Show of hands: How many of you actually thought the Mariners would be 5-2 heading into their home opener today?

None? Well, that’s a surprise.

Sure, the 2009 Seattle Mariners aren’t going to kill opposing pitchers, and there are a lot of question marks in the bullpen, but they aren’t as bad as last year. Trust me.

If things go their way and they continue to play like they have, there’s no reason why the M’s can’t win the AL West.

Now, I didn’t actually pick the Mariners to win the West, but I had a hunch that this division would be extremely close this year, with injuries hitting the Angels, pitching still a major problem for Texas and Oakland still trying find the best combination to win.

What’s that? You don’t trust me? Why not? Haven’t you seen Franklin Gutierrez out in center field?

The outfield defense has improved to the point that it will save tens of runs this season if the optimal group of Gutierrez, Endy Chavez and Ichiro is trotted out there every day.

Gutierrez has already made a couple of fantastic grabs out in center, and he alone might have helped the M’s win two games this season by saving runs.

Defense is severely underrated in baseball, with much of the focus on who drives in the most runs. A saved run is just as good as a scored run, and you should expect the Mariners to take this approach for most of the year.

What’s that? You’re with Steve Phillips in thinking that this team is going to be worse than last year?

That’s just not possible.

Their offense isn’t going to score a whole lot — which is why defense is so important — but they should be able to manufacture enough runs to go on a few winning streaks this year.

Plus, the Mariners will automatically win five to 10 more games this year by simply not playing Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro and Miguel Cairo on a daily basis.

Even the starting pitching should see some improvement if Felix Hernandez can develop and Erik Bedard doesn’t throw over his personal (and ridiculous) 100-pitch limit.

Then there are the veterans.

Ken Griffey Jr.’s return is almost like a well-written novel or Hollywood movie: it’s classic, it’s huge for Seattle, and it will be extremely enjoyable to watch.

But more importantly, Griffey’s addition, along with Russell Branyan and Mike Sweeney, will add some firepower to a lineup that saw far too many weak ground-outs and pop-outs last season.

These guys aren’t the best athletes anymore, but yes, they can still hit.

Sorry? Wait, who is Chris Jakubauskas? Well, to be honest, I never heard of him until this year either.

But he, along with Mark Lowe, Shawn Kelley and Brandon Morrow could form a solid bullpen corps that features fastball heat and slick secondary pitches.

The only concerns are control issues and lack of experience, but my guess is that those will sort themselves out by the All-Star Break.

So there you have it, your 2009 Seattle Mariners.

Nobody expects them to win anything this year, but please, feel free to be pleasantly surprised when they do.

Reach columnist Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.