"The Mariners once offered "Believe Big." The overriding message this year is "Believe in Us — Despite Everything."

Believe in the plan. Believe in the kids. Believe in Jack Zduriencik's scouting acumen and Eric Wedge's passion. Believe in a Justin Smoak breakout and a Franklin Gutierrez revival and a Jesus Montero coronation.

Believe that better times — finally — are lurking just around the corner. Oh, and one more thing: Be patient. These things don't happen overnight.

It's a tough message to hear, and one that will be rejected out of hand by some in a fan base that has been sold too many failed plans.

It's especially tough when their division rivals keep adding high-priced talent like Albert Pujols and Yu Darvish to already successful clubs, while all the Mariners have to sell is a vision.

But it's a vision that has at least — and at last — reached the stage of plausibility. The young talent that Zduriencik continued to tout at Thursday's annual pre-spring training media luncheon at Safeco Field is also being lauded by those in the business of ranking prospects. The Mariners, by many accounts outside the built-in bias of Seattle's front office, could be sitting on a gold mine of burgeoning talent.

Or not.

This final step — the one from potential to finished project — is the hardest to navigate, the one fraught with the most danger and opportunity for setbacks. Which is why Zduriencik, at an event usually oozing with optimism, dished out realism."