1. Watching Jeff Clement take batting practice might be my favorite daily aspect of the workouts so far.

There are guys who would play plenty to have his swing. It's effortless, smooth and compact. It's so efficient. I asked John McLaren who he'd compare it to, and he said he wanted to think about it. Clement can hit, which is well established.

But what I like is that he hits the ball to all parts of the field, and with some pop. He's a doubles machine - he had 35 last season - even though he doesn't run vey fast. And his plate discipline is decent: He had 61 walks and 88 strikeouts in Tacoma. While that isn't a great ratio, it's far better than some of the Mariners.

There's been much discussion about Clement's role on the team. My feeling is if he isn't going to see consistent ABs to start the season, then send him Triple A. A lot can happen in the season – injuries, slumps and such – so he'll get his call-up eventually. But as a young player, he needs to keep catching games and getting consistent ABs. When I talked with Roger Hansen, he said the confidence Cleement has gotten from catching in so many games and having success was invaluable. Clement also said the comfort he feels behind the plate came from the amount of games he's logged. But Hansen said there's still plenty Clement needs to improve, particularly his consistency from game to game.

2. Last year's No. 1 draft pick, Phillipe Aumont, is one large young man.

The 19-year-old is is 6-feet-7 and 255 pounds (I'm writing something on him for Wednesday's paper). He's gained 30 pounds since the Mariners drafted him. He admitted some of it isn't good weight, but he's also put on a lot of muscle. We all watched his last bullpen quite intently, and it was pretty impressive. The ball comes out of his hand hissing. They call it "easy gas." But the thing is, the easy gas is also darting down and away with a natural sink. McLaren compared his stuff to that of Kevin Brown's younger days.
Aumont also seems pretty levelheaded. He isn't cocky, works hard and doesn't say much. He's taking advice from J.J. Putz, which is never a bad thing.

3. I can't help but cheer for Mike Morse to make the team.

The guy is a tireless worker who has done everything the Mariners have asked. He just seems to be a man without a position. Now he's trying to work into the outfield while also working in the infield. He takes three different gloves out to every workout. Since he's out of options, the Mariners will have a tough decision to make about his future.

I don't know that he'd make it through waivers if they optioned him to Triple A.

4. Erik Bedard takes his job pretty seriously.

The guy doesn't mess around - he's very focused in whatever he's doing. I like that. It's a No. 1 starter mentality. He's pretty no-nonsense in his approach to preparation, working out and day-to-day drills. He's also been working with Aumont, since both are French Canadian. The other day, when Bedard and Felix Hernandez were throwing bullpens, it sounded like a stream of gunfire from their pitches popping the catchers' glove. It was impressive. I can't see those two taking losses in back-to-back starts.

5. McLaren is far easier to deal with than Mike Hargrove.

From a media standpoint, it's no comparison. McLaren doesn't view us as interlopers in his baseball world. He actually is pretty gregarious when dealing with the media. The guy enjoys the fact that he works in baseball and he doesn't try to hide it. And he wants his players to enjoy it, hence the American Idol in morning meetings, and little competitive games during drills. I think that kind of stuff is necessary.

6. The Mariners needs to find a leader for the position players.

Putz is obviously the leader of the bullpen and basically the pitching staff, while the starters are a fairly veteran group, with the exception of Felix, who hold themselves accoutable.

But last year, Jose Guillen was kind of the position players' leader. Sure, he was kind of a psycho, and I swear there were times he had "crazy eyes." But he didn't put up with any junk, he played extremely hard, he held everybody accountable and he put up the numbers to back it up.

Who will it be this year?

Ichiro has never been that player. I highly doubt it will be Sexson who spends most of his time out of the clubhouse and away from the media. Betancourt is too young, Lopez is too mentally inconsistent, Johjima has the language barrier, Wilkerson is the new guy and has something to prove. That leaves Beltre and Ibañez. Neither is extremely vocal, but they may have to be.