Every First Round pick in the History of the Seattle Mariners

Sports Contributor Archive 2019
Sports Contributor Archive 2019 | Ron Vesely/GettyImages
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Woody Woodward: Mariners GM 1989-99

Player

Year

Pick

Years

WAR

Marc Newfield (1B)

1990

6th

3

-0.8

Anthony Manahan (SS)

1990

38th

0

0

Shawn Estes (LHP)

1991

11th

0

0

Ron Villone (LHP)

1992

14th

3

1.0

Alex Rodriguez (SS)

1993

1st

7

38.1

Jason Varitek (C)

1994

14th

0

0

Jose Cruz Jr (OF)

1995

3rd

1

1.6

Gil Meche (RHP)

1996

22nd

6

6.7

Ryan Anderson (LHP)

1997

19th

0

0

Matt Thornton (LHP)

1998

22nd

2

0.4

Ryan Christenson (C)

1999

11th

0

0

Jeff Heaverlo (RHP)

1999

33rd

0

0

If not for Alex Rodriguez, this would be a really bad list. Out of the 12 picks, 6 of them never played in the majors for the Mariners. Another did for a single season, while another had a negative WAR. All in all, you have 15 seasons with a 8.7 WAR, which is largely because of Gil Meche. (I really liked him)

Meche pitched six years for the Mariners, compiling a 4.65 ERA (league average was about 4.47), before leaving for the Royals. He deealt with shoulder injuries throughout his career, and it put a hamper on what otherwise would've been a long run as a middle to back end starter.

Manahan never made it above AAA. Traded Estes to the Giants where he had a good start to his career. We actually drafted Villone, although most remember him in the mid-2000s with the Mariners. Anderson never made it above AAA. Christenson played 7 MLB seasons. Heaverlo never made it above AAA.

Then... Arod. Dude was a monster, like something baseball hadn't seen since players left to go fight in the War. Unfortunately, there was a reason for it, and it needles me to this day. Still, it was the right pick, and a big reason for success in Seattle. I'm giving Wood Wood a B.

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