AL Silver Slugger finalists shut out a deserving Mariner for an undeserving Blue Jay

The last name Seattle Mariners fans want to hear right now is George Springer. Even a whisper of it conjures feelings of anguish and lamentations of what could have been but ultimately wasn't. It is a cursed name in the Pacific Northwest.

And yet, it must be uttered on Thursday after FanSided's exclusive reveal of the AL Silver Slugger finalists. There are six outfielders, as voted on by a panel of the American League's managers and coaches, and you'll notice that Springer is one of them alongside Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez:

• Cody Bellinger, New York Yankees
• Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins
• Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers
• Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
• Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners
• George Springer, Toronto Blue Jays

What we have here is both a twist and an injustice. The first is that Springer is also a finalist at designated hitter, while the second concerns how his inclusion among the outfield finalists kept Randy Arozarena out.

Randy Arozarena is snubbed as a Silver Slugger finalist as George Springer gets double acknowledgements

So, first things first: Springer was not an outfielder this year.

Though he did make 51 starts in the outfield, you have to measure those against the 80 he made at designated hitter. It was that action that drove his rebound season, as he had a 1.022 OPS as a DH compared to an .874 OPS when he played the field.

In all fairness, there's a similar case to be made against Jorge Polanco as a finalist for a Silver Slugger among AL second basemen. He started only 34 games at second base this year, compared to 87 at DH. As thrilled as we are to see him getting recognition, even we can admit it's a little awkward.

Context matters, however. Second base was a relatively weak offensive position in the American League this year. The most glaring snub from the finalists for the Silver Slugger is Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres, and he hit eight fewer homers and fell 76 points shy of matching Polanco's OPS.

There's a different story to tell about AL outfielders, and about Arozarena specifically. The short version of it: Even in a crowd of talented hitters, he still managed to stand out.

Arozarena ended the year ranked fifth among primary AL outfielders in oWAR, notably ahead of two finalists for the Silver Slugger: Bellinger and Greene. Even though he only hit .238, he narrowly missed a 30-30 season with 27 home runs and 31 stolen bases, and he also had 32 doubles. Only he and five others notched at least 30 doubles, 25 homers and 30 steals.

Granted, Arozarena has himself to blame for the fact that he wasn't a slam dunk as a Silver Slugger finalist. He really cooled off after Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez came aboard, and he got bumped up to the leadoff spot. Arozarena batted No. 1 exclusively after July 30, and he finished with a .218/.302/.343 slash line over his last 53 games.

That said, Arozarena has an obvious trump card in his favor relative to Springer: Out of the 160 games he started this year, 158 were as a left fielder and only two were as a DH. He was a proper outfielder, whereas Springer merely moonlighted as one.

Because Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham had more oWAR than Arozarena this season, there is a fair argument that he was actually the bigger snub. Yet Grisham was frankly less dynamic, as his 14-point advantage in OBP and seven-homer advantage are easily countered by Arozarena's advantages in doubles (32-9) and stolen bases (31-3).

Either way, both Yankees fans and Mariners fans should agree that either Arozarena or Grisham would have been a better pick than Springer to round out the outfield finalists for the AL Silver Sluggers.

As for everyone else, please just let Mariners fans have this one on account of... well, you know.