100 = 117

Much like the Rays' 9 = 8 slogan (yeah! Rays!), the Seattle Mariners could have a new one of its own: 100 = 117.

One hundred losses with a $117 million payroll.

The M's are the first team in Major League history to be so miserable and to spend so much doing so. No other team has ever lost 100 games with a nine-digit payroll. You could make the argument that this is the most disappointing team in the history of baseball.

Lots of people to blame. Probably should start with former GM Bill Bavasi who sank big bucks into Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Carlos Silva, Erik Bedard and Kenji Johjima.

The deals made little sense at the time -- Beltre had a good walk year (2004) after multiple seasons of mediocrity; Sexson is good for 30+ homeruns and 100+ strikeouts; Carlos Silva was given a four-year, $48 million contract (one more year and three less million bucks than Jake Peavy) to not walk guys; Johjima was unproven coming from Japan and after two decent seasons, couldn't remember how to hit a baseball in 2008; and the Bedard deal was bad luck as he's been hurt much of the year.

Still, Matt Millen could have made better moves than Bavasi.

It's almost comical to see a team worth so much do so little. Truly a pathetic showing by a team that was supposed to compete, even though the fact that Seattle overachieved last season and upgraded by adding a middle-to-upper-class pitcher made people think the M's were World Series contenders.

On the bright side, at least Seattle has the Seahawks. Oh. The Huskies. Oh. The Sonics. Oh. (Oh fuck!) At least the sun shines often in Seattle. Oh. (Sigh.)