I shudder to think of where this team would be without Carlos Silva. Even Erik Bedard, when he's pitched, has seen his team go 2-0. He's offered up a pair of "quality starts". That's six "quality starts'' between Bedard and Silva. The M's are 5-1 in those games. So yes, the upgraded pitching has made a difference. Throw this offense in with last year's starting rotation and the team is probably more like 8-14. We knew coming in that the offense was going to be a challenge. Seattle didn't exactly light things up last season. Heading in, the goal was to try to maintain that offensive output while reaping gains on the pitching side. So far, the mediocre defense on this club hasn't harmed as badly as some had expected. The M's are fine when it comes to runs allowed and much of what has been scored on Seattle has come via an injury-riddled bullpen.

It's a lot easier to plug in a hitter or two to provide satisfactory offense than it is to go out and find a starting pitcher or two that will give you a rotation among the league's finest. Seattle starters have delivered the most innings in the American League and the second-best ERA. Overall, the M's have the fourth-best ERA in the league even with the bullpen's struggles.

The mound isn't the problem. Pitching is the toughest thing for a team to improve in today's tight marketplace and the M's have improved. It's at the plate where the fixes are needed, as we mentioned this morning. But bringing in an added bat -- at the expense of those pitching fixes -- this winter would not have made the team better. It would probably be worse. This is a .500 team, even without Bedard -- supposedly the biggest pitching acquisition -- being 100 percent just yet. Even with an attrocious offensive start by two thirds of the lineup. Even with the slew of injuries. In other words, the pitching is so good, it's bought this team time...plenty of time...to figure out how to correct its shortcomings. Not saying it's going to be an easy fix. But it's a lot easier than having to go out and find a No. 1 and No. 3 starting pitcher.

Remember, this team went 10-10 in its opening month last year and went on to win 88 games. It's time to get cracking on some solutions, but the 11-11 start has negated the need to panic just yet, soft opening schedule or not.