Hypothetical scenario. Bill Bavasi gets the axe and Howard Lincoln calls you to be the new GM of the Seattle Mariners. He promises that ownership will stay out of your hair and allow you to make all the personnel moves that you want. What would you do to this team to make it better?

Here's my ideas. First and foremost, Richie Sexson is gone. You cannot hit .205 for a year and continue to play for my team. Especially as a first baseman and cleanup hitter. Never in a million years would I have traded Adam Jones for Eric Bedard. Don't get me wrong, Bedard is going to be an amazing addition to the Mariner starting rotation. But by getting rid of Adam Jones - whom is rated the top prospect in all of MLB - you are now required to keep Raul Ibanez in LF. Uh, oh. That brings me to the next thing. Raul Ibanez becomes my everyday DH and Vidro either gets the axe or is resigned to the bench. Willie Bloomquist never gets another at-bat. I think the Mariners could have sent the same package to the Twins and gotten Johan Santana, who is way better than Bedard. (The Mets sent a way worse package to the Twins than the Mariners sent to the Orioles and got a better pitcher out of the deal.) I also never give up my best set-up relief pitcher in Rafael Soriano for an injury case, unproven pitcher in Horacio Ramirez. Could you imagine still having Soriano and Sherrill setting up for the best closer in baseball in J.J. Putz?

So, I'd have let Sexson go, which also means I get to keep Ben Broussard - who is going to start for the Texas Rangers this year. Better yet, trade Sexson to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Durham because they both have similar contracts and then Durham can take Willie Bloomquist's roster spot. You can kill two birds with one stone there. Or, what I'd really have done, is include Carlos Truinfel and Jose Lopez in the Eric Bedard deal to try and get Brian Roberts for a second baseman. That way, we get rid of Lopez, who can't put a whole season together and we get a huge upgrade in our offense at 2B. I also would not have signed Brad Wilkerson. We needed a glove out there to take some pressure off of Ichiro because he already has to make up for Ibanez. I would have grabbed Geoff Jenkins when he was available, and if I missed him, I'd have gotten Corey Patterson who can still steal a base or two, and has a much better glove than Wilkerson.

Now, I would make sure that either Wlad Balentien or Jeff Clement make the major league squad. Clement is left handed and will do well as a DH and a back up catcher to Johjima. However, Clement's defense at catcher is still unrefined, and it's hard to really refine your game at the big league level. Maybe AAA will do him some good.

So here's a look at what my roster looks like with my changes. I'll do 2; one with the Bedard trade, and one without.

Ok: With the trade.

CF - Ichiro
2B - Brian Roberts
LF - Raul Ibanez
3B - Adrian Beltre
1B - Ben Broussard
LF - Geoff Jenkins
DH - Jose Vidro (platoon with Clement)
C - Kenji Johjima
SS - Yuniesky Betancourt

Bench:
C/DH - Jeff Clement
Infield - Ray Durham
Outfield - Wlad Balentien
Outfield/1B - Mike Morse
Utility - Miguel Cairo (I'm not too opposed to this pickup)

Rotation:

1 - Eric Bedard
2 - Felix Hernandez
3 - Miguel Batista
4 - Jerrod Washburn
5 - Carlos Silva

Bullpen:
Closer - J.J. Putz
Set-up - Brandon Morrow
Set-up - Rafael Soriano (the Ramirez trade never happened)
Relief - Sean White
Relief - Eric O'Flaherty
Relief - Mark Lowe

Without the trade
Lineup:

CF - Ichiro
SS - Yuniesky Betancourt
DH - Raul Ibanez
3B - Adrian Beltre
1B - Ben Broussard
C - Kenji Johjima
LF - Geoff Jenkins
RF - Adam Jones
2B - Jose Lopez

Bench:
DH/1B - Jose Vidro
Infield - Ray Durham
Utility - Miguel Cairo
Outfield - Mike Morse
C/DH/1B - Jeff Clement

Rotation:

1 - Felix Hernandez
2 - Jerrod Washburn
3 - Carlos Silva
4 - Miguel Batista
5 - Brandon Morrow (yes, he is a starter)

Bullpen
Closer - J.J. Putz
Set up - George Sherrill
Set up - Rafael Soriano (I'm assuming no Ramirez Trade)
Relief - Mark Lowe
Relief - Sean White
Relief - Eric O'Flaherty

Other choice for both bullpens:
R.A. Dickey, Sean Green, Cha Seung Baek, Ryan Freierabend

(I'm not sure if this should be a soapbox or forum post, but I really wanted to start a Mariner Forum. This kind of stuff is called "rosterbation" and it can be fun. But let's stay away from the completely ridiculous like Alex Rodriguez back in Seattle, or Barry Bonds, or Randy Johnson, or Albert Pujols, or Vladimir Guerrero (but he may be a free agent next year. I'd take him if he's available. Wilkerson is only signed for one year) :).