"The regular season has ended, with a spectacular final night of unfolding drama for multiple teams with playoff aspirations, ending with ecstasy for the Rays and Cardinals, and agony for the Braves and Red Sox.

The postseason has ended, with a World Series that was the most exciting any of us have seen in years — including a Game 6 many are calling the best ever.

Now comes the offseason, which is the precise opposite of the leisurely respite its name implies. Rather, it is the primary opportunity for teams to tweak — or remake — their rosters in pursuit of participating in next year's postseason.

For the Mariners, this is an offseason of especially keen importance, as they try to regain their relevance and appease their increasingly frustrated fan base.

I realize that sentiment could (and probably has) been uttered at the outset of every Hot Stove period. But this year, despite the promise shown by a variety of young players, the Mariners have an obvious need to augment their lineup with some proven bats. General manager Jack Zduriencik can be expected to be aggressive both in free agency and on the trade front.

Depending on where the payroll is set — a huge question as yet unanswered — they could have some money for Zduriencik to play with. The contractual obligations to Milton Bradley/Carlos Silva, Adam Kennedy, Jack Cust, Yuniesky Betancourt (who was still getting $1 million via the M's last year), and likely David Aardsma (a strong candidate to not be tendered a contract) will be gone, saving some $28 million.

Some of that will be eaten up by raises to Felix Hernandez (whose salary goes up by $8.5 million to $18.5 million), Franklin Gutierrez and others. But there still could be an opportunity for Zduriencik to add some significant players."