Ranking the Best Shortstops in Seattle Mariners History

OAKLAND - 1996: Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners fields during an MLB game versus the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California during the 1996 season. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
OAKLAND - 1996: Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners fields during an MLB game versus the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California during the 1996 season. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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Mariners: Alex Rodriguez
OAKLAND – 1996: Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners fields during an MLB game versus the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California during the 1996 season. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Mariners #1: Alex Rodriguez – 35 fWAR

2000 – 9.5 fWAR

1996 – 9.2 fWAR

1998 – 7.9 fWAR

1999 – 4.7 fWAR

1997 – 4.3 fWAR

Not only are those the top five fWAR seasons for shortstops in the history of the Seattle Mariners, they also all belong to Alex Rodriguez. He has two seasons, on their own, that is a higher number than any other shortstop in team history has accrued.

The only discussion that I can see for A-Rod is which season was his best? I talked about it a bit in the best seasons in Mariners history, so I’ll re-visit it here. That article was with baseball-reference WAR, and I’m using Fangraphs here, so the numbers are a little bit different. They still say that 2000 was his best season, but I’m not giving it to 2000. I’m giving it to 1996. Do you wanna know why?

A-Rod was only 20 years old. I can’t imagine being that productive at anything at 20. A lot of people are struggling through their first job, or trying to figure out what they want to major in as they make their way through their sophomore year of college.

Alex Rodriguez was leading the league in Batting Average, Total Bases, 2Bs, and runs. Goodness, gracious. It’s insane.

Oh, he also hit 36 HR and had 123 RBI.

Think about this. Julio Rodriguez turned 21 on December 29th. Alex Rodriguez turned 21 on July 27th of that season. That means it was actually his age-20 season. He accomplished a season like that before Julio will even be in the big leagues. It shows just how impressive it is and how rare it is for a player to accomplish an all-time season like that at such a young age.

For reference, it’s T-110th all-time. It’s also the 5th best mark by someone 21 or younger, and he did it a full season earlier than that at age-20. A-Rod is one of the best to ever do it (from a numbers standpoint) and is easily the best M’s shortstop ever.

What do you think about this list? It’s the first time that I’ve gone against the fWAR rankings, but I think it was warranted. Let me know what you think… and Go Mariners!

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