Mariners have a future Gold Glove Award winner hiding in plain sight

The Seattle Mariners have a proud and storied history of Gold Glove Award winners, led by Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki with 10 apiece. There was a genuine and justified belief that Julio Rodríguez was going to claim his first one this season in center field, but as per MLB.com, it instead went to Ceddanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox.

We can certainly appreciate there are those who believe Rodríguez should have won, but in reality it's not exactly an outrage. In any event, even as the three-time All-Star must wait at least one more season to win his first Gold Glove, the Mariners have someone who will be underrated by some, but who also has an excellent chance of taking home the award next year.

We're talking about Ben Williamson, who is currently projected by FanGraphs to start at third base for the Mariners next season. As much as many would like to see Eugenio Suárez back in Seattle next season (likely including himself), the combination of his age, lack of productivity late in 2025 and expected salary demands make this scenario unlikely.

The Mariners have a future Gold Glover hiding in plain sight at third base

Williamson had long been touted for the high ceiling of his defensive potential, and after making his Major League debut this past season went on to prove why. Despite only playing in 85 games, he still finished third among all AL third baseman in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) with eight and just generally showed he can really get after it out there:

Yes, Williamson had his dicey moments as he adjusted to life in the Majors, but these were few and far between as evidenced by committing only three errors across 703.0 combined innings. And while we wouldn't go as far as claiming he has a blatant disregard for his body, his mobility and athleticism resulted in an unintentional Superman impression at times:

Williamson was actually leading all AL third baseman in DRS at the time of being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, to make way for the return of Suárez. However, this turn of events alludes to what could stop it being a guarantee that he will be the Mariners' main option at the hot corner next season.

Ben Williamson must show more with his bat for the Mariners

More specifically we're referring to Williamson's offense, with his defensive excellence only matched by his struggles at the plate in the majors. At the time of his demotion to the Rainiers, he ranked 29th with a .604 OPS among the 30 primary third basemen with at least 250 plate appearances.

At least there is hope in this area, with Williamson batting .253 during his time with the Mariners, which isn't awful. What will be key is getting more productivity with his hitting, and in fairness he did post a .906 OPS following his return to Triple-A.

We acknowledge there will be those who remain unsold on Williamson, and it's still not a given that he will be the full-time starting third baseman in Seattle next season. The Mariners could sign someone else or have him compete with Colt Emerson during spring training, in which case he'd have to earn the job.

Overall, pending Williamson showing an improved bat the Mariners can (more than) live with him manning third base as the main option. Which will in tun then enable him to take a run at a first Gold Glove with his continued tremendous defense.