Seattle Mariners All-Time Fantasy Draft: Meet the Squads

Over the course of 3 days, eight writers from our site participated in our first ever Seattle Mariners All-Time Mock Draft. Today we present the teams and ask for your help.

Now before we unveil the rosters, there a few things you need to know. First, only players who had appeared in a Mariners regular season game were eligible. Second, the participants were asked to fill out an 8 man defense, plus one starting pitcher, reliever, and designated hitter. So while some really good players went undrafted, it wasn’t because of neglect, just positional need.

Now we are going to ask for your help to crown the best team. Voting will begin at 5 pm PT on March 8th on our Twitter (@sodomojoFS) and Facebook.  But keep in mind, this is a Mariners only roster. Meaning we are asking you to judge rosters based solely on what each individual player did when they were a member of the Mariners. Our writers didn’t draft Adrian Beltre for his years with the Rangers, just the Mariners. Keep that in mind.

Each writer has prepared a brief explanation of their draft and why they feel there team deserves to be crowned the best(full draft board by clicking here). We have decided to break this up into a classic bracket where the one seed battles the eight seed, using draft order to set the seeds. Let’s get started with our first matchup.

Team Nooney vs Team Chantler

Nooney

I will start this by saying that I have had so much fun drafting this team. Getting Ken Griffey Jr.with the first overall pick was an easy decision to make. But as the draft went along, I realized that some positions were so scarce compared to others. In hindsight, drafting Freddie Garcia as early as I did was a mistake. But overall, I feel that my team can compete at a very high level against other teams.

My lineup would be as follows:

Harold Reynolds, 2B

Adrian Beltre, 3B

Ken Griffey Jr. CF

Richie Sexson, 1B

Ken Phelps, DH

Ken Griffey Sr, LF

Dave Henderson, RF

Miguel Olivo, C

Julio Cruz, SS

Obviously, there is a big talent drop off as the lineup drops. Griffey Sr was a pick from the heart, as he barely played through 2 seasons at the end of his career. But I had to grab him to play with Jr one last time.

All in all, this team is talented. It has speed at the top and bottom of the lineup and they take their walks. Ken Phelps May was not a Hall of Fame talent, but his OBP was off the charts. Hendu was also a pick from the heart but fits well here.

Chantler

This draft was a lot of fun, but having the last pick in the first round made things a bit more challenging. While it was a snake draft (meaning I had the first pick of the second round), I knew I’d wait long periods of time before my next round of picks, so I had to take risks I didn’t originally intend to take.

That led me to focus on the rules of the exercise: You get the player they were while they played with the Mariners. That meant I focused on players that maybe weren’t part of the organization for long, but excelled during their time here. I’m pretty happy with my team, especially my lineup. This team can thump!

I’d set up my batting order as follows:

1. Phil Bradley CF RHB – Five years as a Mariner and averaged 10 HRs, 21 SBs a year. Averaged a .830 OPS during his time in Seattle (.301 average and .382 OBP). Would be the ideal leadoff hitter for this team.

2. Jose Cruz Jr. LF Switch Hitter – This was a pick that embodied my philosophy of focusing on their time as a Mariner. Cruz played only 49 games in Seattle, but in those 49 games, he hit .268 while adding 12 HR, and 34 RBI. With the lack of options in left field for the Mariners over the years, I was thrilled to get Cruz Jr. and install him in the two hole.

3.Robinson Cano 2B LHB –  I did not plan on recreating the heart of the Mariners order from last year with my team, but I wasn’t complaining when I was able to snag Cano and Nelson Cruz back to back in the 1st/2nd round. Cano was great during his time here, averaging 21.4 HRs a year to go with an average .296/.353/.472 triple slash.

4.Nelson Cruz DH RHB – Nelly fits in the cleanup spot in my lineup as is brings the loudest thump of anyone in this lineup (and that’s say something as this whole lineup brings it). Over five years Cruz’s average triple slash was .284/.362/.546.

5.Paul Sorrento 1B LHB – A lefty stick to protect Cruz. Sorrento was solid in his two years here slashing on average .279/.358/.511 to go along with an average of about 27 HR.

6. Jose Guillen RF RHB – Another pick that wasn’t here long, but in his one season with the Mariners Guillen hit 23 HR to go with 99 RBI and a triple slash of .290/.353/.460.

7. Jim Presley 3B RHB – That man that kept Edgar Martinez in the minor leagues for too long fits great in the seventh spot in my lineup. A solid contributor to the Mariners, he gets overshadowed a bit because many believe he caused Edgar to toil away in Triple-A, but I’ll take his .250/.293/.426 average triple slash to go with his average of 19.1 HR a season.

8.Kenji Johjima C RHB – Kenji was solid for the Mariners during his four years here and he provides an adequate defense with solid offense from the catching spot. Averaged .268/.310/.411 over four years.

9.Brad Miller SS LHB – The weakest link in my lineup as the Mariners experienced the pre-power version of Miller; however, Miller still averaged just about 10 HR a year while slashing .248/.313/.394

SP – Cliff Lee – Another pick of a player that wasn’t here long, Lee was phenomenal in his short time in Seattle. Lee went 8-3 in 13 starts while compiling a 2.34 ERA.

RP – Arthur Rhodes – Strong setup man with a nasty streak. Rhodes struck out 315 batters in 283 innings as a Mariner.

Why is my team the best? The lineup is deep, balanced, gets on base, and has plenty of guys to drive in runs. Plus there is more than enough firepower in the lineup to change the game with one swing of the bat. Lee will give a great start and Rhodes will bring his strikeout ability to the end of the game.

3. Maduell vs 6. Wicke

Maduell:

My clear first pick (and third overall) was the great Edgar Martinez. Along with 309 homers and a .312 batting average through 18 seasons, he also posted 100-plus RBI’s through six of those as well as 145 in 2000 alone! Edgar was the first designated hitter to come into his own and his ALDS walk-off against the Yankees gave Mariners fans their first highlight to cheer about.

At starting pitcher is Aaron Sele who never had ace stuff like Moyer or Garcia but was a key middle-of-the-pack starter during the key 116-win season. At relief is JJ Putz and though he had one good year for the club, it was a big one with 40 saves and his lone All-Star berth.

On the other end of the battery is former backup catcher Ben Davis. He wasn’t the best catcher nor hitter but he had more power than Dan Wilson and if you can play backup during the early 2000’s glory years, you’re a worthy catcher.

We move to inside the diamond with Jose Lopez at the hot corner. Though his Mariner glory years were at second base, he played full-time third between Beltre’s departure and Seager’s call-up. Next to him is Carlos Guillen who despite an ALDS-clinching squeeze in 2000, remained under-rated due to injuries.

The Mariners didn’t use him well as he was traded right before he hit prime. At second is Bret Boone and whether or not the HGH rumors were true or not, aren’t 37 homers, 141 RBI’s, and a .331 average (2001) darn impressive from a guy under six feet and 200 pounds?

Lastly, we end with Tino Martinez at the other corner. Though he really hit prime later as a Yankee, his 31 homers, 111 RBI’s and .293 average led to his first career All-Star berth during the magical ’95 season.

In left field, we have Ruben Sierra who was a one-and-done in 2002. For someone who platooned with Mark McLemore, he posted a solid season of 13 homers, 60 RBI’s and a .270 average. In center roams Willie Bloomquist, the poor man’s Mark McLemore of utility men. Finishing out my team is the former right fielder, Al Cowens, who hit 20 homers his first year as a Mariner as well as the right fielder in team history to start Opening Day consecutive seasons.

6. Wicke

Could you imagine the one-two punch of Randy Johnson throwing 8 shutout innings, just to have Edwin Diaz trot out to the mound and clinch yet another save? With my All-Time Mariners team, it’s the sweet reality.

Johnson, who is considered the greatest pitcher in Mariners history (though King Felix would think otherwise), was my first round pick at #6 overall. Knowing that pitching is vital for any contender, and each team is allowed just one reliever — I took the most dominant closer in Mariners history with my second pick: Edwin Diaz.

Jean Segura, who mashed a 3-run home run in last season’s All-Star game after a magical “Send Segura” campaign, was my third round pick at shortstop. The “hit machine” slashed .302/.345/.421 in his 269 career games for Seattle.

My outfield consisted of fan favorites Ben Gamel and Raul Ibanez, along with Ruppert Jones (1977-79). Jones, a Mariners All-Star in 1977, would go on to slash .257/.333/.418 in his 3-year Mariner career.

With catching great Dave Valle behind the plate, the rest of the infield consisted of first baseman Tom Paciorek (.296/.343/.460), second baseman Yuniesky Betancourt (.279/.302/.393) and third baseman Dan Meyer (.265/.305/.405).

Paciorek was a Mariners All-Star in 1981 when he slashed .326/.379/.509, finishing 10th in American League MVP voting.

The team features the old and the new of Mariners stars, from Edwin Diaz and Jean Segura to Randy Johnson and Raul Ibanez. And with the Big Unit setting up a save for Sugar – how sweet it is.

4. Swanson vs 5. Gonzalez

Swanson:

Hello there, reader! I am here to tell you why my team is the best one from Sodo Mojo’s All-Time Mariners Draft!

Reason #1: Daniel Vogelbach is my DH

FIN

But for real, I am pretty happy with my team. The Mariners haven’t made it easy to with solid Shortstops, catchers or first basemen but I think that I have a solid lineup. Here is a look at how I’d draw it up.

1. Ichiro RF
2. John Olerud 1B
3. Denard Span LF
4. Franklin Gutierrez CF
5. Kyle Seager 3B
6. Tom Lampkin C
7. Daniel Vogelbach DH
8. Ketel Marte SS
9. Dee Gordon 2B

First off, the on-base skills that Ichiro and John Olerud possessed while with the Mariners mean that they are going to be on in front of the middle of the order. Span and Guti aren’t going to hit many home runs however they are going to put the ball in the gap and drive the top of the order in.

Kyle Seager and Daniel Vogelbach will provide the power for the lineup and having them his lower in the order make the lineup longer and more volatile. Rounding out the order with both Ketel and Dee means even more speed that could possibly be on base when the big boppers come to bat.

A lot of my team (all except for two guys) have been with the M’s in the past few years. I’d like to say I planned that for chemistry yadda yadda but really it was just a happy coincidence. I drafted both guys from the trade made early in 2018, Denard Span and Alex Colome.

Both guys were some of the most successful players that the Mariners have ever acquired in a trade. They came up big for the Mariners down the stretch and I think they were great additions against the best players to ever put on a Mariners uniform.

While Colome wasn’t closing out games for the Mariners, he was setting up for one of the best closers in history last season and will follow James Paxton, who is going to give you 7 solid innings.
That’s it. That’s a quick, simplified version of why my team was the best one from the Sodo Modo draft. A combo of speed, gap to gap power and a lockdown pitching staff will lead is to the title of best All Mariner team. Also, Daniel Vogelbach is my DH. Just saying.

Gonzalez

Admittedly, I didn’t go into this with much strategy. It was basically who I viewed as the best player available at the time and went from there, so I ended up running into a bit of trouble in filling positions such as third base and shortstop. However, I feel that I was able to manage a few steals in the later rounds and create a team that’s well-balanced and capable of winning ballgames in several different ways.

In their time with the Mariners, my team has accrued a combined 134.6 fWAR. Even in the cases of Desi Relaford and John Jaso, who both had just one-year stints in Seattle, they either matched or bested their career-high in fWAR. Also, I have Dae-Ho Lee on my team, which automatically makes this roster better than everyone else’s, but that’s none of my business.

1. Mark McLemore, 2B

2. Jay Buhner, RF

3. Alvin Davis, 1B

4. Bruce Bochte, LF

5. John Jaso, C

6. Randy Winn, CF

7. Dae-Ho Lee, DH

8. Brendan Ryan, SS

9. Desi Relaford, 3B

Overall Roster:

Felix Hernandez
John Jaso
Alvin Davis
Mark McLemore
Desi Relaford
Brendan Ryan
Bruch Bochte
Randy Winn
Jay Buhner
(DH) Dae-Ho Lee
RP: Jeff Nelson

Now it is up to you guys to vote. I encourage you to remember that only a players time in Seattle should count in your decision-making process. Don’t bring a players performance outside the organization enter your mind. I also strongly recommend you take a look at the draft board by clicking here.

Thank you so much for reading and remember voting begins at 5 PM on Twitter (@sodomojoFS) and on Facebook! Happy voting!