Several of the Seattle Mariners top players have now departed for the World Baseball Classic, which begins later this week.

Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena, Dominic Canzone, Miles Mastrobuoni, Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo, Josh Naylor, Andres Munoz and Michael Arroyo are all gone from camp, and so are a handful of other prospects and minor leaguers.

But just because many of the top players are gone from the Peoria Sports Complex, that doesn't mean there aren't storylines to follow at M's spring training.

We discussed five of them on the most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast:

Sidelined because of a sore shoulder, Crawford hasn't played since the Cactus League opener on Feb. 20. With a decade of experience, Crawford knows what he needs to do to get ready, so there's still no reason to worry, but you'd like to see him in the lineup and getting reps at shortstop soon.

Luckily, Crawford is in the lineup at DH on Tuesday, so now we'll focus on seeing him in the infield again.

With Raleigh gone and several depth catchers sent down to minor league camp already, there's plenty of time for both Mitch Garver and Andrew Knizner to get reps in order to stake their claim to the position.

Knizner might have the upperhand because he signed a $1 million guaranteed contract this offseason, but Garver has familiarity with the pitching staff, the organization and the ability to hit for power on his side.

Jhonny Pereda, acquired this offseason, could also be in the mix.

The Opening Day second baseman from a year ago is at a crossroads. Cole Young has passed him on the second base depth chart and Colt Emerson is a more intriguing option as a prospect. Michael Arroyo will be eventually as well, probably this season.

So where does that leave Bliss? Likely as a Triple-A option, but can he show enough to be a right-handed hitting bench option over Leo Rivas? Even though Miles Mastrobuoni is left-handed, he's probably ahead of Bliss too.

Bliss has worked on his versatility early in spring, but can he find enough value at short or third someday to be a consistent option for the M's?

Montes is not regarded as a good outfielder, but the top prospect would like to have some value attached to his name outside of his power at the plate. We saw him in the outfield on Sunday, but with the starting crew gone, he'll get additional reps and additional chances to show what he can do.

The right-hander has served as the No. 6 starter in each of the last two seasons, but what is his role in this one? Is he a depth starter once again, or is he a bullpen arm? Either way, he's going to be intriguing to watch over the next three weeks, and with Bryce Miller currently battling side discomfort, he's even more important to watch.

He's flashing velocity in the mid-90s and just struck out four in 2.2 innings against the Padres on Saturday.

And oh yeah, the contributions of Kade Anderson and Colt Emerson? Those can't be ignored, either.

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