Now that the big club is finally through a week’s worth of games played - and in first place I might add - I still couldn’t take my eyes off the farm over the weekend. Yeah, yeah, nothing new, right? But there’s always something interesting going on, and the start to the 2007 season has brought many intriguing stories.

This is what I’ve seen, heard, watched, read about, talked about and taken notes on since the start of the year just 10 days ago.

Adam Jones is really, really good. He does something positive offensively every night, or so it seems. He’s gaining consistency in everything he does and may be truly ready for prime time at some point this season, whether the team has a role for him or not.

Jones is fighting off tough pitches when he’s down in the count, and either poking floaters into right field and giving himself a chance to reach base, or he’s working for a better pitch to hit - and getting it.

He’s murdering fastballs, gathering his share of extra-base knocks, drawing some walks, and while he’s still probably striking out a little too much, it doesn’t appear to be a chronic problem anymore.

Defensively he’s making steady progress overall, but is getting much better jumps this season. His routes still need work, but he’s improved in that area as well. The biggest transition left for Jones may be about the throws made as a center fielder versus his natural position at shortstop, where he spent the first three years of his pro career.

His plus arm strength is yet to be joined by the accuracy necessary to make an impact, but the first thing a scout said to me on opening night at Cheney Stadium will answer the questions as to whether he’ll figure that out, like he has everything else.

“He’s got it up here, and that’s going to be the difference, I think,” said the NL West scout tapping his left temple with his forefinger. “A lot of us (scouts around baseball) doubted that you could take such a young, inexperienced player that has already spent three years as a shortstop and make him an effective center fielder without it really beating up his offensive game for awhile. Most of those guys end up taking two or three more years to get where they are going.”

Jones is probably never going to be a superstar, and he isn’t going to turn into Ken Griffey Junior, but he’s well on his way to a long, productive, all-star laden career in the game of baseball.

Did I mention he’s a better base stealer than Mike Cameron?

Bryan LaHair is off to a slow start, but warmed up over the weekend. His stroke is solid, but inconsistent, and he still gets blown away by average fastball, likely due to his inability to either recognize certain pitches or anticipate in specific counts. Maybe both. Right now, it appears as if he’s guessing far too often, but he’ll get it going and he has looked better the past two days than he did on Friday.

Matt Tuiasosopo is still hitting and we’re past the point of it potentially being a lucky streak. Clearly he’s made some adjustments and the results are proof of that.

I’m trying to catch up with roving hitting instructor and former Seattle Mariner Alonzo Powell to see what the difference has been mechanically for Tui.

He’s drawing walks and like Jones, he seems to do something good every night. If he goes 0-3, he’s tallying a walk or two. Great sign.

Ryan Feierabend is missing bats in Triple-A and the more he does that consistently, the worse Jeff Weaver’s contract gets. The southpaw is a perfect fit for Safeco Field, even as a young and relatively inexperienced arm. But for 340k, Feierabend is a much better investment and it’s certainly not out of the question that the 21-year-old could outperform 40 percent of the current M’s starting five.

He will benefit, however, from his time in Triple-A and it’s better for Feierabend’s career in the end that he spends the season with Tacoma and goes to spring training with a job to lose.

Reliever Eric O’Flaherty is so much better today than he was when I saw him spring training two years ago. it’s ridiculous. He’s bigger, stronger, and his delivery is so much more fluid. His fastball has good movement and his cutter is slicing up righties. He’s the best reliever in AAA right now.

Ryan Rowland-smith hasn’t been bad, either, and his 6-strikeout effort over 2 1/3 innings on Saturday was a sign that he’s throwing the ball pretty well. Both lefties should see time in the bigs this season; O’Flaherty as soon as the M’s get their heads out of their rear-ends, RRS in September.

Cha Seung Baek is likely still the top SP called up should the Mariners need one. He’s throwing fairly well, too, including a strong outing on Sunday where the right-hander went six innings allowing five hits, two earned runs while fanning five.

Don’t worry about Rob Johnson’s defense. Just don’t.

Don’t worry about Jeff Clement’s bat. Just don’t.

Outfielder Mike Saunders has turned a few heads with the walk totals thus far, which is nice to see, but before I get too excited, I want to see him do some damage with the bat. He has four doubles and triple, but is slugging just .485 during a “hot streak” in the Cal League.
Either way, his 15-7 BB-K ratio is fantastic, and the 6-foot-4, 200-pounder has seven steals in eight attempts.

After starting the year 0-14 with 11 strikeouts, outfielder Greg Halman is 3 for his last 8 with a double and two steals.

Third baseman Alex Liddi picked up his first hit of the year on Saturday, a double, but is still just 1-for-20 on the year with 10 strikeouts and zero walks.

Jeremy Reed may have lost the edge he had three years ago when he was traded from the Chicago White Sox to the M’s for Freddy Garcia. He’s not as selective at the plate and though he has a double and a homer in his first 42 plate appearances, the consistency hasn’t shown itself thus far.

His OBP, however, is solid at .333 considering his .243 batting average. There has been word that he’s been under the weather, which would be a legit explanation. We’ll wait and see on Reed getting things going.

Fantastic Photo (LHP Eric O’Flaherty): Deanna/Marinerds