All Time Mariners

All Time Mariners

               

                The Mariners came from the 1977 expansion, and didn’t find success until the mid-90s. In 2001 they won a record 116 games, although it didn’t lead to a ring. They have no World Series titles or AL pennants, but have three division titles and a wild card berth. The Mariners currently hold the longest playoff drought among the four major sports, which dates back to their record setting 2001 season. The Mariners do have three Hall of Famers in Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr, and you’ll notice all three in our Showdown team. They have some great players, although their team history of 28 losing seasons in 42 years does come through here.

           This Mariners line up is definitely not as strong as the previous two we’ve looked at, but definitely has power and speed. Although Ichiro has 9 OB, I think his chart and speed are way too important to not strut him out to lead it off. With 24 speed and only 2 outs, if he gets the advantage he is going to be hard to stop. I’m electing to slide Griffey into the 2-hole due to his speed, and wanting to get him as many at bats as possible. Edgar and A-Rod give him the ability to slide up due to their 10 OBs and ample power. Edgar gets the nod over A-Rod due to only having 2 outs on his chart and more doubles, but both are going to be in a position to drive in plenty of runs. 

           

Cano is probably going to see a few intentional walks due to the significant drop off, as having two 8 OBs knock this lineup down from being disgusting to just being good. Cano’s card is one of the best in the game among second basemen, and Olerud provides a similar card at 1B. One thing this lineup is undoubtedly great at is defense, with every single player adding to the team total. Both 8 OBs provide upside with Lampkin’s +9 arm, and Buhner’s 5 HR chart. McLemore rounds out the lineup with a 9 OB, good speed and solid fielding. This lineup will do enough to support the team most days, although it’s not going to be strong enough to absolutely dominate at all times. Their pitching is really Randy Johnson and then everyone else. Johnson’s card is absolutely dominant and can hopefully carry them. With 5 Control, 7 IP, 17 to get on base and no doubles, he provides the fire power to keep them ahead. Garcia backs him up with a more traditional card in 5 control, 16 outs, walk, two singles and a double chart with 7 IP. They drop off from there, although due to the bullpen’s lack of numbers and weaknesses, we’re going to rock the 6 man rotation. 

Moyer, Sele, Abbot and Halama provide decent cards that won’t often hold the other teams scoreless, but might be able to do well enough that the offense can outscore the other team. Moyer only has 3 Control but makes up for it with 19 to get on base. Sele and Abbott rock identical 4 Control, 16 outs, 1 BB/2 1B/1 2B charts over 6 innings which should be usable. Halama is getting added in here due to there not being enough relievers to build a full bullpen, and his card being better than any of them. Having 7 IP will help too, as they are short on arms. Rhodes leads the way in the bullpen with an unspectacular, but solid 6 Control, 16 out, walk/2 singles/double chart. Although not the traditional dominant closer card, he will be able to get out of most innings without too much damage. Nelson also provides a 6 Control, although only 15 outs and a double. In most cases even when you’re getting the advantage you’re going to be giving up a hit with this bullpen. The trick will be limiting it to one. 

Overall this team won’t stack up in the Giants or Dodgers category, but they have a very good lineup and just enough in their pitching that they can make a run with good rolling and a break in their direction every now and then. Their lineup will undoubtedly be a ton of fun to play with, and with some smart base running, good defense and with the Big Unit eating innings, this team just might surprise some people. I still have three spots left, and since the pitching options are limited, we’re going to add to the hitting options. Unfortunately Nelson Cruz’s 2017AS card doesn’t quality, as that would be a great card to add to the lineup. Brett Boone’s card is at the top, and he’d only really be used to pinch hit for one of the bottom three in the lineup. Mike Cameron and Kyle Seager are the next two up, who provide solid, if unspectacular options. Cameron technically slots in with a higher speed than Griffey and Seager provides extra defense over McLemore, although I'd be hard pressed to give Cameron a lot of time over Griffey. Seager might see the most time, as I’d be tempted to platoon him with McLemore due to his fielding and great chart. Regardless, these guys add a tiny bit of value, although not enough to warrant constant time.

There's no Kyle Seager card, so here's my rough abomination...soon enough I'll start making my own cards legitimately.

                   The lineup clocks in at 3,660 points, the bench at a respectable 1,160, rotation at 3,130 with 6 men, and the bullpen at 1,110 for a total of 9,060. This will be a bit on the lower side, although still shows that there is a lot of talent here that can do damage. 

Hitters

SP

RP

A-Rod takes three out of the top four spots with his ‘00/’96/’98 seasons, with Griffey’s ’93 slipping in there. Bret Boone is a surprise at #5 overall with his 2001 season in which he slashes .331/.372/.578 and had 206 hits, 37 HRs, 141 RBIs and 118 runs. Then it’s Griffey ’97, Edgar’s ‘95/’92, Griffey again in ’98,’96,’91 and Martinez in ’96. Boone again pops up in ’03, Cano in ‘14/’16 and more of Griffey, Edgar and Martinez. Ichiro tops out in ’01, then in ’04. Dan Wilson’s All-Star ’96 season would probably knock off Lampkin, in which he slashed .285/.330/.444 with 140 hits, 18 HRs, 83 RBIs, and 51 runs. Zunino’s 2017 might also do the trick, to the tune of .251/.331/.509 with 97 hits, 25 HRs, and 64 RBIs. None of the catcher seasons are that spectacular, and from an offensive standpoint we seem to cover all the top Mariners' single season performances. For pitching, The Big Unit’s ’97 season is tops, followed by his ’95 season. Surprisingly, there are no Felix Hernandez cards, and his 2010 season tied Hisashi Iwakuma’s 2013 year as the 3^rd best season in Mariners history. King Felix’s Cy Young season came with a 13-12 record, though with a 2.27 ERA, 249.2 IP, 232 Ks, 174 ERA+, and 1.057 WHIP. Hisashi’s 2013 record was 14-6 with 219.2 IP, 185 Ks, 2.66 ERA, 138 ERA+ and a 1.006 WHIP. Jamie Moyer’s ’99 season was better than the 2001 card we see, and with Mike Moore’s ’85 and Mark Langston’s ’87 cards we’d have the best rotation possible. In the bullpen Edwin Diaz’s 2018 card hopefully will be out soon, and with Rodney’s 2014 and JJ Putz’s 2007 we would have added depth to this bullpen that is direly needed. Most of these cards are coming from their dominant times in the mid-90s/early 2000s, with a few other years sprinkled in.