Seattle Mariners fantasy draft by the Sodo Mojo staff

Opening Day is right around the corner and we wanted to have a little fun, so we decided to do an in-house fantasy baseball draft. The rules: you can only select Mariners players, three rounds, snake draft, and the winner is based on the best-combined WAR at the end of the season. So, let’s take a look at the Sodo Mojo 2021 Mariners WAR draft picks.

Sodo Mojo Mariners WAR draft – Round 1

Chris O’Day, a Sodo Mojo contributor, the host of the Late Night Shots Podcast, and the Pro Golf Now site expert had the first pick of our first Mariners WAR draft. Chris selected the Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford. You might be a little surprised at first glance but when you think about it, the pick is great. WAR isn’t just about offense, so Crawford is an excellent selection. Last season, he finished with a 1.6 WAR.

Former Sodo Mojo co-expert and freelancer for the Field Gulls, Willie Keeler, received the second pick and selected the 2020 AL ROY Kyle Lewis. The Mariners center fielder is a no-brainer pick after last season, not much more explaining to do. He posted a 1.7 WAR last season.

The third pick went to our newest member of the team, Jamey Vinnick who is also a beat writer for Cougfan.com and a contributor for The Canuck Way. Jamey selected Marco Gonzales with the third overall pick, and I would have done the same. The Mariners ace finished 2020 with a 1.5 WAR.

Jake Mitton got the fourth pick and went with Kyle Seager. Although Kyle didn’t have the best WAR in 2020, Seager’s WAR is fantastic when he is at his best. During his All-Star season, he finished with a 6.3 WAR. The highest WAR he had in a single season was in 2016, where he posted a 6.7 WAR.

The fifth pick went to me, and I selected Dylan Moore. After looking at Moore’s defensive metrics as of late, it made me appreciate him even more. Combine that with his offensive breakout, you got a great WAR. Last season, the 28-year-old finished with a 1.8 WAR.

The final pick of the first round went to Lee Vowell, who is also the site expert at 12th Man Rising. Lee chose the “comeback story,” Mitch Haniger. Like Kyle Seager, when Haniger is at his best, he is electric. In 2018, Mitch finished with a 6.2 WAR. And even if he doesn’t play like an All-Star, he could finish with a 3.1 WAR (2017).

Now, onto the second round.

Sodo Mojo Mariners WAR draft – Round 2

Since we did a snake draft, Lee had back-to-back picks. With the seventh overall pick, he went with Justus Sheffield to pair with Mitch Haniger. Sheff had quite the breakout season after making some big adjustments, and will his excellent performances continue? If so, we could be looking at a 1.5+ WAR in 2021. Sheffield finished 2020 with a 0.8 WAR.

I had the next pick and chose Ty France. The infielder didn’t have the best WAR in 2020, but his Spring Training form makes me think that it will be a lot more than his 0.5 WAR from last year. Although his defense might hinder his overall WAR, I think his bat will make up for it.

Jake chose James Paxton with the ninth pick, a high-risk high-reward player. When Paxton is healthy, you can expect a WAR larger than 2. But, when he’s hurt and not 100%, he posts a -0.4 WAR like in 2020.

Yusei Kikuchi was the tenth pick by Jamey. I think Kikuchi’s adjustments between 2019 and 2020 have been well documented, and Jamey is betting on Kikuchi’s ability to adapt. Yusei came into Spring Training slimmer and has pitched well this month. He finished with a 0.1 WAR in 2020, but I am sure he will do much better than that.

With the eleventh pick, Willie chose Tom Murphy. The Mariners catcher missed all of 2020 but finished the 2019 season with an impressive 2.7 WAR. Can he replicate his 2019 season? If so, this would be one heck of a pick.

And for the final pick, Chris selected Evan White. The Gold Glove first baseman is still struggling in Spring Training, but Chris clearly has hope in him. Even with his abysmal offensive year last season, he was able to finish with a 0.1 WAR mostly because of his glove.

Now, we enter the final round of our fantasy draft.

Sodo Mojo Mariners WAR draft pre-season rankings

We took the Fan Graphs ZiPS and Steamer projections to help us create two pre-season rankings for our teams. Based on the ZiPS projections, here are the rankings:

1. Lee
   1. Total projected WAR = 5.4
   2. Haniger, Sheffield, Gilbert
2. Jake
   1. Total projected WAR = 4.8
   2. Seager, Paxton, Fraley
3. Ryota
   1. Total projected WAR = 4.1
   2. Moore, France, Montero
4. Jamey
   1. Total projected WAR = 3.9
   2. Gonzales, Kikuchi, Trammell
5. Willie
   1. Total projected WAR = 3.0
   2. Lewis, Murphy, Kelenic
6. Chris
   1. Total projected WAR = 2.3
   2. Crawford, White, Dunn

The Steamer projections are quite different compared to the ZiPS projections. Based on the 2021 Steamer projections, here are the rankings:

1. Jake
   1. Total projected WAR = 4.3
   2. Seager, Paxton, Fraley
2. Jamey
   1. Total projected WAR = 4.2
   2. Gonzales, Kikuchi, Trammell
3. Chris
   1. Total projected WAR = 3.9
   2. Crawford, White, Dunn
4. Lee
   1. Total projected WAR = 3.7
   2. Haniger, Sheffield, Gilbert
5. Willie
   1. Total projected WAR = 2.9
   2. Lewis, Murphy, Kelenic
6. Ryota
   1. Total projected WAR = 2.1
   2. Moore, France, Montero

It’s pretty interesting to see the vast difference between the two rankings but only time will tell how each team will perform. Stay tuned for in-season updates for our little fun competition.