Every First Round pick in the History of the Seattle Mariners

The Mariners have seemed to turn a corner in the draft process, taking players with good pedigrees and high ceilings in the MLB draft. Shoot, they're doing pretty well in the International Draft as well, but that's a story for a different day.

There are plenty of avenues you can take when looking at drafts. First round, busts, best picks, etc. For today, I wanted to look at just the first round picks that the Mariners have taken in their ~45 years as a Franchise.

Further than that, I wanted to break it down by GM. I figured this would give a good glimpse into history, and a bit of an insight into the different draft strategies that the Mariners have held depending on who was at the helm. A GM plays a massive part in the development and success of a team, especially in baseball. Getting a young superstar can change the path of a team. Missing for multiple years in a row can set you askew for a decade.

Who do you think has done the best in the first round throughout the history of the Mariners? It's easy to skew towards the present, but let's check back and see if it's actually true by looking at every first-round pick in the history of the Seattle Mariners. Oh, and as an added bonus, I'll throw a grade to each GM at the end of each slide.

Once last thing. You might need a trash can nearby for this. A lot of these names are not good. Especially when it's limited to their time with the 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.

Hal Keller: Mariners GM 1981-85

Again we have a GM starting off their tenure with a good pick. In Keller's case, it was actually a great pick. Moore was a stud for quite a while for the Mariners, putting up some really good seasons before leaving to the Athletics. He's still one of the better players the Mariners have ever taken in the first round, and it's not close... yet.

Bill Swift worked out well also, playing serviceably for 7 seasons for the Mariners. He got good at the end of his tenure there, before leaving to the Giants and dominating, finishing second in Cy Young voting in 1993.

Other than a nice little Spike Owen season, it was bad. A couple of guys never made it, and others didn't play well. Nailing the first-round pick in his first year nets a good grade for Keller, and I give him a solid B here.

Dick Balderson: Mariners GM 1986-88

This is by far the weirdest one. Why? Becuase Scott Burrell decided not to play for the Mariners, went back and played college ball, got picked by the Jays and played two years in the minors there, then went and played in the NBA for 8 seasons.

Man, to be that athletic.

Speaking of athletic, Balderson took Griffey. It was a no-brainer and a no-doubter pick, but the important part is that he didn't screw it up. He took the right person. He followed it up with Tino, and we got to see some great work from him before he left for the Evil Empire. Watching the Martinez's was a lot of fun, and it ended up being a darn good pick.

A. Baldy gets an A. Could I give him an A+? Possibly. He drafted two skunks and a basketball player though, so I'm going to leave it at an A.

Woody Woodward: Mariners GM 1989-99

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.

Bill Bavasi: Mariners GM 2003-08

Is this the saddest one? At least Adam Jones went and did something (well, a lot) for Baltimore. The same can't really be said for these guys.

Brandon Morrow and Josh Fields had good runs as releivers for a while, having an impact over multiple seasons on good teams. While they are definitely a piece that you would want on your team, it isn't something that you are hoping to get out of the 5th pick and the 20th pick.

With Clement, he was supposed to be this big stick catcher, but never amounted to anything. Even after he left Seattle. The same with Aumont, as he was traded before touching the mound in Seattle. He would go on to throw four limited seasons early in his career.

This one is easy. It's an F for Bavasi. No doubt about it. Gross.

Oh, and he traded Jones. F-

Jack Zduriencik - Mariners GM 2009-2015

I think a lot of people forget that Ackley was actually decent. Yeah, he fell off after a couple of years instead of building on it, which I know is what we were all hoping would happen, but he still had a decent little run. Shoot, at 7.7 WAR, he's actually T-4th for the most WAR produced as a first-rounder while on the Mariners.

Right behind him is Mike Zunino, who had to have been the closest to figuring out an MVP level of play that I can remember. When he came back after being called down, he finished the last 100 Games of the 2017 season with a slash line of .270/.349/.571 with 25 HR and 20 2B. Those numbers for a full season? Oh buddy, that would be nice. Instead, he forgot how to hit, went to Tampa, and became an All-Star. Yay.

Walker was pretty good, and they used him to get Haniger and Jean Segura, who they used to get Crawford. So, even though there is hardly any WAR there, thats a good pick too.

Hultzen had big-time injury problems. Actually made it up in 2019 with the Cubs and threw 3.1 scoreless innings, and hasn't thrown since. Peterson is still playing, currently in AA looking to break into the bigs for the first time. Jackson has been in the bigs off and on since 2019 with the Braves and Brewers.

Ackley at 2nd and Zunino at 3rd still isn't good enough though, especially with all those zeros outside of them. C- for Jack Z.

Jerry Dipoto - Mariners GM 2015-2022
Justin Hollander - Oct 2022-Present

Do you know what's crazy? In just two years, say, walking into the 2025 season, we could be looking at the 4th and 5th best first-round picks EVER for the Mariners in Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. With how they've looked, it doesn't seem like a crazy thought. If either gets above Mike Moore at 17.8, they become the greatest first-round draft pick pitcher in Mariners history. That's so bizarre.

Dipoto and crew have been doing a good job. Lewis won ROY before injuries derailed him and led to his eventual trade to the Diamondbacks. The Evan White pick stands out as a rough one, as he has also been dealing with potentially career-defining injuries. Just 26, he still has a chance to have a full career.

Hancock looks to be healthy. Ford is a monster athlete we rarely see at catcher. Young has a great hit tool. The great unknown is how they perform in the bigs. With three more picks coming up in this years draft, Dipoto and Hollander have a massive opportunity to find gold here and really improve the future of this team and keep that window open down the line.

They get two grades for this. TBD, because it's too soon to know. But with how the industry feels about these guys and what they've done so far, I give them an A-.

Well, there it is. A full round-up and wrap-up of every first-round pick that the Mariners have made, and the GMs that made the pick. Fingers crossed that from Gilbert forward keep performing, and truly make this a special group for the Seattle Mariners.