Let's look at the transformation that's now set to occur between Opening Day of last season and next April:

Opening Day 2008

1B Richie Sexson (gone)
2B Jose Lopez
SS Yuniesky Betancourt
3B Adrian Beltre
C Kenji Johjima (lost starting job)
LF Raul Ibanez (gone)
CF Ichiro (switched positions)
RF Brad Wilkerson (gone)
DH Jose Vidro (gone)

Bench

C Jamie Burke (gone)
INF Miguel Cairo (gone)
INF Willie Bloomquist (gone)
OF Charlton Jimerson (gone)
OF Mike Morse

Rotation

Erik Bedard
Felix Hernandez
Carlos Silva
Jarrod Washburn
Miguel Batista (switched to relief)

Bullpen

J.J. Putz (gone)
Eric O'Flaherty (gone)
Sean Green (gone)
Mark Lowe
Ryan Rowland-Smith (in rotation)
Cha Seung Baek (gone)

So, that's 12 players on the Opening Day roster from 2008 now gone from the organization completely. Mike Morse might be on his way out as well. Not only that, but guys we didn't see on Opening Day, but who were up with the team a good part of the year, like R.A. Dickey, Jeremy Reed and Arthur Rhodes, are out as well. By this time next year, Bedard and Beltre will almost certainly be with other teams, as will Washburn and Batista. So, that's the potential transformation of at least 17 players out of 25 from Opening Day 2008 to Opening Day 2010. Hard to argue that anything but a rebuilding is going on. Now, it might be a very quick rebuild and could turn out great.

But really, given what we now know, by Opening Day 2010, if what the Mariners are attempting actually works out, the team will have -- compared to the start of 2008 -- a new:

Left fielder
Center Fielder
Right Fielder
Third baseman
First baseman
DH
Catcher

An entirely new bench

An entirely new bullpen except for Mark Lowe and Ryan Rowland-Smith

An entirely new starting rotation except for Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva

All of these changes could actually occur by Opening Day 2009 if the Mariners were to get really creative on the trade front. But we'll assume it all takes time and that things -- like Bedard coming back from injury -- develop gradually. It's possible that Kenji Johjima wins his starting job back, even this spring. But with Jeff Clement, Rob Johnson and Adam Moore still in the fold, it's entirely possible Johjima is completely out of the picture within a year.

So, in essence, the "core" of this team moving forward might only have Ichiro, Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt left over as position players from Opening Day 2008, by the time Opening Day 2010 rolls around. Sounds like a complete rebuild to me.

Pitching-wise, the team will likely only have Felix Hernandez, Carlos Silva, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Mark Lowe around from Opening Day 2008: a possibility of seven players from the 25-man roster in just a two-year period.

You can include Brandon Morrow on that latter list if you'd like, since he was hurt to start 2008 and obviously would have been around for Opening Day if healthy.

But whether it's seven or eight players still here by 2010, that's not just a minor reshaping. That's a complete transformation. Pretty much the "blow it up" scenario we discussed last summer. It doesn't matter that the Mariners got a head start on the rebuilding by calling up Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien in May. It's still rebuilding.

Not a word that GMs like to use. But what else is there to call it? When only three position players, two starters and a few bullpen members are likely to be around two opening days apart, that's a major restructuring of a team. And who knows? It might even work out very quickly.

But here's to calling it what it is.