The news of 2009 USCL MVP GM Hikaru Nakamura relocating to St. Louis during the offseason was likely not met well by Slugger fans, many likely feeling their Championship hopes were very slim without him.

     Yet Seattle's management clearly did not share that sentiment as despite losing the by far highest rated player in the league they have still managed to construct their 2010 roster to be even more top heavy than previous years'.  The addition of both GM Varuzhan Akobian and FM Costin Cozianu to the team will likely mean, that together with their longtime rock, GM Gregory Serper, the Sluggers will likely be using top heavy lineups a great deal more than previous years while still having some strong more balanced lineups via the still improving FM Michael Lee and former All Star FM Slava Mikhailuk.

     To supplement this increase at the top, the Sluggers have finally added some new young talents to the team with their longtime mainstays for that, Lee and NM Joshua Sinanan, both having finally outgrown that role.  In particular the very underrated Michael Wang may play a very pivotal role in the team's success, enabling some very fearsome sets of top three players to be utilized when he mans the lowest board.  If he can manage to deliver when needed, the Sluggers may well not just stop at winning the division as they did in 2009.