 2-9 2-3 6, da Silva 2-5 1-1
5, Daniels 0-1 0-0 0, Horne 3-5 2-2 10, Barthelemy 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 19-43 19-22 61.
OREGON ST. (11-11)
Alatishe 5-8 2-2 12, Silva 3-5 2-2 8, Lucas 1-9 2-2 5, Re-
ichle 3-10 0-1 7, Thompson 6-17 3-4 18, Hunt 1-4 0-0
3, Andela 2-4 0-1 4, Calloo 0-1 0-0 0, Franklin 0-0 0-0 0,
Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 9-12 57.
Halftime —Colorado 35-29. 3-Point Goals —Colorado
4-18 (Horne 2-3, Parquet 1-2, Wright 1-3, Daniels 0-1,
Walton 0-2, da Silva 0-2, Schwartz 0-5), Oregon St.
6-22 (Thompson 3-7, Hunt 1-3, Reichle 1-5, Lucas 1-6,
Calloo 0-1). Rebounds —Colorado 32 (Battey, Walton,
Schwartz 6), Oregon St. 29 (Alatishe 10). Assists —Col-
orado 8 (Wright 3), Oregon St. 14 (Thompson 7). Total
Fouls —Colorado 16, Oregon St. 17.
Monday’s Game
Oregon at No. 17 Southern Cal, 6 p.m.
TOP 25 SCORES
Saturday’s Games
No. 1 Gonzaga 106, San Diego 69
No. 2 Baylor vs. Oklahoma St., ppd.
No. 5 Illinois 94, Minnesota 63
Duke 66, No. 7 Virginia 65
No. 8 Alabama 82, Vanderbilt 78
No. 9 Oklahoma 66, Iowa St. 56
No. 10 Villanova 68, UConn 60
No. 13 West Virginia 84, No. 12 Texas 82
No. 23 Kansas 67, No. 15 Texas Tech 61
No. 16 Florida St. 79, Pittsburgh 72
Kentucky 70, No. 19 Tennessee 55
No. 20 Missouri 93, South Carolina 78
No. 24 Arkansas at Texas A&M, ppd.
No. 25 San Diego St. at Fresno St.
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W
L
Pct
Phila.
20
10
.667
Brooklyn
19
12
.613
Milwaukee
17
13
.567
Indiana
15
14
.517
Boston
15
14
.517
Toronto
15
15
.500
Charlotte
14
15
.483
New York
14
16
.467
Chicago
13
16
.448
Miami
13
17
.433
Atlanta
12
17
.414
Orlando
12
18
.400
Washington
9
17
.346
Cleveland
10
20
.333
Detroit
8
21
.276
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W
L
Pct
Utah
24
6
.800
L.A. Clippers
22
9
.710
L.A. Lakers
22
9
.710
Phoenix
19
10
.655
Portland
18
10
.643
San Antonio
16
11
.593
Denver
16
13
.552
Golden State
16
15
.516
Memphis
13
13
.500
Dallas
13
15
.464
New Orleans
12
17
.414
Sacramento
12
17
.414
Houston
11
17
.393
Oklahoma City
11
18
.379
Minnesota
7
23
.233
Friday’s Late Games
Toronto 86, Minnesota 81
L.A. Clippers 116, Utah 112
Saturday’s Games
Charlotte 102, Golden State 100
Miami 96, L.A. Lakers 94
Phoenix 128, Memphis 97
Chicago 122, Sacramento 114
San Antonio at New York, ppd.
Indiana at Houston, ppd.
Washington at Portland, late
Sunday’s Games
Boston at New Orleans, 12:30 p.m.
Detroit at Orlando, 4 p.m.
Minnesota at New York, 4 p.m.
GB
—
1½
3
4½
4½
5
5½
6
6½
7
7½
8
9
10
11½
GB
—
2½
2½
4½
5
6½
7½
8½
9
10
11½
11½
12
12½
17
Oklahoma City at Cleveland, 4 p.m.
Phila. at Toronto, 4 p.m.
Denver at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.
Brooklyn at L.A. Clippers, 5 p.m.
Sacramento at Milwaukee, 6 p.m.
MOTOR SPORTS
NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona Road Course Lineup
After Saturday qualifying; race Sunday
At Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lap length: 2.50 miles
(Car number in parentheses)
1, (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, .000 mph. 2, (34) Mi-
chael McDowell, Ford, .000. 3, (3) Austin Dillon, Chevro-
let, .000. 4, (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, .000. 5, (4) Kevin
Harvick, Ford, .000.
6, (37) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, .000. 7, (7) Corey La-
joie, Chevrolet, .000. 8, (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, .000.
9, (42) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, .000. 10, (23) Bubba
Wallace, Toyota, .000.
11, (22) Joey Logano, Ford, .000. 12, (20) Christopher
Bell, Toyota, .000. 13, (41) Cole Custer, Ford, .000. 14, (18)
Kyle Busch, Toyota, .000. 15, (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford,
.000.
16, (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, .000. 17, (1)
Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, .000. 18, (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford,
.000. 19, (19) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, .000. 20, (77) Justin
Haley, Chevrolet, .000.
21, (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, .000. 22, (24) William
Byron, Chevrolet, .000. 23, (52) Josh Bilicki, Ford, .000. 24,
(8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, .000. 25, (53) Garrett Smith-
ley, Ford, .000.
26, (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, .000. 27, (12) Ryan Blaney,
Ford, .000. 28, (78) Scott Heckert, Ford, .000. 29, (00) Quin
Houff, Chevrolet, .000. 30, (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, .000.
31, (38) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, .000. 32, (21) Matt
DiBenedetto, Ford, .000. 33, (6) Ryan Newman, Ford,
.000. 34, (16) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, .000. 35, (99)
Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, .000.
36, (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, .000. 37, (43) Erik
Jones, Chevrolet, .000. 38, (96) Ty Dillon, Toyota, .000.
39, (15) James Davison, Chevrolet, .000. 40, (66) Timmy
Hill, Ford, .000.
HOCKEY
NHL
East
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Boston
15 10 3 2 22 44 33
Philadelphia 14 8 3 3 19 48 44
Washington 16 8 5 3 19 54 57
Pittsburgh
16 9 6 1 19 51 53
N.Y. Islanders 17 8 6 3 19 41 41
N.Y. Rangers 16 6 7 3 15 40 42
New Jersey
12 6 4 2 14 33 33
Buffalo
14 5 7 2 12 35 43
Central
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Carolina
16 12 3 1 25 62 43
Florida
16 11 3 2 24 56 47
Chicago
19 9 6 4 22 55 56
Tampa Bay
15 10 4 1 21 54 36
Columbus
19 8 7 4 20 55 64
Dallas
12 5 3 4 14 40 34
Nashville
17 7 10 0 14 40 57
Detroit
20 5 12 3 13 39 64
West
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
St. Louis
18 10 6 2 22 59 56
Vegas
14 10 3 1 21 43 31
Colorado
13 8 4 1 17 41 27
Los Angeles 16 7 6 3 17 51 48
Arizona
17 7 7 3 17 44 49
Minnesota
14 8 6 0 16 38 36
San Jose
16 7 7 2 16 45 58
Anaheim
18 6 9 3 15 34 50
North
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Toronto
19 14 3 2 30 72 51
Edmonton
19 11 8 0 22 65 61
Winnipeg
17 10 6 1 21 57 46
Montreal
16 9 5 2 20 55 44
Calgary
17 8 8 1 17 46 47
Vancouver
21 8 12 1 17 62 74
Ottawa
19 4 14 1
9 44 78
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.
Friday’s Late Games
Edmonton 2, Calgary 1
Winnipeg 2, Vancouver 0
Saturday’s Games
Buffalo 3, New Jersey 2
N.Y. Rangers 4, Washington 1
Detroit 2, Florida 1
Los Angeles 4, Arizona 2
Carolina 4, Tampa Bay 0
Pittsburgh 3, N.Y. Islanders 2
San Jose 5, St. Louis 4
Nashville 4, Columbus 2
Toronto 5, Montreal 3
Minnesota 5, Anaheim 1
Chicago at Carolina, ppd.
Tampa Bay at Dallas, ppd.
Vegas vs. Colorado at Edgewood Tahoe Resort, late
Calgary at Edmonton, late
Sunday’s Games
New Jersey at Washington, 11 a.m.
Montreal at Ottawa, 4 p.m.
Phila. vs. Boston at Edgewood Tahoe Resort, 4:30 p.m.
Winnipeg at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
TENNIS
Australian Open
Saturday at Melbourne, Australia
(Seedings in parentheses)
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Championship — Naomi Osaka (3), Japan, def. Jen-
nifer Brady (22), United States, 6-4, 6-3.
DEALS
Transactions
BASEBALL
Major League Baseball
American League
TEXAS RANGERS — Assigned RHP Jimmy Herget
outright to Round Rock (Triple-A West).
National League
CHICAGO CUBS — Assigned SS Sergio Alcantara out-
right to Iowa (Triple-A East).
PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Agreed to terms with 3B
Todd Frazier on a minor league contract.
BASKETBALL
NBA G League
WESTCHESTER KNICKS — Signed F J.J. Moore.
FOOTBALL
National Football League
CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed CB Robert Jackson.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
ANAHEIM DUCKS — Waived LW Adam Henrique.
ARIZONA COYOTES — Recalled G David Tendeck
from Rapid City (ECHL) and D Aaron Ness from Tucson
(AHL) loans. Loaned C Frederik Gauthier and D Kyle
Capobianco to Tucson (AHL).
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — Recalled D Gabriel
Carlsson from the minor league taxi squad.
DALLAS STARS — Recalled F Joel Kiviranta from the
minor league taxi squad. Assigned F Rhett Gardner to
the taxi squad.
DETROIT RED WINGS — Designated D Alex Biega for
assignment to the taxi squad then recalled to active ros-
ter. Recalled D Danny DeKeyser from the minor league
taxi squad.
LOS ANGELES KINGS — Recalled C Rasmus Kupari
from Ontario (AHL) taxi squad loan.
MONTREAL CANADIENS — Recalled LW Michael Fro-
lik from the minor league taxi squad loan.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Named C Nico Hischier cap-
tain. Assigned D Matt Tennyson to the minor league taxi
squad and F Nick Merkley to Binghamton (AHL) from
the taxi squad.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS — Recalled RW Oliver Wahl-
strom from the minor league taxi squad.
NEW YORK RANGERS — Recalled Ds Anthony Bitetto
and Libor Hajek, G Igor Shesterkin and RW Kaapo Kakko
from the minor league taxi squad. Designated G Keith
Kinkaid for assignment to the taxi squad.
OTTAWA SENATORS — Designated G Joey Daccord
for assignment to the taxi squad.
VEGAS KNIGHTS — Recalled G Oscar Dansk from the
minor league taxi squad.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Recalled G Craig Ander-
son from the minor league taxi squad. Designated G Ilya
Samsonov for assignment to the taxi squad.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer
INTER MIAMI CF — Signed D Ryan Shawcross.
Mariners
Continued from B1
The Mariners are confident they are
building toward that — and they have a
slew of top five farm system rankings to
back them up. But this is the year when
prospect love has to manifest itself in tan-
gible progress toward the ever-present and
ever-elusive goal of playoff baseball.
Rarely has a season dawned with so
much ambiguity for the Mariners. The da-
ta-driven predictive programs are not kind
to Seattle. Baseball Prospectus’ “PECOTA”
algorithm forecasts a 70-92 season with a 0
percent chance to win the division. That’s
“zero,” as in the number of postseason ap-
pearances by Seattle since 2001, a disgrace
odyssey.
FanGraphs has them at 74-88, with a 2.4
percent chance to make the playoffs. (“So
you’re saying there’s a chance?”) USA To-
day’s six-person panel of experts put the
Mariners at 70-92. Statistician Clay Dav-
enport has them at 71-91. About the only
good news on the prognostication front is
that almost everyone has the Mariners fin-
ishing out of last place, ahead of the Texas
Rangers — a team not as far advanced in
their own rebuild.
So where exactly is that ambiguity, you
might ask? The analysts seem to have una-
nimity in their predictions of doom for
Seattle. There’s not much that’s ambigu-
ous about 90 losses — a total the Mariners
have exceed seven times since 2004.
Well, the Mariners believe they have
breakout candidates that are flying well
under the radar.
They believe their influx of youth, which
figures to be parceled out incrementally
during the season — outfielder Jarred
Kelenic, starter Logan Gilbert and catcher
Cal Raleigh being the prime candidates to
break in at some point — will provide a
boost that can’t be measured.
Also, the Mariners play in a division, the
AL West, that doesn’t have an overwhelm-
ing favorite. The defending champion A’s
suffered considerable offseason free-agent
departures (though on Thursday they did
sign closer Trevor Rosenthal, a pitcher
who would have fit very nicely in the
Mariners’ bullpen). The Astros, a playoff
team last year despite finishing under .500
(29-31, just two games ahead of the Mari-
ners), lost one of their major stars, George
Springer.
The Mariners’ postseason chances will
rise exponentially if MLB expands its play-
off field. The decision to do so last year —
letting in eight teams per league instead of
the usual five — was made hours before
opening day. There could be a late format
change again in 2021 if the union uses it
as a bargaining chip to get a concession it
Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP file
Seattle Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto in 2019.
seeks.
Also, all those predictions I cited were
made before the Mariners signed James
Paxton, a move that became official
Thursday and adds considerable depth to
their rotation.
That said, the Mariners could have con-
siderably boosted their chances to com-
pete at a playoff level with a more active
offseason. Instead, Paxton is the only off-
season acquisition that can be called ma-
jor. They hope they got a sleeper in starter
Chris Flexen, who thrived in Korea after
struggling in the Mets’ organization. The
Mariners re-signed their free agent, re-
liever Kendall Graveman, and added Key-
nan Middleton and Rafael Montero to the
bullpen, in addition to the usual variety of
nonroster, speculative additions.
Rumored budget constraints may have
limited the ability of general manager Jerry
Dipoto to improve the club for 2021. Di-
poto said Thursday that he aggressively —
and unsuccessfully — pursued a veteran
left-handed hitter who could play second
base and/or the outfield.
“We just fell short at every turn,” he said.
Dipoto said Thursday it is unlikely the
Mariners will pursue any more offensive
players on major-league contracts.
“We’re going to go with what we have in
house,” he said.
Dipoto has been insistent that he doesn’t
want to block the progress of any young
player, which is the proper stance. But this
is a roster that could have benefited from
a greater infusion of more-proven talent
to bridge the gap until their blue-chippers
arrive.
Instead, as so often happens, they will
have to dream on some things. Like a ma-
jor uptick in the offensive contributions
of first baseman Evan White and short-
stop J.P. Crawford, Gold Glove winners in
2020. Like Dylan Moore showing that he
can maintain last year’s surprising pop at
the plate over a full 162 games, and Mitch
Haniger reverting to his 2018 All-Star
form after missing a year and a half from a
gruesome injury. And that’s just for start-
ers.
Servais talked Thursday about how
great Haniger looked, along with Tom
Murphy, the catcher who also missed last
season. Crawford and outfielder Jake Fra-
ley caught Servais’ eye, as did left-handed
pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. Largely a disap-
pointment during his previous two sea-
sons, despite significant signs of improve-
ment last year, Kikuchi is a classic breakout
candidate who can change the entire tenor
of the Mariners’ outlook for 2021 if he fi-
nally harnesses his high-caliber stuff. Ev-
eryone has limitless possibilities in Feb-
ruary. Any number of scenarios for team
success can be conjured — and, alas, so
can the potential pitfalls and prophecies of
doom, for which the vision is even clearer.
Those, however, tend to be pushed aside
in Arizona to focus on the upside for the
Mariners. The question is, will you still
love them in July, August and September?