First of all a big thanks to Jerry Allen in the TNT IT department for getting me set up with a new laptop and also thanks to Shelly Wiseman and Mike Bainter, who got my Verizon aircard activated so I could check my email and scan the net from the scenic Detroit airport (no I haven’t been mugged yet).

The second part of the season begins today in Cleveland. And to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what to expect. Why? Because this team hasn’t been anything like I expected when the season started. Obviously it’s been better than most of could have imagined way back in April.

And because of that, we’re entering a time of the season, where we fully expected the Mariners and general manager Jack Zduriencik to be reshaping the roster by dealing the likes of Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, Adrian Beltre, Miguel Batista and anybody else not named Felix, Franklin and Ichiro for younger talent.

Instead, the Mariners are 46-42 and four games behind the Angels, who are at 49-37

So we’ve been stuck in a month-long debate of whether or not the Mariners are “buyers” or “sellers.” But I’m not a believer it has to be one or the other. Just ask Yuniesky Betancourt about that. You can trade established parts and yet still be trying to win. It isn’t simple. Yet it’s possible. And if any GM could do it, I have faith in Jack Zduriencik based on what he’s done so far. It’s kind of an odd feeling not viewing midseason deals as disasters waiting to happen like in the past, but as potential improvements for a team.

On the Mariners roundtable discussion on KJR the other day, we discussed the second half and tried to predict what’s going to happen. However, those predictions should all be predicated on what happens over the next few weeks as the trade deadline approaches and where the Mariners sit in the AL West standings. But it’s still kind of fun to predict what’s going to happen. Rarely do I get things right (I picked the Arizona D’Backs to win the NL West at the beginning of the season.) But its still fun to pick and pontificate.

Here’s a few questions – some based on readers comments and e-mails and others I came up with myself - that I answered as well. Feel free to answer them and offer your opinion as to why you think this way …

Will Erik Bedard be a member of the Seattle Mariners at the end of the season?
My answer: Probably not. As I said the other day, if he has two good starts coming out of the break, he could command enough to really help the Mariners in the future. I honestly think he could help the Mariners more in the players he could return than he could in the second half of the season.

Don’t get me wrong, if they keep him, he’ll help. If he’s even at 80 percent of himself, he’s better than 2/3 of the pitchers in baseball. But I don’t think he will make or break the Mariners in terms of making a push in the second half of the season.

I know people have talked about Washburn being the more coveted pitcher on the market. Talent still wins out in my mind and Bedard has more talent, which Washburn wouldn’t disagree with. Also, the Mariners could look to deal Bedard simply because he could command more in return than Washburn would.

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The International League just put it away, 6-5.

Estaban German of Oklahoma City hit a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to pull the PCL close. But Eric Young of Colorado Springs struck out to end it.

German won the PCL's Top Star Award, going 3-for-4 with a single, double and the two-run homer. Indianapolis catcher Erik Kratz won it for the International League, going 2-for-2 with a home run, a double and two RBI.

Winning pitcher was Andrew Carpenter of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs -- not joking, I'm afraid. Loser was Yorman Bazardo of Round Rock.

LaHair's eighth: After walking in his first appearance, Tacoma's Bryan LaHair just struck out swinning on a 2-2 count in the bottom of the eighth.

The International League leads, 6-3, heading into the ninth.

LaHair's sixth: Tacoma's lone player representative, Bryan LaHair took over at first base in the top of the sixth inning. And he came up to bat in the bottom of the sixth, working a walk.

IL leads, 6-3.

Crowd of 16,637 is the largest Triple-A All-Star crowd since 1991 in Louisville and the third-largest since the game's inception.

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