Ranking the Best Designated Hitters in Seattle Mariners History

This is it. The last of the hitters. We’ve gone all the way around the field, checking out the best of every position in the history of the Seattle Mariners. Some positions actually had a real discussion about who it was that was deserving of the top spot. Others, it was obvious.

For Designated Hitter… well, it’s pretty obvious as well. Can you really choose anyone either than the Greatest to not just do it for the Mariners, but the greatest Designated Hitter of all time?

Once you get past the two that are likely on the top of everyone’s mind, the pickings get a lot slimmer at DH. There just haven’t been great ones outside of those two. Part of it comes from a difficulty in breaking down who’s been there each year, since a lot of players have done it while splitting time with other spots around the field.

The other is, well, that the Mariners have just had a lot of not-great hitters throughout the years. It makes it hard to find a good DH when you’re constantly rotating through the position. So I’m not even gonna talk about the guys that barely missed making it into the top five. There aren’t enough, and when you have to start listing off guys with less than a 1.0 fWAR, it just isn’t that fun.

So here we go. At number 5, we look at one of the recent big boys/mashers that the Mariners have had who left only a few years ago.

Mariners #5 DH: Daniel Vogelbach – 1.1 fWAR

Oh, Daniel Vogelbach. He’s gotta be one of the “largest” players to ever suit up for the Mariners, and he put that bulk to good use by destroying baseballs. He played a handful of games during his first three seasons with the team, but never saw regular playing time until 2019.

He was having a great run, and his numbers looked a lot better through July than they did by the end of the season. Through 99 games, he was hitting .237/.366/.511 with 25 HR, a K rate of 24.4%, and a BABIP of just .252. So it wasn’t hard to imagine that his average might actually go up to finish out the year.

Instead, it would plummet. Over the last 63 games, Vogey would hit an anemic .139/.281/.270, as the K rate would climb to 32.3%, and he would hit just 5 HR and 3 2B. He would still end up with a 1.6 fWAR on the season, but it would be his last success with the Mariners.

He stunk in 2020 and would be purchased by the Blue Jays. He has had a bit of a resurgence in Milwaukee, showing a great eye still, but an average in the low 200s. That single-season in 2019 was enough to make him a top-5 DH in Mariners history, and on the shortlist of most fans’ favorite Mariners as well.

Mariners #4 DH: Richie Zisk – 4.0 fWAR

I have no idea if anyone called him that, but it sounds like a good nickname, so I went with it. Richie Zisk came to the Mariners in December of 1980 in a massive trade with the Rangers. The Mariners received Richie Zisk, Steve Finch, Brian Allard, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, and Jerry Don Gleaton in exchange for Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Willie Horton, Mario Mendoza, and Leon Roberts.

Zisk has been a solid hitter throughout his career, and would finish out his career with the Mariners in the same fashion. For the first two years, at least. In 1981, he would hit .311/.366/.485 with a 144 WRC+ and 16 HR. If he could’ve played the entire season, he would’ve ended up with a great year, but was limited to just 94 games.

It’s why his fWAR from 1981 and 1982 are so close. He would play 131 games the next year, hitting .292/.354/.477 with a 124 WRC+, better isolated power, and 21 HR. He had a 2.1 in 1981 and a 2.0 in 1982. 1983 would be his final season in the bigs, and he just didn’t have it anymore. Those first two seasons were quite good though, and were enough to get him to 4th on the list.

Mariners #3 DH: Ken Phelps – 9.8 fWAR

There are no pictures of Phelps for some reason, so here’s Jerry Stiller. This makes sense, because when you find something in life that can make you laugh, and you get to pair it with a bit of misfortune for the New York Yankees, you know that you’ve found a good combination. It’s why I always have loved the scene from Seinfeld when George’s dad berates Steinbrenner for trading away Buhner. It’s gold.

The player that the Mariners traded away, Ken Phelps, is actually #3 when it comes to the greatest Mariners DH of all time. He spent five and a half years in Seattle, and four of those were pretty good years. He ended up with seasons of 2.1, 2.1, 2.7, and 2.2 fWAR during his time with the Mariners, and was having his best season at the plate when the Mariners traded him away.

It’s one of the rare occurrences when the Mariners made a trade and it actually worked out quite well for them, at least pre Trader Jerry.

In that 1988 season, Phelps had a WRC+ of 170 through 72 games. 14 HR and a slash line of .284/.434/.547 can do that for you. That walk rate is insanely impressive, sitting at 20.9%. It was probably the best part of his game, as he had around an 18.5-19% BB rate from 1984-1988 with the Mariners.

It would’ve been his best fWAR season if he stayed with the team and continued to produce at that level. Instead, his best season falls the year before in 1987. He went .259/.410/.548 with a 2.7 fWAR, knocking a career-high 27 HR.

Although he finished 88 strong with the Yankees, he never did much after that. Buhner would have a 22.4 fWAR after being traded, while Phelps would have a lowly mark of 0.0. He was good while he was on the Mariners though, and did enough to come in at #3 behind The Boomstick.

Mariners #1 DH: Edgar Martinez – 65.3 fWAR

Out of every single one of these, this is the one that was clear and away the most obvious. Yeah, there’s Griffey and A-Rod. Even Ichiro. But it’s Edgar Martinez. You could argue he’s the greatest Mariners player of all-time. There’s no argument at all here at DH.

Nelson Cruz was pretty darn good in his time with the Mariners. He had a 13.2 fWAR over that first three-year stretch. However, Edgar had a run that was much better. Check out these numbers.

• 1990 – 5.5
• 1991 – 5.7
• 1992 – 6.0
• 1993 – 0.2
• 1994 – 3.0
• 1995 – 7.0
• 1996 – 5.9
• 1997 – 6.1
• 1998 – 5.5
• 1999 – 5.3
• 2000 – 5.3
• 2001 – 4.7

He was hurt in 93, and the lockout happened in 94. Outside of those years, look at the amazing consistency by Edgar. The dude hit and hit and hit, and then he hit some more. Shoot, from 1995-2000, Edgar would hit .332/.449/.579, averaging 42 2B and 29 HR, with 103 R and 110 RBI, with an OPS+ of 164. His worst combined season numbers would be .322/.423/.554, with 31 2B and 24 HR, along with 86 R and 86 RBI. Imagine that being your worst combined numbers in a six-year stretch.

Edgar is the GOAT at DH, and to me, it’s not that close. Long live Edgar.