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5 former "Can't Miss" Mariners prospects that ended up doing just that
Discover the Mariners' top prospects who didn't live up to the hype. From Mike Zunino to Dustin Ackley, find out what went wrong to these highly touted players.
Over the past 2 decades, the Mariners have only made the playoffs once. While they have been close in several seasons, posting winning records while missing out, the Mariners have had losing seasons 12 of the past 20 seasons. They have had their fair share of top prospects over the years because of those losing seasons. Some of them panned out, most of them didn't. Some of those prospects were described as "Can't miss", and they still missed. Was it the player? The team? Coaching? A mix of all 3? Let's find out with our first entry.
5. Mike Zunino, Catcher
Yes, Mike Zunino has an 11-year career. It is hard to call him a bust, but did he live up to the hype of being a 3rd overall pick for the Mariners? No, he did not. Mike was rushed to the big leagues, and that did not do him any favors. He was drafted 3rd overall in the 2012 MLB Draft and made his Major League debut in June 2013. Mike was a fan favorite in Seattle, and for good reason. He had all of the power in the world and hit massive moonshots. Offensively speaking, that was about it, though.
Zunino's slash line as a Mariner was a dismal .207/.276/.406/.682 with an OPS+ of 87. The league average for OPS+ is 100, so Zunino was about 13% worse than a replacement-level player. He struck out in 33.5% of his plate appearances and walked in just 6.8% as a Mariner. That does not sound like a 3rd overall draft pick to me. Hindsight is 20/20, but who could the Mariners have taken with that pick instead of Zunino? Kevin Gausman, Carlos Correa, Max Fried, Corey Seager, and Mitch Haniger, just to name a few.
Zunino with a big fly to left to extend the Mariners lead in the 6th. Back-to-back seasons of 20+ home runs for Mike. #GoMariners pic.twitter.com/3DZG7H9eD1
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 23, 2018
The Mariners ended up trading Zunino to the Tampa Bay Rays for OFs Jake Fraley and Mallex Smith. Mike would go on to make his only All-Star appearance in 2021 with the Rays and even received MVP votes that season. Since then, though, it has been much of the same for Mike. He spent the first half of 2023 with the Guardians before being released in June, striking out 61 times in his 124 at-bats. As of writing this, he is still a free agent and is looking to play in 2024.
4. D.J. Peterson, 1B/3B
Next on our list is D.J. Peterson, who was drafted 12th overall in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Mariners. Peterson raked in his time at the University of New Mexico, hitting .408/.520/.807 with a 1.327 OPS. 2013 and 2014 were great for Peterson, hitting the ball hard and moving up prospect rankings. In 2014 alone, between A+ and AA, Peterson mashed 31 Home Runs, drove in 111 runs, and slashed .297/.360/.552 with a .912 OPS.
Unfortunately for Peterson, the production stopped in 2014. He bounced back and forth between AA and AAA and was ultimately designated for assignment by the Mariners in July of 2017. He spent time in the White Sox, Reds, and Rockies organizations before retiring from baseball in May of 2023. D.J. Peterson never made it to the show. Some notable players drafted after Peterson in 2013 include J.P. Crawford (16th), Aaron Judge (32nd), Devin Williams (54th and Cody Bellinger (124th).
D.J. TIMES THREE!!!
— Cleburne Railroaders (@CRRBaseball) August 26, 2021
Peterson becomes the first player in team history with three homers in a game! pic.twitter.com/hVhX6uIs6p
3. Alex Jackson, Catcher
Alex Jackson was the top prep bat to come out in the 2014 MLB Draft, and the Mariners selected him with the 6th overall pick. He was a catcher, but the Mariners viewed Jackson as an outfielder and drafted him as such. He was the 6th player from Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego to be drafted in the first round since 1995. Jackson was athletic enough to play the outfield and had a cannon of an arm worthy of playing Right Field.
The key problem for Jackson in a Mariners uniform was his bat. Jackson did not advance past A ball for the Mariners in his 3 years in Seattle. in those 3 seasons, he struck out 32.5 % of his ABs, while walking 10% of the time. He hit just .233 during this time, and ended up being traded to the Atlanta Braves in the offseason before the 2018 season. He actually made his MLB debut in 2019, going hitless in his 13 ABs. He has bounced around the league since, playing for the Marlins, Brewers and is now a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Jackson was a key miss for the Mariners, one that did former Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik in. 2014 would be the last draft before the Mariners fired Jack Z, and the M's would move on to hire Jerry Dipoto. While Jack may be blamed for drafting Jackson where he did, nearly every GM would have done the same thing. Jackson was the top high school bat in the entire draft. But hindsight being what it is, the Mariners could have used that pick to select Aaron Nola, Trea Turner, or Matt Chapman.
2. Danny Hultzen, LHP
The choice to put Hultzen at number 2 and not number 1 is because of all the "What ifs?" that comes with talking about Danny Hultzen. What if his shoulder didn't give out on him? What if the shoulder was repaired and he came back from it? What if he never got injured in the first place? What if the Mariners did not draft Hultzen at all? I could go on and on.
Danny Hultzen was the second overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft, just one spot behind Gerrit Cole. Hultzen was drafted out of the University of Virginia, and by all accounts, this was seen as a home run pick by the Mariners. His fastball was around 95 MPH, and had plus stuff to complement that fastball. He made it all the way up to AAA in his first minor league season, striking out 136 in just 124 innings. He also had a 3.05 ERA and a WHIP of 1.30. He had some major walk issues that season, walking 5.4 batters per 9 innings.
Danny Hultzen, White Castle Special. 🤢🍔🍔🍔 pic.twitter.com/Qxe2jYcOco
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 9, 2019
Then came the bad luck. Hultzen missed most of the 2013 season with a shoulder injury, and that would come to define his Mariners career. After the 2023 season, Hultzen had to have surgery to repair his torn rotator cuff and torn labrum, effectivlly ending his 2014 and 2015 seasons. While rehabing in 2016, Hutzen yet again suffered another injury to his throwing shoulder, ending his tenure for the Mariners. He took 2017 off to finish his college degree, before signing with the Chicago Cubs in 2018.
Hultzen was the last member of the 2011 draft class to make his Major League debut when he debuted for the Cubs. He pitched one inning, giving up just 1 hit and striking out 3. He would go on to make just 5 more appearances before being non-tendered by the Cubs in the next offseason. Then Covid happened, and he called it a career.
Danny Hultzen turned out to be a bust, but I do not like using that word with him. You can not hold his shoulder falling apart against him. When looking back, you wish the Mariners went in a different direction. You can not project injuries, and nobody saw that coming. Some players the Mariners could have drafted instead of Hultzen were Francisco Lindor, Jose Fernandez (R.I.P.), Sonny Gray, and Blake Snell.
1. Dustin Ackley, INF
Coming in at number 1, we have Dustin Ackley. Ackley was truly a "Can't miss" type of prospect. He was the first hitter drafted in the 2009 MLB Draft and was the second overall pick in the draft. He was a statistical monster in college for the University of North Carolina, leading the Tar Heels to a college national championship appearance. He was the runner-up for the Golden Spikes Award, the award given to the best College Baseball player each year. He lost to the eventual number 1 pick in the draft, Stephen Strasburg.
Ackley flew through the minors, making it to AAA Tacoma in his first year in the minors. Ackley debuted in The Show in 2011, and that only added to his hype. He hit .273/.348/.417/.766 in his rookie season. His OPS+ of 120 was the second-best for the 2011 Seattle Mariners, behind Mike Carp's(!!!) 125 OPS+. The future sure looked bright with Ackley manning second base for the foreseeable future.
It was only down hill from there. He would never have a 100+ OPS+ in his Mariners career again. For his career, he hit ,241/.304/.367/.671. His power never devoloped, and he quit hitting all together after the 2011 season. While he turned out to be a bust, it is hard to blame the front office for selecting him. He was the number 1 ranked hitter in this draft according to just about everyone covering the draft back then. That is kind of a hard take to defend, considering Mike Trout was drafted 25th overall in this very same draft.
These 5 players are some of the cautionary tales as to why it is important not to fall in love with prospects. When you are facing a rebuild, yeah, it is important to stock the farm with as many assets as you can find. When you are a team trying to compete, you have to have the best 26-man roster you can. Sometimes it is necessary to trade prospects to get better. Would you rather have a player who has the potential to be an all-star level player, or would you rather have the all-star player right now?
Try to keep that in mind when the Mariners move prospects we all like for guys who will help them compete in 2024. Yes, the shiny prospects are nice, but I would rather have a mid-pack farm system and a super competitive MLB team, than a top farm system and a middle of the road MLB team. As Always, Go Mariners!