3 takeaways from the complete Mariners Diamond Dynasty Rankings in MLB the Show 24

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There are a lot of things that baseball fans look forward to during the MLB offseason. The day the Astros are eliminated, Free Agency, the Winter Meetings, Trade Rumors, and Spring Training. There is something else that plenty of fans look forward to, even if it doesn't actually have an impact on actual baseball. I'm talking about MLB The Show. It's a good way to get that early baseball fix, and lets you know the season is right around the corner.

It also gives fans a chance to do what so many of them think they would be good at, running a baseball team. For Mariner fans, it gives you a chance to do what Dipoto and Hollander are unable to do, and actually spend money in Free Agency. Imagine that, the team actually finds success by signing impactful free agents. Wild.

You are also given a chance to learn more about players across the league simply by looking at the rating that they are given by the fine folks at San Diego Studios (SDS). Never without fault, one of the first things that fans of the game always do is take a look to see not just what the rankings for their favorite team are, but which of those ratings seem completly wrong.

Let's do just that. Today, we are looking at Diamond Dynasty. This is the online aspect of the game, and ratings are generally lower than they are in Franchise Mode. This is due to the Legends that show up in this game mode, and the crawl towards the magical 99 mark. When the game came out in Early Access, Ohtani earned a 94 rating, with Acuna getting a 93. That gives you an idea of how "low" the ratings are. Let's start by looking at the entire Mariners team, and then get into what was right and what was wrong with their rankings.

Again, remember that these rankings are a bit lower than Franchise due to the game crawl, and to avoid top players being made available right away. Diamonds are 85 and above, Golds are 80 and above, Silvers are 75 and above, Bronze from 65-74, and Common are 64 and under. It helps to give you an idea of a player's range and is a nice way to identify how good they are when playing.

Julio Rodriguez - 87
Luis Castillo - 85

George Kirby - 81
Cal Raleigh - 81
Andres Munoz - 79
Logan Gilbert - 79
Mitch Garver - 77
Matt Brash - 76
Luke Raley - 76
JP Crawford - 75
Jorge Polanco - 75
Bryce Miller - 75

Bryan Woo - 74
Gabe Speier - 74
Josh Rojas - 72
Ty France - 72
Seby Zavala - 70
Dominic Canzone - 70
Ryne Stanek - 70
Dylan Moore - 69
Luis Urias - 69
Mitch Haniger - 69
Sam Haggerty - 68
Cade Marlowe - 68
Trent Thornton - 67
Jonatan Clase - 67
Ty Adcock - 66
Austin Voth - 65
Mauricio Llovera - 65
Tayler Saucedo - 65
Emerson Hancock - 65
Samad Taylor - 64

There were a handful of common cards that I left out, as those players are just not going to be impactful, or even see time in the majors for the Mariners. I'm sure there are a lot of rankings on here that stand out, so let's break it up into two different categories. Which are the rankings that SDS nailed, and which are the ones that they completely missed the mark on.

The 3 Diamond Dynasty Mariners rankings that make the most sense

Julio Rodriguez at 87

This has him as the 3rd best center fielder, behind only Judge and Trout. At this point, it's hard to argue that. Julio has shown some inconsistencies, but we all know that he has one of the highest ceilings in all of baseball. The stat that stood out to me a bit was his speed at 92, steal at 70, and BR aggressiveness at 76. Julio gets picked off a lot, but he is one of the fastest players in baseball, so these seem a bit off but are still defensible.

Cal Raleigh at 81

Massive power against RHP makes Cal a formidable choice at catcher, with a quite impressive 94 there. He's a diamond behind the plate as well, making him one of the best defensive options. An arm strength of 81 and accuracy of 76 are both actually great in-game numbers, and just like 2023, you can snipe many a would-be base stealer with Big Dumper.

Bryce Miller at 75

I love that he is already getting his due in-game. A break of 99, velo of 90, and BB/9 of 80 shows that Miller can move the ball around the zone while making hitters look silly. They've got his slider/slurve combo, meaning you can try to catch hitters off guard and induce weak contact if you mix those pitches correctly. For those who like using Mariners in this game mode, Miller makes for a fun early game pitcher to build up with.

The 3 Diamond Dynasty Mariners rankings that completely missed the mark

JP Crawford at 75

Seriously? I know Crawford isn't a great defender, but they still have him as a bronze hitter. For someone who was a top-3 offensive shortstop in baseball in 2023, you think they would give him a bit more recognition. Instead, he is T-19th ranked for shortstops in the game. That's embarassing. At least make him a high silver or low gold hitter built up by good plate discipline and vision.

Taylor Saucedo at 65

Saucedo had a 3.59 ERA and a 113 ERA+ last season. That seems like it should earn him a bit more success in-game. I'm not saying that he should be a silver, but 65 is borderline unusable in the game. A 65 ranking is good for T-199th for relievers. There is a 0% chance that there are 198 relievers that are better than Saucedo in baseball, and that doesn't even count closers, who are their own category in-game.

Matt Brash at 76

At least they got his 99 break and 99 velo right. Brash is one of the nastiest relievers in baseball, and it's not just having stuff. He used it incredibly well last season en route to one of the top WAR marks for relievers in baseball. Yet, he is ranked as T-17th for RP. Is Matt Moore really better than Brash? Go take a look at the list if you want to get angry.

I love MLB The Show and have been playing it as much as I can since the early release came out. I know there are always going to be rankings we don't agree with, but some of these are just plain wrong, especially the JP Crawford one. Best of luck with your teams this year, and hopefully we see an early change (for the good) to some of these Mariners cards.

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