Matt Calkins at the Seattle Times posts a fairly positive take on the Mariners chances of improving this season. While the changes they made may lead to more injuries, the overall squad has more potential:

Perhaps this reads like a story you’d see on the Mariners’ homepage as opposed to a newspaper website. It’s not meant to be. The M’s are still flawed and have an array of health concerns that could derail them in 2024. 

But I would venture to say that this year’s squad is more talented than last year’s. If they stay healthy, they’ll stay in the hunt.

SeattleTimes.com

Sometimes staying healthy is the key to staying competitive. The 2023 Yankees were a 30-20 at after a win on May 23rd, and stayed about 10 games over .500 until the middle of June. Then injures took their toll. We’ll find out soon enough if the new Mariners are injury prone or just unlucky.