I seem to be bringing up Seattle Mariners’ Third Baseman Chone Figgins a lot in my blog. I brought him up when I talked about what I will be looking for this spring training. I mentioned him briefly at the end of my last blog entry when I wrote about him being the new leadoff hitter since Ichiro Suzuki is being moved to the 3^rd spot in the lineup. Since he keeps being brought up, here’s where I stand with him.

There is still a part of me praying that Figgins can do something positive for this team. When I heard he was going to be a free agent in the 2009 offseason, I screamed out “GET HIM!” When the Mariners signed him, I was jumping for joy. I thought he would be an outstanding signing because he gave teams headaches with his knack of getting on base and putting pressure on opposing defenses with his speed and with him stealing bases. And with him batting behind Ichiro, it would lead to more scoring opportunities.

I started saving money for a Figgins’ jersey. While I was saving, the exact opposite happened that I thought. Figgins went from a potential All-Star to an absolute disaster. His stats have gone down, his defense has been subpar and some could argue he is a cancer and was one of the players who divided the clubhouse after Ken Griffey Jr. retired in the middle of 2010, which led to the firing of manager Don Wakamatsu. Figgins is a .280 career hitter. The closest Figgins has been to that with the M’s is .259 in 2010. He has fallen from the second spot in the lineup to a bench player. He’s the reason why Adam Kennedy saw more playing time before he got hurt last season. Due to his injury, Figgins only played in 81 games last season. That hasn’t happened since 2003 during Figgins second year with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim when he played in 71 games. All of this led to me not buying the Figgins’ jersey.

Now Figgins will be entering his third year of a four year contract with the Mariners. He’s coming off a season where he only batted .188. Yet he’s the Mariners leadoff hitter going into spring training games. He is no longer a fan favorite. Mariner fans boo Figgins every time he comes to the plate. Some want the M’s to trade him now even though the M’s would have to cover the majority of his contract if he were to play for another team. Despite the plethora of negative things, I am still hopeful the Mariners can get something out of him even though he is on my list, along with other fans, of players I want off this team.

Figgins is not going away anytime soon. The Mariners have two more years of dealing with this controversial player. But this year is different. This year is the last chance Figgins has to show he can play and be the player he was with the Angels because after this year, there are no more excuses.

Figgins had been spent the majority of his career at third base and in the leadoff spot of a lineup. When he came to the Mariners, Figgins was moved from third base to second so former Mariner Jose Lopez could play third. His numbers began to drop and his defense began to slip. Figgins committed 19 of his 29 career errors at second base in 2010. The M’s then put him back to third in 2011. His defense was still poor as he committed 11 errors in his 81 games. That averages out to about 1 error every ten games. Again, his batting average dropped to .188.

Now Figgins is back to what he’s used to: third base and in the leadoff spot. Some could blame Safeco Field and other reasons for why Figgins is playing at such a terrible level. However going into this year, there are no more excuses. The guy is going to be in his comfortable and experienced role. I recently heard Figgins on 710 ESPN Seattle about he’s looking forward to batting like a leadoff hitter again. This is going to be the make or break year. If Figgins does well, it’s obvious his stats will go back to normal and he will help the Mariners dismal offense. If he doesn’t, it will put the Mariners in a sticky situation: trade him with one more year to go on his contract or keep him and watch him to continue to rot on the team.

This is it. If Figgins does not perform this season, I will no longer be hopeful and he will join the list that includes Richie Sexson and Scott Spiezio: the list of free agents who did not pan out. And before the season begins, everyone should be praying that doesn’t happen. Figgins will be under the microscope this year.