The Mariners have reached the sell-off stage of this step-back voyage, and what a grim ride it’s been so far. Ignoring the fact it’s going to get worse before it gets better (so buckle up, and buck up), let’s address the white elephant in the room.
First, if you’re somehow surprised that the Mariners dumped Jay Bruce and especially American League home-run leader Edwin Encarnacion, then you weren’t paying attention when Robinson Cano, James Paxton, Edwin Diaz and Jean Segura were booted out the door during the offseason.
And you were also tuning out when general manager Jerry Dipoto was explaining his long-range plan.