Some of you are going to laugh off the title of this post, suggesting that a team that sits 14-23 can't really compete for anything. Thing is, as bad as these Mariners have looked, the rest of the AL West is so weak that Seattle has yet to be blown out.

The M's actually picked up a game on Texas this weekend, despite losing two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays. And it's tough to suggest the Mariners did not compete here when they won the opener, then lost the next two by a run after late comebacks by the Tampa Bay Rays.

But style points don't count in pro sports. Winning does.

And nobody wants to be 5 1/2 games out already in a division this bad.

So, let's get back to the "horses" and whether they can compete.

On the mound, the M's are showing -- and really proved this weekend -- that they can go up against the best and hold their own. No argument there.

But the bullpen and the offense have proved less-than-reliable and that's the type of thing that's going to lose a team a lot of one-run games.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu told us after the game that Mike Sweeney was not available to pinch-hit in the ninth because of a sore lower back. Sweeney contradicted that to a point. He said his back had been bothing him but was OK when he took batting practice and that he told Wakamatsu he was available if needed.

It then becomes a judgement call. Wakamatsu decided Sweeney was not able to play. So. it doesn't matter what Sweeney says after the game. Sweeney was walking around with one of those treatment patches on his back afterwards, so you know there is something bugging him pain-wise.

Without Sweeney, the team was caught woefully short in the starting lineup and on the bench.

Ken Griffey Jr. went hitless, popping out twice, striking out and hitting a routine flyball to center. He's now batting .190 with an OPS of .478. He should not be the primary DH anymore unless Sweeney is in too much pain to play. But frankly, the team might be better off with Matt Tuiasosopo or Ryan Langerhans as a DH at this stage.

The lineup Wakamatsu opened with included Griffey, then batting .200, along with .214-hitting Jose Lopez at cleanup, three guys hitting .194 or worse, and Josh Bard, called up from Class AAA that morning.

The bench looked even worse.

Sweeney wasn't available to pinch-hit and neither was Langerhans, who told me his elbow had been bugging him a bit and that it felt really stiff when he woke up today. He couldn't swing right during BP, so he wasn't available.

You couldn't pinch-hit for Bard because he's the only healthy catcher. And the team could not pinch-hit for Wilson, even with Tuiasosopo. That's because Tui is the only shortstop and emergency catcher left. So, if he hit for Wilson and helped tie the game, then Bard went down in the bottom of the ninth, nobody would be left to go behind the plate. Or, if you put Tui behind the plate, there would be no shortstop left.

So, the answer appears to be "no".

Right now, this team lacks the horses, both in the lineup to score runs, and on the bench to help late in games, that championship teams need.

Yes, this team is going through injuries, just as all teams do.

But the composition of this roster and the continued struggles of sub-.200 hitters near the top and middle of the order are dragging it down. If this team wants to compete, it has to make some tough calls on who can still do the job and who cannot.

It has to make moves where it can make them and look for alternatives at other spots. You can afford to wait for one or two guys to start getting back to career norms if you're a team with designs on contending. You can't sit around waiting for two thirds of the lineup to do it.

Yes, the team will get a boost from Milton Bradley whenever he gets back. But it's time for some tough decisions to be made.

That is, if the team wants to contend this year. Seriously contend. Right now, the M's aren't seriously contending for anything.

I'm not sold on the fact the team truly does want to win this year. Badly enough to go out and make needed changes to personnel and the batting order. Many of the players you see now, with the exception of oLee, are under contract next year as well.

In the end, the team's braintrust could decide to punt this season rather than go all out to seek new horses to boost the chances of contending this year.

I'm not telling you that this is what will happen. I'm suggesting this team is not good enough to win the AL West this year as-is. Because style points and playing teams tough don't count in the standings when your offense can't score and your bullpen blows games.

We'll see what happens from here.