Who was Mariners MVP this past season?

Tonight, I get to do the fun part of fulfilling duties as the Seattle/Northwest chapter chairman of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Usually, the job involves collecting membership dues, assigning voting for end of season MLB awards and a whole bunch of monotony you don't want to hear about. Not tonight. This time, I get to go down on the field pre-game and present our local awards to the Mariners Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Pitcher and Unsung Hero. Looking forward to it. We discussed the Unsung Hero part a few days back. Now, let's look at the Most Valuable Player race because it's a close one. You've got Franklin Gutierrez, having one of the best defensive seasons any player can enjoy. Then, there's Ichiro, who put another record season together in the hits department. And also, Russell Branyan, who might have hit 40 home runs had he not been hurt this final month. Jose Lopez is a middle infielder with 25-homer power and an outside shot at 1...