Seattle Mariners: Fantasy Baseball Rankings

Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Fantasy Baseball is upon us, and the Seattle Mariners players look to make a big splash this year. Today is SodoMojo’s first installment of the Mariners Fantasy Baseball coverage.

Each Sunday, we will cover our Mariners players and update you with their fantasy baseball value and expectations for the week. This year looks to be a great year for seeing Mariner names at the top of the charts. Let’s take a look at the top ranked Mariners, future stars, and sleeper picks that will help during your draft.

TOP RANKED PLAYERS

The Seattle Mariners paid $240 million for the talents of Robinson Cano, and fantasy baseball managers can’t wait to add him to their teams. Cano is the number one ranked second basement in the game, and is also one of the top ten overall players in fantasy baseball. The Mariners have been doing everything in their power to build their offense around his success.

Many will question Cano’s numbers this year after leaving the New York Yankees powerful offense. With little to no offensive support from the Yankees in 2013, Cano still batted .314, smashed 27 home runs, and batted in 107 RBI. Fantasy owners can rest assure that Cano is still the best pure hitter in the game. With a #8 ADP, Cano is still worth a first round pick going into the draft.

Felix Hernandez is still in the top tier of Starting Pitchers for 2014, and looks to improve on last year’s numbers with his upgraded supporting cast. It has become a guarantee for fantasy managers to pencil in his 200+ innings, 200+ strikeouts, low whip and sub 3.00ERA.

Felix will also benefit in the Win category, as the offense looks to provide more run support this year. The improvements from the Mariners offseason acquisitions look to be a significant upgrade from ranking 22^nd in runs scored for 2013. Felix has an ADP of #35. Feel free to select him with a late 2^nd round or early 3^rd round pick in your drafts this year, and enjoy the continued success.

The Mariners filled a huge gap in the bullpen with the signing of closer Fernando Rodney. Rodney may not be a top tier reliever, but he is the clear but closer for the Mariners. When you draft for closers in fantasy baseball, you want to look at teams that will most likely win close games throughout the year.

Rodney will get many opportunities to close out close games in 2014, which will keep him atop in the saves category. With an ADP of #184, you can wait on drafting Rodney until the 13^th or 14^th round and still get a quality closer.

FUTURE STARS

When it comes to Franchise Fantasy leagues, the Mariners have one of the top prospects in the league with Taijuan Walker. Walker is ranked #6 overall in prospects going into 2014. He has battled shoulder soreness during spring training, but looks to be in the middle of the Mariners starting rotation once fully healthy.

Anytime you have a pitching prospect ranked that high and a team already willing to insert that talent in the rotation, it is worth a draft pick to keep that player on your Franchise roster for years to come. Expect Walker to have a high ADP of #262 in standard leagues. If you are in a franchise league, he is more than worth a late round pick to see if his talent produces at the top level.

SLEEPER

Sleeper picks are always one of the most fun aspects of fantasy drafts.  You’ve done your homework, you’ve studied the rosters, and you’ve come up with your own idea of how successful your player will be for 2014. This year, that player for the Mariners is Kyle Seager.

Seager had a successful 2013 campaign where he batted .260, hit 22 home runs, and drove in 69 RBI. With Cano’s protection batting behind him in the lineup, Seager will have better pitches to hit this year and produce even bigger numbers as he improves. He may not be currently ranked in the top 10 at 3B, but you can sleep on Seager’s pick in the late 10^th round.

With an ADP of #101, you can still get Seager’s numbers for your 3B position.

This looks to be an exciting year for the Mariners in Fantasy baseball. Let’s just hope all these great fantasy baseball statistics help the team in the real life win column.