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Ranking the Best Second Baseman in Mariners Team History

By Christopher O'Day

SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 24: Robinson Canó #22 of the Seattle Mariners bats during the game against the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field on September 24, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Athletics defeated the Mariners 7-3. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 24: Robinson Canó #22 of the Seattle Mariners bats during the game against the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field on September 24, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Athletics defeated the Mariners 7-3. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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Mariners Dustin Ackley
SEATTLE, WA – JUNE 23: Dustin Ackley #13 of the Seattle Mariners flies out to center in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Safeco Field on June 23, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

Mariners #5: Dustin Ackley – 7.0 fWAR

All of Mariners nation were so excited when the team drafted Dustin Ackley. He was supposed to be a can’t miss guy, uber-talented, able to play all over the field, with an incredible hit tool. He hit .402, .417, and .417 during his three years at North Carolina, which is hard to comprehend. He showed speed and power, with a good walk rate, low strikeout rate, and was an all-around stud. It seemed too good to be true.

He debuted in 2011, and things were looking good. Ackley was 23, put together a nice little combination of power and speed, hit well with a 117 WRC+, and played good defense. His BABIP of .339 was concerningly high though, and he came back to earth in 2012. He still played good defense, scored a lot of runs, and managed 12/13 HR/SB. He was a combined 5.1 WAR through his age-24 season, and I remember being optimistic about Ackley.

He would put together middling seasons the next two years with fWARs in the low 1s, seemingly getting worse each year. His defense wasn’t good anymore, and the bat wasn’t improving.

He would actually get traded in 2015 to the Yankees. He had a nice second half there but was awful in 2016, and that would be the last time he ever played in the majors. It really seemed like Ackley was going to be passable, at least, for the Mariners. Instead, he just slowly decreased year-by-year, but still did enough to be one of the best to play the position for the Mariners. Up next is the Mariners original speedster.

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