Ranking the Seattle Mariners greatest seasons ever by Hitters

If you’re reading this, there are two likely reasons I can think of as to why you would be here. One, you’re a Mariners fan, or two, you think I’m dumb and are here to make fun of me in the comments. Either way… Welcome, and thank you for reading!

I wanted to talk about the best seasons of all time by Mariners hitters. I’ve been hemming and hawing for a while on how to format this. I always knew that I wasn’t going to go solely based on oWAR. It would be kind of boring, and if you wanted that list, you could just go pull it up on Baseball-Reference.

It’s going to play a part in the list, as it’s a good stat that can help you look at things across time, and get a general idea of how players did. However, the fan feeling comes into it as well. If there is a season where, either good or bad, fans have strong opinions on a player, then it is going to affect how we think of them and remember them.

Let’s rank the greatest individual offensive seasons in Mariners history

Here’s how I’m going to do it. I’m going to talk about each hitter in Mariners history that’s put together a season of 5.0 oWAR or higher for the team, and I’m going to rank them as I go. If a player had more than one season, it’ll all be on their slide. Otherwise, the list would just be…

1. A-Rod
2. A-Rod
3. Griffey
4. A-Rod
5. Boone
6. Griffey
7. Edgar
8. Edgar
9. Griffey
10. Griffey

Yeah, it would be fun to go through and rank those top 10 oWAR seasons, but when 9 of 10 come from 3 guys it’s just not as fun. Maybe I’ll do that another day. There are 34 seasons where a Mariners player has had a 5.0 oWAR or better, but it has only been done by 11 players.

I do wanna shout out Tom Paciorek for his 1981 season, in which he hit .326/.379/.509 with 14/13 HR/SB and a 151 OPS+. If not for the strike, he would have a shot at making the list. Unfortunately, he only played 104 games, and ended with a 3.5 oWAR.

If you’re thinking “Hey, what about pitchers?” Don’t worry, that will come out in the next week or so as well. I’m a bigger fan of pitching than I am of hitting, so it’s why I saved the best for last.

Let’s get started. There are a handful of players who had a single season at 5.0 oWAR or higher, and we’re going to break it into two sections. The old and the new. Here we go.

#9: Kyle Seager: 2016 w/5.3 oWAR

#8: Mitch Haniger: 2018 w/5.5 oWAR

Not sure if it’s surprising or not, but Seager and Haniger each only have a single season above 5.0 oWAR on their resume. Seager was closer plenty of times though.

For three straight years, Seager would post oWARs in the 4s. 4.6, 4.6, and 4.2. He was in the midst of a great run, and after making a massive leap on defense, had turned into one of the premier third basemen in all of baseball.

2016 would be his career year. Paired with his GG ability, he would actually post the 14th highest single-season WAR in team history at 6.7. His offense that year was incredible and showed what he was capable of when everything clicked.

• .278/.359/.499, 133 OPS+, 30 HR, 99 RBI, 89 R, 16.0% K rate, 10.2% BB rate, 90.7 Exit Velocity, 45.0% hard hit rate

Up to that point in his career, every single one of those was a career-high other than K rate, which was his second-best rate. It doesn’t quite measure up to Haniger’s season in 2018 though. Remember, this is just an article about how well they hit, not about the entirety of how they performed. Otherwise, Seager would be much higher on the list.

Haniger had a career-high 139 OPS+, with a .285/.366/.493 slash, 26 HR, 93 RBI, 90 R, and 38 2Bs. It showed what he was capable of, and if not for the odd injury history with him, the Mariners could have one of the best hitting outfielders in baseball. If he can bring the average back up near there, there is a great shot at him eclipsing his 2018 production.

It’s time to take a step up. Everyone else on the list has multiple seasons above 5.0, and at least one season above 6.0.

#7: Nelson Cruz: 2015 w/6.0 oWAR. Also, 2016 w/5.0

Let’s take a trip back to 2014. The Mariners had signed Robinson Cano (more on him soon) to a massive deal, the largest one handed out in team history. He put together a great opening season and the Mariners were looking for another bat to add to increase the viability of their lineup.

Nelson Cruz had been suspended in 2013 but came back better than ever in 2014 in a one-year deal that he signed with the Orioles. He hit the free-agent market as a premier power hitter with a good average to go along with it, albeit with a strong defensive liability.

The Mariners would end up agreeing on a 4yr/$57m deal with Cruz, and it would turn out to be one of the best deals that the Mariners had ever signed. That first year though was the special year for Cruz. .302/.369/.556 with a 159 OPS+, 44 HR, 93 RBI, 90 R, and 22 2Bs. It was a massive win for the Mariners, and he performed better than anyone thought he would.

It was the start of an incredible four-year career with the Mariners, and Cruz would earn three All-Star nods, two Silver Sluggers, and finish 6th, 15th, and 10th in MVP voting. 2016 wasn’t too shabby either, and he would have another 40+ HR season with a .287/.360/.555 slash line.

I mentioned him earlier, so let’s talk Robinson Cano.

#6: Robinson Cano: 2014 w/6.2 oWAR. Also, 2016 w/6.2

It’s a tie for his best season. To me, I give the honor to 2014. It was his first season in Seattle, and Cano showed that being away from New York and the bright lights were not going to affect his performance. There was definitely a worry with fans that if the Mariners were struggling, Cano wouldn’t perform. Shoot, there was a worry that he wouldn’t perform anyway after getting paid and moving away from New York.

It’s a worry that most fan bases have when they get a massive signing. Cano quickly assuaged those worries by putting together an amazing 2014 in which he would finish 5th in MVP voting. His power numbers were down for the Mariners that year, but a 142 OPS+ with a slash of .314/.382/.454, makes it hard to complain.

There’s an argument for 2016 as well. He had a career-high in HR that year with 39 and slashed .298/.350/.533 with a 138 OPS+. It comes down to a power vs contact argument. He got on base a ton in 2014 and did it with less than 70 strikeouts on the season. Both seasons were great, but coming out and proving in year one that you were still going to work hard made fans feel much better about the signing. It’s why I take the 2014 season over the 2016 season.

#5: Ichiro Suzuki: 2001 w/6.2 oWAR. Also, 2004 w/6.1 and 2007 w/5.4

I know he broke the hits record in 2004. If I was unable to watch or listen to the game, I would wake up every morning and check either the internet or the newspaper (The newspaper was an actual set of paper that would be delivered to your house every morning for you youngsters out there) to see how Ichiro did in his chase for the hits record.

However, 2001 was different. Ichiro was a “Rookie”, and unlike anything we had seen in Seattle before. I say “Rookie”, because Ichiro was 27 and already had amassed 1278 hits in Japan with a .353/.421/.522 slash line in nine seasons. We knew he was awesome over there, but the transition doesn’t always work.

Instead, Ichiro would come to the Mariners and hit .350 in 2001, playing a massive part in their insane season. All-Star, Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and an MVP. He had a career-high 56 SBs as well as a career-high 34 2Bs that year as well. Side note, did you know Ichiro only had three seasons in his entire career in the states with 30+ doubles?

So, it wasn’t just the numbers that get him here. It’s what he meant to the Mariners fan base. A-Rod, Jr, and the Big Unit were all gone. Edgar was 38 and near the end, and Jamie Moyer was 38 as well. Not that it meant he would stop, and would actually pitch another 12 SEASONS! That man was crazy, and I miss him. Back to Ichiro. He was the new face of the franchise, and it gave us hope.

It might seem a bit odd that his marks were that low in oWAR, but power plays a part, as does OBP. Ichiro always had an incredible batting average, but he only ever had a single season with an OBP over 400. I can see the argument for either season, but that Rookie Year was such a fun experience and surprise, that it takes the top spot for Ichiro.

Oddly enough, Ichiro didn’t even have the best offensive season on the team that year.

#4: Bret Boone: 2001 w/7.7 oWAR. Also, 2003 w/6.3

Yeah, it was this guy instead. I mentioned how Nelson Cruz came to the Mariners on one of the best deals ever signed by the team, but the one-year deal that the Mariners gave Bret Boone is arguably one of the best deals that a team has ever signed… period.

2003 was a great season by any standards you wanna put out there. 2001 though, that was special. Boone carried the heart of the Mariners order, alongside incredible seasons by John Olerud (4.5 oWAR), Mike Cameron (4.8 oWAR), Edgar (4.8 oWAR), and Ichiro (6.2 oWAR) as well. They all had great seasons, but don’t really compare to what Boone did.

• .331/.372/.578, 37 2B, 37 HR, 141 RBI, 118 R, 153 OPS+

A normal season by a second baseman that year would’ve seen the Mariners still put together a great season. The fact that Boone put together one of the greatest offensive seasons we have ever seen in Mariners history got the team to another level and tied them with the Cubs for most wins ever in a season.

Now we get to the three guys that everyone has been waiting on. When it comes to Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr, and Alex Rodriguez, who had the greatest offensive season in team history? For those that have been waiting for the chance to yell at me… here goes.

#3: Alex Rodriguez: 1996 w/8.5 oWAR. Also, 2000 w/8.9, 1998 w/7.8, 1997 w/6.2, 1999 w/5.3

So here’s the thing. You may be looking at A-Rod’s spot at #3 on this list and thinking “Hold on, he was #1, 2, and 4 back on that first slide. Heck, even Boone was #5. What’s going on?”. Again, I’m not doing this solely off of oWAR. If I did, it would be boring. Plus, who would you argue with then?

(Just kidding. It’s the internet. There is always someone to argue with.)

I’m not giving his best offensive season to 2000. Yeah, it’s the top mark solely on the number of 8.9 in team history, but I don’t think it was his best offensive season. Do you wanna know a big part of the reason? Well, in 2000, A-Rod was 24. It would be his last year in Seattle, and he would sign the monster deal and leave for Texas after that, paving the way for Ichiro, Boone, and a big wormhole of “What-if A-Rod stayed?“.

Do some quick math, and you can see that in 1996, Alex Rodriguez was only 20 years old.

HE WAS 20 YEARS OLD. THAT’S IT. NO, I WON’T STOP YELLING. THIS IS INSANE! I CAN’T COMPREHEND THIS LEVEL OF SUCCESS FOR SOMEONE AT ONLY 20 YEARS OLD!

Okay, I’m done yelling for now. Here’s another way to think about this. Noelvi Marte, Mariners Superstar prospect is 20. That would be like him coming up this year. Here are the numbers A-Rod put up, and you can see why I’m losing my mind over re-visiting these numbers.

• .358/.414/.631, 161 OPS+, 379 Total Bases, 54 2B, 36 HR, 15 SB, 123 RBI, 141 R, 215 H

He still should’ve finished second in MVP voting, only it should’ve been to Griffey and not Juan Gonzalez, who didn’t even have a great season. A-Rod lost by 3 points, one of the closest races in the history of the sport.

It stands out to me as the best season that he ever had with the Mariners, and takes the #3 spot in the greatest individual seasons in Mariners history. Next up… The Kid.

#2: Ken Griffey Jr: 1997 w/7.6 oWAR. Also, 1993 w/8.3, 1998 w/6.9, 1996 w/6.6, 1991 w/6.5, 1992 w/6.2, 1999 w/6.2, 1994 w/5.9, 1990 w/5.2

There are few things in life that people can agree on. One of these things is that Griffey was amazing and a joy to watch. He ushered in a new aspect to the game of baseball. You didn’t have to be cocky or egotistical to have swagger. Pure love and passion could come out, and it was totally okay.

Did Griffey save baseball? Is that too much to say? Maybe. Maybe not. We can’t argue that baseball would’ve grown as much as it did and came back as fast after 1994 if it weren’t for Junior.

His 1993 season was his best, statistically. I don’t think it was his greatest though. That honor goes to 1997. Shoot, if they played all of 1994, maybe that would’ve taken the cake. After making the playoffs in 1995 and falling just short in 96, Griffey came out with a vengeance in 1997.

• .304/.382/.646. 34 2B, 56 HR, 147 RBI, 125 R, 393 TB, 23 IBB. MVP, GG, SS, All-Star

It would be the first of three straight years where The Kid would lead the league in Homers. Even though he left Seattle, the new stadium was still the House that Junior built. Without him, it wouldn’t have been possible. He was a huge part of the Mariners first 90-win season, and it was also the first and only year that the Kingdome would see over 3 million fans, at a hair under 3.2 million.

I think 1997 played a massive part in everything that happened for the Mariners over the next few years. It also feels like his best and most impressive offensive season with the team. He played a pretty big part in the greatest season ever offensively by a Mariners hitter. It happened at home plate too. There were just a few more people involved.

#1: Edgar Martinez: 1995 w/7.3 oWAR. Also, 1992 w/7.1, 1996 w/6.5, 1997 w/6.2, 2000 w/5.7, 1994 w/5.6, 1998 w/5.6

I’m cheating here… but not really. I’m including the playoffs because of what it meant. Normally I wouldn’t, but this is different. Think about where the Mariners were in 1995. They had never made the playoffs. In. Their. History.

A-Rod was only 19, and would play in just 48 games, showing little of the superstar he was about to become. This was Edgar and Griffey’s team, and they were one of the most exciting tandems in all of baseball. Oh, and there was a particularly nasty man on the man named Randy Johnson. That’s a story (or series) for another day.

Edgar’s mark of 7.3 oWAR is actually 7th all-time. A-Rod had three better, Griffey had two, and Boone had one. Guess what? I don’t care, because Edgar’s 1995 season is the greatest offensive season in Mariners history. For those who are solely about the numbers, I’m guessing you disagree. For anyone that lived through it, remembers it, or has done their research, I truly believe you’re sitting there and saying “Yup. I think he’s right.”

Notice I didn’t say it’s the highest, best, or strongest statistically. I said it was the greatest. I’m not gonna sit here and wax poetically about it. I’m not going to layout 1,000 words on why I think it is. Instead, I’m only going to do a couple of things. I’m gonna give you his stat line, the Mariners record, and a couple of videos that do a better job of explaining what happened than my paltry little mind could ever dream of eclipsing.

• 1995 Mariners. 79-66, won the AL West. Won the AL Divisional Series 3-2 over NYY.
• .356/.479/.628. 1.107 OPS, 185 OPS+, 52 2B, 29 HR, 113 RBI, 121 R, 145 Games

Edgar’s the greatest. You can be right and agree, or disagree and just be wrong. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think about the list, and if there is anything that I missed. The Mariners have had some great seasons in their history, and some incredible individual ones as well.