All Mariners team, postion players

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The Seattle Mariners have had a disproportionate amount of great players wear their uniform during their existence. Their position players represent one of the strongest groups I've put together. Based on personnel, you would have thought these guys would have won a championship by now. Of course, winning a championship is a tricky thing.

Catcher: Dan Wilson You know all that talk I had about great Mariners talent? Well it doesn't apply here. Dan Wilson was okay behind the plate for a number of years, but his presence here is due in large part, to his longevity. Dan spent 12 seasons with the Mariners and put up a WAR of 13.6. He put up two seasons with a WAR of 2.0 or more. He hit .262 with the Mariners with an ops of .693. He was also pretty good defensively. Dave Valle spent 10 years in Seattle and put up very similar stats to Dan Wilson. As a footnote, Valle led the AL in HBP in 1993 with 17. Okay, yawn and we'll go onto the next position.

First base: John Olerud By the time John got to the Mariners, his career was winding down. Still, he had a couple of seasons with a WAR over 5.0. Olerud had a line drive bat with doubles power and a decent glove in his five seasons with the Mariners. His OPS was.827, powered by an OBP of .388. Three gold gloves add value. Alvin Davis started off great with the Mariners. He won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1984, but declined after that. In his rookie season, Davis hit 27 homers while driving in 116 runs. Davis had a similar offensive season in in 1987 when he clouted 29 home runs and drove in 100 runs. Davis' work with the bat was somewhat undermined by his defensive problems.

Second base: Robinson Cano Cano gets the decision over Bret Boone in a close call. Boone spent seven seasons with the Mariners had put up some huge numbers. In 2001, Boon had a career year, hitting 37 home runs and driving in a AL leading 141 runs. For good measure, he hit .331 that season. In 2003, Boone hit 35 homers and drove in 117 runs. With those gaudy stats, I was surprised his OPS was “only” .814. During his three season peak, from 2001-2003 that OPS was .950-.801-.902. His WAR in 2001 alone was 8.8. Bret also won three gold gloves. Boone was great during his hay day. Cano hasn't had quite the same ceiling as Boone, but he's been close and has been more consistent. In four seasons with the Mariners, Cano has a WAR of 20.4. Cano's biggest season with the Mariners thus far has been the 2016 campaign, when he hit 37 homers and drove home 103 runs. Cano gets the call, at least for now.

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez Before all the controversy, ARod was one of the best young talents that MLB had ever seen. He won a batting crown at the age of 20 with an average of .358. He also led the AL in doubles with 54, hit 36 home runs and drove home 123 runs. His OPS was 1.045. All that when he was 20 years old. From 1998-2000, Rodriguez hit 125 home runs and had 351 RBIs. He put up ridiculous WAR numbers in his last 5 seasons in Seattle, peaking at 8.9 in his final season with the Mariners. In addition to his bat, ARod was a great defender. He also stole 46 bases in 2008. ARod was one of the most complete players I've ever seen. Omar Vizquel started his career with the Mariners, and had a WAR of 10.3 during his five seasons in Seattle. He also won his first gold glove while with the Mariners. Suffice it to say Seattle fans have seen pretty good shortstop play.

Third base: Kyle Seager Seager prevails over Adrian Beltre in a close call. Adrian spent five seasons in Seattle, putting up a WAR of 21.2. Beltre's bat was good while with the Mariners, but not what it was at other spots in his career. His glove was great, as always. Seager's glove is okay, but not in Beltre's class. His bat however, has played a little bit better. Seager is good for about 25-30 homers and close to 100 RBIs. For his seven seasons with the Mariners, Kyle has compiled a WAR of 25.6. He's generally good for a WAR of 4-5. Plus, he's consistent. Seager is a very good player.

Left field: Raul Ibanez. Left field has not been a position of strength for the Mariners over the years. Raul Ibanez had two stints with the Mariners. His last tour of duty lasted 5 seasons and Raul was an offensive force. His best season was 2008 when he hit 23 homers and had 110 RBIs. Ibanez had two other seasons with 100+ RBIs. Phil Bradley was employed by the Mariners for five seasons and had a WAR of 12.7. He had good speed, was a base stealing threat and had an OBP of .388. A nice player, just not a great one.

Center field: Ken Griffey Jr. Ken was one of the most stylish players I've ever seen, and one of the greatest. There was a time when it was thought he would be in the discussion of greatest player of all time, and while that didn't pan out, he was certainly great. Ken spent 13 seasons with the Mariners, hitting 417 home runs and driving in 1216 runs. Four times he led the AL in home runs. Twice he hit 56 homers and six times he hit 40+ taters. His OPS with the Mariners was .927. His WAR was 70.4. He won 10 gold gloves and was a joy to watch. Mike Cameron gets a mention because of his four good seasons in Seattle. Mike played a good center field, had some power and could steal a base. His WAR of 18.3 testifies to how effective he was.

Right field: Ichiro Suzuki Ichiro was a singles machine. In his 12 seasons with the Mariners, Ichiro led the AL in hits 7 times. He peaked in 2004 when he had 262 hits and led the AL in batting average at .372. He was a 10 time all star and won 10 gold gloves. Suzukl was also the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2001. He had 200+ hits for 10 consecutive seasons. For a decade, the Mariners knew what they were going to get from the right field position, and what they were getting was one of the best players in baseball. Before the advent of Ichiro, Jay Buhner spent 14 seasons in the Mariners outfield, providing big power for,the team. Buhner had three seasons of 40+ homers. Jay also did some nice work in post season play, hitting 8 home runs and compiling an OPS of 1.021 in 98 plate appearances.

DH: Edgar Martinez Was there any doubt? Edgar is probably the greatest DH of all time. When the award for DHs his named after you, you're probably a pretty good DH. Edgar spent all of his 18 seasons with the Mariners, hitting .312 with an OPS of .933. His WAR was 68.3. His OBP was .418. Edgar also had power, hitting 309 home runs. Martinez had six seasons with 100+ RBIs. He topped out in that department in 2000 when he led the AL with 145 runs driven in. Edgar, like some other players on this was the best at his position for a long time.

So there's my Mariners team, how does it stack up against yours? Let me know.

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