THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Change must follow this dreadful M's season

It's a simple question.

Can the Mariners be fixed with a few changes here and a little repair work there?

Or should the whole thing be knocked to the ground?

You know, create a fresh start with players whose heads are in the game.

At the moment, they are the worst team I've ever covered.

Oh, there's talent around the place — some genuine hitters and a gifted pitching staff — but nobody seems locked in to playing real baseball.

I guess that isn't a surprise, not with Dan Wilson as manager.

Wilson isn't the answer, full stop.

In 2025, the players carried Dan to the ALCS (and almost the World Series).

This year, though, Wilson has actually had to manage, and he's been lost from the very start.

Combine Wilson's lack of energy and enthusiasm with 18 Mariners missing a chunk of spring training while at the World Baseball Classic, and you have two huge pieces of this dreadful season.

Wilson's team has been sleepy from opening day, and he's never been able to provide a jolt to get these guys winning again.

Losing is contagious, and the Mariners haven't found a way to shake the infection.

IF YOU challenge vice president Jerry Dipoto, he'll argue that the Mariners have an excellent roster — a team that won 90 games last year.

Dipoto will point to injuries that have put key guys (almost everybody) on the bench for long and painful stretches.

That argument has merit.

If you insist that the Mariners only need a few fixes to be an elite team again, it's because that endless string of players on the IL kept the M's from gaining any momentum.

For instance: Dipoto needed a leadoff hitter and traded for Branden Donovan, an all-purpose defender who can hit enough to fit the top of the order.

Donovan homered in his first at-bat and began pounding the ball consistently.

But.

He's been injured several times, and hasn't played enough to make any impact.

Meanwhile, each of the starting pitchers has suffered something to kill any rhythm.

The bullpen has been struck, as well.

Matt Brash, who has the best stuff on the roster, missed a couple of months.

OK, so these Mariners have been wounded.

The puzzle is which, if any, can return to form — because Seattle has a platoon of minor league hitters who are whacking their way to the big leagues.

IN OTHER words, this team could be rebuilt from scratch in fairly short order.

Exciting prospects Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo have already reached the Seattle roster, and rookie Kade Anderson has stepped in as a regular starter.

So, do we give up on several pieces from the current roster, and spend a season bringing up the electric kids as they prove they're ready?

Blend the youngsters with current players who figure to be around (and playing hard) to put some life in the lineup and on the pitching staff?

That might be mandatory to keep the fans on board.

However the team is stitched together in 2027 (assuming there's baseball after the lockout), it HAS to come back to life.

Besides the lack of hitting this year, and individual struggles like Andres Munoz blowing 10 saves, these Mariners have been playing ugly baseball.

They are the worst defensive team in MLB, and rank way down in baserunning — in other words, just about everything.

You can hang some of that on Wilson, who simply CAN'T inject any energy into this team.

Instead, you have Julio Rodriguez throwing the ball into the stands, thinking there's three outs when there's only two. And Randy Arozarena letting two easy fly balls drop in left field through lack of hustle.

It's been horrible to watch.

This whole thing needs to be fixed.

The question is how.

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Longtime journalist Steve Cameron writes "The Cheap Seats" three times each week for The Press.