Ranking the Best Second Baseman in Mariners Team History

This is probably the oddest list so far and might end up being the oddest out of every position. Second base is filled with a mix of older players, guys who massively underperformed their expectations while on the Mariners, and players who have some… Questionable circumstances surrounding their play.

There are a couple of guys on here that, to be honest, I didn’t recognize. Maybe some older fans will, but Tony Bernazard (1.3 fWAR) and Jack Perconte (4.5 fWAR) were players that I had never heard of. The Bernazard one makes sense, as he only spent half a season in Seattle. Perconte was a slappy little hitter with two home runs and 60 steals in two seasons for the Mariners in the mid-80s.

Then there’s Nick Franklin, who actually tied with Bernazard for 9th overall in Mariners fWAR at second base. He had a great rookie year and then was never good again. The Mariners actually traded him away at the right time, something that they struggled to do most of the time with Jack Z at the helm.

When I was a kid, I loved Joey Cora (fWAR 3.9) for some reason. I don’t really remember why, but I do remember that drastically changing when he got traded to Cleveland and said he was happy to be in a place where they could win… or something along those lines.

Jose Lopez (5.6 fWAR) barely missed the list, but easily would’ve made it going off of Baseball-Reference stats. He had a few pretty good seasons for the Mariners, and was a surprising producer for being so young. He played in 57 and 54 games at the ages of 20 and 21, and then 151 games in his age-22 season, which was the year he made his lone all-star game.

So who beat out Lopez for the 5th spot? Let’s check out the top-5 second baseman in Mariners history.

Mariners #4: Julio Cruz – 7.6 fWAR

Julio Cruz was one of the OG Mariners. He played on the 1977 team at age-22, appearing in 60 games that year. He showed promise with a decent average and an okay walk rate, but no power at all. The tradeoff for no power was a lot of speed, and it translated into a great stolen base rate.

Cruz was actually the 42nd best base stealer in history, going off of success rate, with an 81.47% mark. It was even better during his time with the Mariners, when he would go 290-349, successfully stealing at an 83.09% clip, which would actually be 23rd all-time.

His first full season, at the age of 23, would be when he truly showed off just how fast he was. 59-69 on steals, which would be a career-high for Cruz. That would lead into the statistically best season of his career in 1979 when he would put up a 2.8 fWAR. He played great defense, like always, but would put up the highest WRC+ plus of his career with a 93.

A large part of that were career-highs in batting average (.271), OBP (.363), and walk rate (12.8%). What’s even more impressive is that he did it in just 107 games, which was his average for games played from 1979-1981.

It would’ve been fun to see him play full seasons those three years, as he still swiped 137 bases over that time frame. 1979 really could’ve been a special season, with over a 4.0 fWAR, and a shot at 70+ steals. He comes in 4th, behind another speedy Mariner, although this one wasn’t very good at stealing bases. At all.

Mariners #3: Harold Reynolds – 12.3 fWAR

While Cruz is impressive for his stolen base rate success, Harold Reynolds should be held accountable for his. Just because you have speed doesn’t mean you should be able to steal bases. In today’s game, Reynolds would likely be given the red light, and rarely ever be allowed to steal.

If you think I might be over-exaggerating, check out his percentages over his career. I’m not including his first three seasons, as he didn’t play much, and went 4 for 7.

• 30 for 42: 71.4%
• 60 for 80: 75.0%
• 35 for 64: 54.7%
• 25 for 43: 58.1%
• 31 for 47: 66.0%
• 28 for 36: 77.7%
• 15 for 27: 55.6%
• 12 for 23:  (Orioles)
• 10 for 17:  (Angels)

During his time with the Mariners, he was 65.5%. That’s actually just under league average for the time, but some of those bad seasons really stand out. It shows, in a way, why the game has been going away from steals a bit, as it just isn’t worth it if you are getting caught so often.

Anyway, back to his good seasons. In 1989 and 1990, Reynolds put together back-to-back All-Star worthy seasons, with 4.2 and 3.9 fWAR. It’s funny because he didn’t make the All-Star game in either season, even though he did the two seasons prior while having seasons that were nowhere near as good.

He would earn gold gloves both years, playing stellar defense at second. He would also slash a combined .276/.347/.358. 1989 was his best season offensively, and he would hit .300/.359/.369, with career-highs of 106 WRC+ and five home runs.

With a slick glove, speed, and a decent bat to go along with it, it makes sense that Reynolds shows up as one of the Mariners best second baseman of all time. Some might even put him higher on the list, depending on how you feel about supposed, or proven, off the field issues, as we will see with the top two players on the list.

Mariners #2: Bret Boone – 19.8 fWAR

I feel odd about this. Both Bret Boone and the guy ahead of him on this list (spoiler… it’s Robinson Cano), have a heavy conversation around their extra-curricular activities when it comes to their methods of training. I think that’s a polite way to say it, right? Boone never tested positive for anything, but showing up as a career .255 hitter and hitting .331, with 13 more homers and nearly 50 more RBI definitely made people wonder, especially in the early 2000s.

I’m not saying that he did or didn’t do anything. I am saying that it is a big part of the conversation when you talk about his performance, and needs to be considered.

That being said, it sure was fun watching Boone back in 2001. He was worthy of his top-3 MVP finish after turning in one of the best offensive seasons in the history of the Seattle Mariners. That season was a huge part of the reason that he ranks so highly after he earned a 7.8 fWAR. You pair that with the 7.4 fWAR he earned in 2003 when he hit .294/.366/.535, and those two seasons alone vault him into second place for the best second baseman in Mariners history.

Mariners #1: Robinson Cano – 20.7 fWAR

There has been a lot said about Cano and the contract that he signed with the Mariners. There are plenty of people out there who think that it was a bad deal, and only ended up being good because the Mariners managed to get Justin Dunn and Jarred Kelenic in the deal with the Mets.

However, I don’t think that’s true. Cano wasn’t performing quite as he did with the Yankees, but he was still putting together some really good seasons with the Mariners, and was actually a bit of a surplus for the team.

Now, you can argue that if he would’ve stuck around, we would’ve had to deal with the second suspension and the back end of the contract. It’s a fair argument. That isn’t the case though, and this isn’t an edition of What-if Wednesday.

Cano was here for five years and played on the field for 4.5 of them. He had a 5.6 fWAR season when he got to the Mariners, a 6.3 two years later, and a 2.9 during that final season with the M’s when he played just 80 games. All in all, he was pretty good when he was here, and put together a solid stat line.

.296/.353/.472, with 159 2B and 107 HR. 389 R and 411 RBI. He was a solid defender as well. He was somewhere around a $35-45 surplus while he was here, and gave the Mariners a great option at second and a strong bat in the lineup. It’s why Cano takes the top spot as the best second baseman in team history.