Every First Round pick in the History of the Seattle Mariners

Richard Vertlieb: Mariners GM 1977-1978
Lou Gorman: Mariners GM 1979-1980

Hey, look at that Dave Henderson. A 7.7 WAR and he played a handful of years for the Mariners. That's a great start for a franchise to see out of their very first pick. He stayed with the Mariners for a while before leaving and then would come back after retirement to announce for a while. Many people are familiar with "Hendu", and I bet some of the younger fans might even be surprised to learn he was the "first" Mariners player.

After that, well it was pretty bad. None of those guys really did anything for the Mariners, and their next pick, Tito Nanni, never made it to the majors. Chambers and Coles played a bit for the Mariners, but were negative players before moving on.

Still, a 7.7 from Hendu? Anyone would want to take that for the start to their franchise, especially back in the late 70s. I think we would give Gorman a decent grade here. He hit on Henderson, and Chambers and Coles at least played. I'm giving him a C+... which should give you some idea of what is about to come throughout the rest of this franchise.