Mariners History: 25 years since Seattle's best steal of the 2000 offseason

The Seattle Mariners would not have won an American League-record 116 games in 2001 if they hadn't first won the previous offseason. They were able to do that because of a pair of all-time steals in free agency, the second of which turned 25 years old on Monday.

It's not the three-year, $13.125 million deal that the Mariners did with Ichiro Suzuki. That one happened about a month earlier, and it proved to be the start of a beautiful friendship that yielded an AL MVP, an AL Rookie of the Year, 10 All-Star selections, 10 Gold Gloves and countless hits.

The one we're talking about is Bret Boone, though any Mariners fan who remembers — or is even vaguely aware of — 2001 might have surmised as much. But for the sake of throwing a hot take out just to throw a hot take out, what if Boone was a bigger steal than Ichiro?

Mariners History: 25 years since Seattle's best steal of the 2000 offseason

This is admittedly a hard sell. Ichiro's initial three-year contract paid for itself just in the 2001 season, in which he hit .350 with 242 hits and 56 stolen bases, all league bests for that year. Ultimately, his first contract paid for 16.9 rWAR.

At least with Ichiro, though, there was always the promise of stardom to come in the majors. No Japanese position player had ever made a successful transition to MLB before, but it was hard to look at his .353 career average in NPB and not wonder, "Hmmm, maybe Seattle is onto something here."

By contrast, Boone was a journeyman when the Mariners signed him to a one-year deal worth $3.75 million. His career highlights did include MVP votes in 1994 and an All-Star nod and Gold Glove in 1998. But his rWAR was in the 1.0s both years, and he had a total of 5.5 rWAR for his career when he arrived in Seattle. Pretty good for a 21-year-old. Not so much for a 31-year-old.

Even Mariners general manager Pat Gillick didn't try to oversell Boone to the press. His take on the signing was more humble, saying: "He's a proven run producer who will add a little pop to our lineup while providing some solid defense for our pitching staff."

It suffices to say, then, that even Gillick and the Mariners brass might not have expected what Boone did next. He made a giant leap to superstardom in 2001, batting .331 with a career-high 37 home runs, an AL-high 141 runs batted in and 8.8 rWAR.

Even Ichiro didn't match the latter number, as he finished at 7.7 rWAR for the 2001 season. The only player in the American League who did best Boone in rWAR that year was Jason Giambi, who got on base at a .477 clip and slugged .660, both high marks for AL hitters.

Now that's return on investment, and the Mariners were so adamant about bringing Boone back that they eventually signed him to a three-year, $25 million contract the following January — a deal as long as Ichiro's contract, but for nearly twice as much guaranteed money.

Boone didn't match the highs of his 2001 season in any of the three subsequent years, though he did come through with 10.2 rWAR in 2002 and 2003 before plummeting to 0.5 rWAR in his age-35 season in 2004. Age will do that to a player — and while Boone vehemently denied it, we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention that he was implicated as a PED user by Jose Canseco.

Regardless, the legacy of Boone's 2001 season remains that of one of the great years that any Mariner has ever had. At least in terms of rWAR, only Ichiro, Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. did better on the position player side.

Even if it was just one season, any player who can say they swam with legends for one year can do so proudly.