Merry Christmas, Mariner fans.

Yesterday, Jack Zduriencik made his first trade of the offseason, swapping No. 2 starter Jason Vargas for the Angels’ first baseman and designated hitter Kendrys Morales.

Over 33 starts in 2012, Jason maintained a 3.85 ERA over 217.1 IP, his lowest since 2010. Vargas struggled to keep the ball in Safeco Field, accounting for 35 home runs in what was once a pitcher’s park. When he was good, he was very good, finishing the season with a sparkling seven inning performance against Oakland, granting the soon-to-be playoff contenders five hits, a run, and seven strikeouts. When he was bad, things got ugly—for instance, his season-low performance in Arizona, where he sent the Mariners spiraling after giving up nine hits, ten runs, five home runs, and two walks in just 4.1 IP.

In Kendrys Morales, the Mariners find the missing middle-of-the-order hitter they had hoped to secure with the Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade last winter. Morales has somewhat successfully bounced back from two injury-laden seasons, caused in part by his new home team.

“That injury occurred when he landed awkwardly while jumping into a group of teammates at home plate after hitting a walk-off grand slam off Mariners closer Brandon League in Anaheim on May 29, 2010.” — Greg Johns, Mariners.com

Last season, Kendrys batted .273/.320/.467 in 522 PA with 22 home runs and a .339 wOBA. Morales peaked in 2009, with a .306 average, 4.0 bWAR, and fifth place in the MVP award voting. According to Greg Johns’ wrap-up, the 29-year-old has fared well in Seattle so far, managing seven home runs, a .292 average, and .904 OPS over 34 games. One can only hope that the shortened fences will work in his favor, while Jason finds the spacious dimensions of Angel Stadium more to his liking.

By this time next year, both Vargas and Morales will be free agents. Last season, Vargas fed on a $4.85M contract, while Morales topped out at $2.98M.

With a potential power hitter gracing the Mariners’ lineup, the team turns to its rotation once again. Rumors cropped up early in the offseason, hinting that Jack Z put another starter on his Christmas wish list. Today, it is a pressing need, lest we see Eric Wedge throw Hector Noesi back in the mix. Although much remains to be tested and proven in the months to come, Jack and Wedge are looking at a rotation captained by King Felix and followed by a combination of Hisashi Iwakuma, Erasmo Ramirez, Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, or Brandon Maurer.

Jack may still have a few more surprises up his sleeve this winter, but at least through the holiday weekend, Mariner fans can finally sleep peacefully.

Join the conversation: tweet #EdgarHOF and tell us why you think Edgar Martínez deserves a spot in Cooperstown.

With just 11 days until Christmas, Jack Zduriencik is back in the hunt for a pretty free agent signing to give Mariners fans this year. Here’s the latest from the hot stove circuit:

• Yesterday, the Angels swooped into the Hamilton-fest and signed the coveted, controversial outfielder to a 5-year, $125M contract. According to Greg Johns, the Mariners had aggressively, though unsuccessfully, pursued Hamilton:

“Though Jack Zduriencik suggested last month that Seattle wouldn’t likely be in position to pursue Hamilton at his original seven-year, $175 million target, the Mariners indeed were willing to go after him full bore on a shorter deal.

[...] it is interesting that they were in the hunt to the end, which was not the case last year with Prince Fielder when the Tigers went with more years and dollars than anybody else was willing to stomach.”

• Several less-shiny outfielders remain on the table, including Brennan Boesch, who talked with the Mariners on Wednesday. In 2012, Boesch hit .240/.286/.372 over 132 games with the Tigers. Jon Morosi suggests Charlie Furbush, Oliver Perez, and Lucas Luetge as potential trade chips, as Detroit is thought to have interest in left-handed relievers.
• In their second social media sweepstakes of the holiday season, the Mariners are encouraging fans to use Pinterest to win free team gear. To enter, follow the team’s official account on Pinterest, re-pin four of the given images, and fill out this form to get your name in the running.
• Franklin Gutierrez, Erasmo Ramirez, Oliver Perez, and Carlos Peguero are a few Mariners currently performing in MLB’s various offseason leagues. You can find a complete list of players and their respective statistics here.

Final score: Mariners 6, Angels 1

Unlike the stone-faced foes of the Doctor, these Angels are not liable to kill more than the Mariners’ chances of winning a baseball game. Tonight, however, they were powerless—not, as one might expect, against King Felix, but against Hisashi Iwakuma.

For his third consecutive win, and ninth on the season, Iwakuma allowed six hits and a walk. He struck out seven batters, retiring Mike Trout on four pitches and sending Albert Pujols down swinging three times. In sixteen starts, this marked Iwakuma’s fifth outing with at least six strikeouts. Prior to tonight, his most recent attempt was another 7-strikeout effort against the Angels on September 2.

On the heels of the Mariners’ announcement to restructure the fences, every ball hit in the direction of an outfield wall was imagined in its 2013 resting place. Kyle Seager cleared the fences with a moon shot to right field, while Casper Wells and Michael Saunders smacked several pitches to the warning track.

In a pre-2013 Safeco Field, Saunders, John Jaso, and Jesus Montero followed Seager’s home run with a no-doubt double and a pair of base hits. Not to be excluded, Mark Trumbo ensured at least two RBIs with a handful of throwing errors. Overly grateful, the Mariners returned the favor in the 9th, botching a shutout on a ground ball that tripped Tom Wilhelmsen and popped off Saunders’ glove.

Tomorrow, the Mariners return to Safeco Field for the series finale and their last game of the season. Fighting to skew the series split in their favor will be Blake Beavan and RHP Jered Weaver.

Last game: vs. Angels | October 3 | 3:40pm

Final score: Athletics 5, Mariners 2

Today, the Mariners put up a good fight. There’s not much more you can ask from a team who won’t break .500 by season’s end, and who has faced four playoff contenders over the last two weeks.

Erasmo Ramirez skidded on a season-high four walks, but finished with three hits, two earned runs, and six strikeouts over 6.1 IP. In his absence, the ‘pen relinquished three hits and two home runs, giving Oakland just enough of an edge to clinch the sweep. Wondering just how Seattle’s starters and relievers have fared lately? From Joshua Dobner of SeattleClubhouse.com:

@wcoastfangirl SPs have a 2.06 ERA the past two days allowing no home runs in 13.1 innings. Bullpen has a 20.25 ERA & 4 HRs in 4 innings.

— Joshua Dobner (@JPDobner) September 30, 2012

If only games were won on hits amassed, not runs, the Mariners would’ve had this one in the bag. Collectively, they put up 11 hits to the A’s 6, with two doubles from Franklin Gutierrez, a double from Brendan Ryan, and a triple by Casper Wells. Justin Smoak extended his hot streak as well, going 2-for-4 with a pair of base hits, an RBI, and a failed attempt to nab home plate. In September, he’s now batting .340/.421/.580.

While the Mariners gave the A’s a leg up in the quest for the West, their next task is to play spoiler to the Angels’ hopes of grabbing a wild card. They return home for a final three-game homestand beginning tomorrow, with Felix Hernandez on the mound against LHP C.J. Wilson.

Next game: vs. Angels | October 1 | 7:10pm

Final score: Angels 5, Mariners 4

Narrative 1: Justin Smoak is good. No, really. Since September 13, he’s gone 24-for-38 with 7 XBH, 7 RBI, 4 HR, and just 6 SO. Half of those home runs were hit tonight, putting up the Mariners’ four runs and still falling one run shy of the Angels.

Sure, this level of production is unsustainable. Come Spring Training, or perhaps Opening Day 2013, he might regress to a sub-Mendoza line batting average. But it’s September, the Mariners have eight games left to play, and if this is the silver lining handed to us by the baseball gods, so be it.

Narrative 2: Zack Greinke is good. No, really. Okay, so you knew he was good already, what with the 3.05 FIP and 8.65 K/9 this year. Tonight, however, he set a few records for himself, the Angels, and the Mariners.

Over 5 IP, Greinke induced two groundouts and picked off Kyle Seager to end the 3rd inning. Each of the other 13 outs were strikeouts. If that math seems incorrect, it’s because Greinke managed to strike out four batters in the 4th, his third strikeout botched on a wild pitch. Trayvon Robinson and Brendan Ryan, batting eighth and ninth, struck out three times each. At the top of the lineup, Dustin Ackley struck out four times.

By the end of the game, the Mariners had struck out seven more times, tying their all-time strikeout record in a 9-inning game at 20. This last happened in April 1986, when Roger Clemens recorded all 20 strikeouts in a complete game win for the Boston Red Sox. According to ESPN Stats, the Angels became the first team to generate 20 strikeouts in MLB history, the three other 20-strikeout performances courtesy of one-man efforts from Clemens and Kerry Wood.

Although the lows significantly outweighed the highs of this game, the Mariners still have two more chances to spoil the Angels’ bid for a wild card berth. Tomorrow, Felix Hernandez faces C.J. Wilson, while Hisashi Iwakuma takes the mound against Dan Haren for the series finale on Thursday.

Next game: @ Angels | September 26 | 7:05pm

Final score: Rangers 3, Mariners 2.

There is just one thing you need to know about this game.

It’s not that Jason Vargas managed to strike out two Rangers while issuing eight hits, two home runs, three earned runs, and two walks—by far his least effective outing this month.

It’s not that the Mariners’ lineup, headed by Michael Saunders and sporting both Carlos Triunfel and Luis Jimenez, struck out eight times against Ryan Dempster and four times against Robbie Ross, Mike Adams, and Joe Nathan.

It’s not that Seattle turned down the chance to sweep Texas for the third time this season.

It’s not even that Shawn Kelley and Lucas Luetge wriggled out of an inning started by a Craig Gentry leadoff triple.

No, the one thing you need to know about this game cannot be prefaced with all the #cantpredictball hashtags in the world: Brendan Ryan hit a home run. Eric Thames had just ended the Rangers’ shutout with a blast to right field, and Ryan arrived in the 7th with two outs and no runners on. Expecting a walk, perhaps a second base hit, the crowd watched as he chased Dempster’s 85 MPH slider into the Mariners’ bullpen, accounting for Seattle’s second and final home run of both the inning and the game.

Even more surprisingly, this marked Brendan’s third home run of the season, his first since a 12-9 victory over the Diamondbacks in June. It also made Dempster the first pitcher to surrender multiple home runs to Ryan, who first hit a tie-breaking shot off the former Cub back in September 2009.

Tomorrow, the Mariners take the day off before hitting the road for a six-game stretch in Anaheim and Oakland.

Next game: @ Angels | September 25 | 7:10pm

Final score: Red Sox 4, Mariners 3

The Boston Red Sox create a certain kind of atmosphere at Safeco Field. You could argue that it’s exciting or electric, with Red Sox Nation jeering the dancing grounds crew and Mariners fans trying to bellow “root, root, root for the MARINERS” over the noise of their rivals.

On the other hand, the hand that handles the actual game, Red Sox games also create the kind of atmosphere that stretches an ordinary baseball game into an extraordinarily long event. Take, for example, a recent homestand against the Angels. On August 10, the Mariners fell 5-6 in 9 innings and 2.5 hours. Tonight, they took a 4-3 loss in 9 innings and 3.5 hours.

Of course, I don’t have any legitimate reason for pointing this out, except to say that I’m upset that I watched this team struggle for four innings without tying the game. Let’s see if I can wrap things up before this recap turns into another three-hour debacle.

Through five innings, the Mariners looked relatively untouchable. Jon Lester suffered back-to-back home runs by Franklin Gutierrez and Kyle Seager, padding Seattle’s 1-0 lead on a 1st inning RBI single by Jesus Montero. Guti left the game with a slight groin strain, the latest in an endless streak of bad luck and unfortunate injuries. At this point, the move was mostly precautionary, and more information will be known tomorrow when the team reassesses his condition prior to the game.

Blake Beavan held the score to a 3-0 lead through five innings, then worked his way through a disastrous 6th, where he surrendered 4 hits and 4 runs on a 3-RBI jack by Cody Ross and Ryan Lavarnway’s game-winning solo shot.

Despite the never-ending carousel of relievers and pinch-hitters, the Mariners managed just three hits, two RISP, and zero runs in the remaining four innings. In an almost-exciting finish, Eric Thames tripled in the 9th, but Seager turned down the opportunity to be the two-out hero with a shallow fly ball to Ross.

Lost in the failed rally attempts was the major league debut of veteran Rainier Luis Jimenez, who pinch-hit for Brendan Ryan and popped up on his second pitch. He’s no Jurickson Profar, but watching September call-ups, especially with a Cinderella story such as this one, makes losses like tonight’s a little more palatable.

Tomorrow, Kevin Millwood faces off against RHP Aaron Cook in the rubber match of this three-game series.

Next game: vs. Red Sox | September 5 | 7:10pm

Series split: Angels 2, Mariners 1

You wouldn’t know it from this weekend’s boxscores, but the Angels aren’t exactly poised to take over the AL West. They sit 8.5 games back of the Rangers, and 5.5 games behind the Athletics (pinch me, I’m dreaming and I want to wake up). Of course, I only point this out to reassure you that while the Mariners may not be headed for a World Series run, neither is the Mike Trout Club.

Game One — Angels 9, Mariners 1

Kevin Millwood tacked on loss No. 12 to his record, handing over 9 hits, 5 runs, and 4 walks in a brief 5 inning appearance. The Mariners scored early, getting aboard in the 1st on a pair of singles by Franklin Gutierrez and John Jaso. However, the ‘pen provided extra insurance runs for the Angels, allowing an additional 4 runs and burying any realistic hope of a comeback.

Game Two — Angels 5, Mariners 2

Felix pitched. On any given Felix Day, I could leave the recap at that simple statement. Despite Trayvon Robinson’s home run and Guti’s RBI double, the Angels caught a clown ball inning from the Mariners, taking a 3-run lead on a fielding error, wild pitch (Pryor’s, not Felix’s), and passed ball.

Game Three — Mariners 2, Angels 1

Not only was this the first win of the homestand, but it marked the first time this year that the Mariners beat the Angels at Safeco Field. Hisashi Iwakuma extended his streak to 10.1 scoreless innings, allowing just 5 hits in 7.1 innings and 7 strikeouts. He struck out Mike Trout. He struck out Mark Trumbo three times. The Mariners managed two runs off Jered Weaver, both solo shots by Jesus Montero and Carlos Peguero.

Tomorrow, the Mariners celebrate Labor Day with a series opener against the Boston Red Sox. Here’s a fun fact for you: though neither team looks anywhere close to playoff contention, the M’s lead the Sox by three games. So, while I’ve lowered my expectations enough to simply hope that the Mariners will be a constant source of frustration for their AL West rivals this month, it would be nice to see Boston sitting a full 5.5 games behind Seattle this Wednesday.

Next game: vs. Red Sox | September 3 | 1:10pm

Final score: Mariners 5, Twins 4

When the Mariners made their eight-win run last week, we knew that their next road trip had the potential to kill any momentum they gathered at home. Not to discredit their run, fueled by a pair of walk-offs and a perfect game, but robbing wins from the Rays, Twins, and Indians is not exactly a sign of an impending postseason run.

Fortunately, or perhaps not so fortunately, this road trip lived up to our tempered expectations. Against a first-place team, the Mariners took three losses; against the Twins, they captured three of four games.

In this morning’s series capper, Blake Beavan earned his ninth victory with 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 1 SO over 7 IP. It marked his lowest strikeout total since a disastrous two-inning outing against the Dodgers in mid-June, and his longest outing since the beginning of August.

The offense kept up their end of the deal, scoring on back-to-back hits in the 1st for a quick dose of run support. By the 6th inning, the Mariners trailing 2-1 while Brian Duensing retired 12 consecutive batters, they managed a four-run outburst on a 2-RBI single by Trayvon Robinson and a pair of sac flies (well, one sac fly and one case of a blinded Josh Willingham).

Right now, the Mariners are hanging onto a postseason chance of 0.5%. Heading into September, they’ll split the remaining 30 games with the Angels (9), Red Sox (3), Athletics (6), Blue Jays (3), Rangers (6), and Orioles (3). With roster expansion beginning this Saturday, let’s hope that Seattle finds enough of a spark to be more than a stepping stone for teams still in playoff contention.

Next game: vs. Angels | August 31 | 7:10pm

Final score: Mariners 5, Twins 1

Forget the Rangers, their immovable position atop the AL West, their 11-2 pummeling of Toronto, their Josh Hamilton and Yu Darvish.

Forget the Athletics, who somehow secured second place ahead of Mike Trout and his posse.

Forget the Angels, who have already been forgotten by the Rangers and the A’s.

The Seattle Mariners are now the best team in this division*.

*Since the All-Star break. I know, I know. Asterisks are not fun. Major League Baseball uses them for not-fun things like steroid usage. So, read on.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners hold the second-best MLB record at 22-13. After today’s 5-1 win, they broke .500 at Safeco Field (30-30), taking 12 of the last 13 games at home.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners won 7 of the past 11 series. They reached a low point during Baltimore’s three-game sweep, but accomplished three sweeps of their own, including today’s series cap against the Twins.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners have inched their way along the division/wild card race. They sit a distant 13 games behind the Rangers, so you can continue to lower your expectations for another division title. In the grab for wild cards #1 and #2, they are just 8.5 games back.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners have gone on a five-game winning streak, second only to the string of seven wins they strung from July 26 – August 1.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners have pieced together two walk-off wins—one courtesy of John Jaso, who leads the team with a dozen game-winning hits.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners have thrown a perfect game.

Since the All-Star break, the Mariners have started to become relevant.

Next game: vs. Indians | August 20 | 7:10pm