Series Preview: Mariners (0-0) vs. Athletics (0-0)

For Mariners fans, this offseason felt excruciatingly slow. A front office known for its manic roster machinations spent most of the winter sitting on its hands while the hot stove boiled on. For all their passivity — and the grief they received over their inactivity — the Mariners enter the season in a pretty favorable position. FanGraphs sees them as the best team in the AL West and second in the entire AL behind the Yankees with 61.4% playoff odds. Baseball Prospectus is a little less optimistic, seeing the M’s a step behind the Rangers but with more favorable 68.