"Here's the great contradiction that burdens the Mariners: They're finally building the right way, a way that many fans had long desired, but after years of floundering without a solid plan, people are so bitter they refuse to believe in anything.

The Mariners are like the reformed man trying to get his woman back. They're saying to you, "Baby, I'm finally ready to change. I'm already changing. I'm going to do right by you this time." But you're not impressed, no matter how many times they plead, "Please, baby! Baby, please!" To you, there's no difference between optimism and naiveté anymore. And so the Mariners shuffle away, head down, intent on proving themselves.

You'll see. One day, you'll see. And then you'll love them again.

That's what the Mariners think, at least. They don't just have a plan. They have a vision.

Problem is, if you want an early glimpse, it requires blind faith.

Yet another contradiction.

You know a franchise suffers from distrust when it gets criticized for not outbidding a team that paid $214 million for a player who didn't have a strong desire to come to Seattle. The Prince Fielder story illustrates the friction between the Mariners and the public. Fielder was a media and fan pipe dream, the longest of longshots. But somehow Fielder signing elsewhere has become reason to rip the team for being cheap and uninterested in winning.

In reality, the Mariners are doing what most teams undergoing a youth movement do. They're refraining from excessive free-agent spending, committing to their young players and attempting to create a core that can grow together. The test of their willingness to spend money will begin next offseason, when they should understand fully what they have — and don't have.

After using a portion of the past week to probe the Mariners, I can offer this assessment: They're convinced they are creating a winning infrastructure. General manager Jack Zduriencik isn't carrying out some sophisticated con job with this youth movement. This is the team-building model that he knows. This is why he got the job, to replenish a barren farm system, to create a front office that identifies good talent early rather than too late, to build a sustainable winner."