Many of you keep writing in and asking for my official AL West prediction. I'm not going to run off and hide with it, so here it is.

Much as I was hoping to give you some better news, I just can't justify picking this team any higher than third place at the moment. Even with the division expected to be a three-team dogfight. Having looked at the teams competing in the AL West, I'd say the Angels are still the best squad in the division with the Rangers poised to give that title a challenge.

The Mariners might be able to step in and make some noise that counts. Meaning in September. Remember, as good as last season was, it all-but-ended in late July when the Indians came in and laid waste to Seattle's playoff hopes at Safeco Field.

But let's look at some reality.

Since the Mariners pulled off their stunning December by landing Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley and, in a highly underrated move, Brandon League, the follow-up has been, shall we say, somewhat like this Peggy Lee song my woodshop teacher used to play for us back in eighth grade as he taught us how to make lamps that looked as terrible as this M's offense this spring.

Is that all there is? That's what I kept asking myself. A team that still appeared to need help in the starting rotation and lineup (and was still several million under last year's starting payroll) went out as a January follow-up and acquired Casey Kotchman, Eric Byrnes and Ryan Garko. Garko is now gone and Byrnes is a backup. That leaves Kotchman, two years removed from his last truly productive season, with a whole lot riding on his shoulders.

I like Milton Bradley as the cleanup hitter and believe he will do well. Last year was probably an aberration for him, given his prior numbers before all of that Chicago circus happened. But Kotchman remains a huge question mark. If he hits like he did in 2007, he'll be a vital cog in this offense -- maybe even its biggest key. But it's 2010, so we have to take the wait-and-see approach.

On the pitching front, the M's re-signed Erik Bedard to a cost-effective contract. But he won't be there for the first third of the season at least. Meanwhile, you've got a team with a payroll -- in guaranteed money at least -- that appears to be below what it was a year ago at this time. And a rotation with four guys in it, who, when the season ended last September, we figured might be battling each other for a pair of fourth and fifth starter jobs.

Hence, my struggle to see this as a team better than third best. A team that, as we told you yesterday on the blog and explained more on the live show, will open the season with a somewhat risky/daring six-man bullpen in order to squeeze in as many roster spots for position players as possible. You've got two players -- Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney -- essentially handling one DH position and unable to play the field for any prolonged stretch.

For this team to go beyond that, a couple of things have to happen.

1. A couple of bats need to be brought in. Actually, one Adrian Gonzalez would go a long way, but banking on a trade for one of the game's premier young talents -- when you know the Red Sox want him as well -- seems a strange blueprint for your season. I'm not saying it is the M's blueprint, just that a whole lot of folks seem to think it is. If it is, that's a little crazy. About as crazy as banking on Bedard to be this team's knight in shining armor galloping in to the rescue come June. I think it's highly unfair to put that kind of pressure on a guy less than a year removed from labrum surgery. Again, I'm not saying that's what the Mariners have made their blueprint. But again, some folks seem to think that it is.

2. Which brings me to my second part of what has to happen for the M's to be any better. Bedard has to come galloping in like a knight in shining armor in June and be the pitcher he's shown himself capable of when healthy. Do I expect this? Again, no way. It's highly unfair to Bedard to put that on him. But yeah, having Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee and Bedard dealing like aces for half a season with that defense behind them could vault this team up in the standings if the offense is at least average.

I actually think the offense will be better than it looked this spring and will score a bunch of runs more than it did last year.

But that in itself won't be good enough. The M's had one of the worst offenses in all of baseball a year ago and there's a whole lot that can still go wrong with this one. Moving up a couple of spots in the AL offensive standings won't do the trick. This team has to get up there to No. 6-8 or so, I think, to have a decent shot, considering the pitching will not be nearly as strong the first month or so with Lee out.

Which brings me to my final point.

For this team to contend this year, it has to survive the month of April. Play something close to .500 ball, don't fall six games behind like it did two years ago right off the bat and then, try to consolidate once Lee is healthy again. It's a long season. The M's don't have to make a finishing kick until August and September, but they do have to keep it interesting in the first half for August and September to have meaning. Remember, as good as the M's looked last year, they were effectively toast by Aug. 1. So, staying close will not be as simple as some may think.

Other than that, I think this is an interesting team. There are a lot of unconventional things that will be put to the test in 2010, starting with the six-man bullpen for a squad opening the season with a whole bunch of back-end arms in the rotation.

And really, when you think of it, interesting is all you want out of a season. It looked more interesting to me in December, though. As a rebuilding project, the M's certainly appear to be consolidating the gains they made, rather surprisingly, last year.

I'm still, however, having trouble reconciling the Lee acquisition. Lee is effectively a one-year rental unless the M's can convince him to stay. That last part is a toss up, so, logic would dictate, if you're acquiring Lee, there has to be some "go for it'' element involved in your short-term thinking. But the M's strategy, at least as far as the acquisitions made since the December flurry that sparked all the nationwide media attention, does not appear to have the 2010 urgency one might expect out of a team "going for it.''

It's a confusing paradox for me.

And that's why I just can't get over the feeling that this version of the team is a largely unfinished product. I think it has the talent to hang around for a while, but unless Jack Zduriencik and ownership -- meaning the guys holding the purse strings -- put the finishing touches on it, I still see two AL West teams not involved with the city of Oakland finishing ahead of Seattle in the standings.