The Seattle Mariners joined the American League in 1977, 8 years after the Seattle Pilots had their 1-season run in the American League1. The Mariners have had limited success in their time, being still the only currently existing franchise to never reach the World Series. However, the Mariners do hold the record for regular-season wins, having obtained 116 wins in 2001.
The Starting Rotation
Félix Hernández (2005-2019, 2729.2 IP, 169 W, 2524 K, 3.42 ERA, 117 ERA+) — One of the greatest pitchers of the 21st century.
Randy Johnson (1989-1998, 1838.1 IP, 130 W, 2162 K, 3.42 ERA, 128 ERA+)
Jamie Moyer (1996-2006, 2093 IP, 145 W, 1239 K, 3.97 ERA, 112 ERA+)
Freddie García (1999-2004, 1096.1 IP, 76 W, 819 K, 3.89 ERA, 114 ERA+) — Though he’s not the first pitcher to be listed from the 2001 squad, I always envisioned him as the premier Mariners pitcher of the era between Randy and Félix, and he slots in nicely. Moyer was always more of a supporting role. Both are deserving.
Mark Langston (1984-1989, 1197.2 IP, 74 W, 1078 K, 4.01 ERA, 107 ERA+) — The ERA is getting a bit high, but it’s still a boatload of above-average innings. Arguably links behind Randy to form a chain of 4 starters representing aces for over 3 decades.
The Core Five Relievers
There’s not a lot to say about these guys. They just put up the best numbers.2
J.J. Putz (2003-2008, 323 IP, 101 S, 337 K, 3.07 ERA, 143 ERA+)
Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000-2003, 223.1 IP, 129 S, 242 K, 3.14 ERA, 138 ERA+)
Edwin Díaz (2016-2018, 191 IP, 109 S, 301 K, 2.64 ERA, 156 ERA+)
Andrés Muñoz (2021-present, 236.1+ IP, 77+ S, 324+ K, 2.28 ERA, 166 ERA+)
Mike Jackson (1988-1991; 1996, 436.2 IP, 383 K, 3.38 ERA, 125 ERA+)
Three More Pitchers
Erik Hanson (1988-1993, 967.1 IP, 56 W, 740 K, 3.69 ERA, 111 ERA+) — Nothing flashy, just good, reliable innings for six seasons. One of the iconic Mariners.
Hisashi Iwakuma (2012-2017, 883.2 IP, 63 W, 714 K, 3.42 ERA, 111 ERA+) — Honestly very similar to Hanson in my mind, for a younger generation. Only pitched 6 seasons in MLB, all with Seattle.
Jeff Nelson (1992-2005, 447.1 IP, 471 K, 3.26 ERA, 134 ERA+) — Going with a second setup reliever may be a bit controversial, but I think he’s the clear pick.
Now for the batters.
The Starting Nine
C: Cal Raleigh (2021-present, 489+ H, 153+ HR, .226/.314/.484, 127 OPS+) — Normally you don’t want a career .226 hitter, but I have confidence he’ll get better — his 2025 season was almost an MVP-winning season3, and he’s the clear choice anyway with the options available to us.
1B: Alvin Davis (1984-1991, 1163 H, 160 HR, .281/.381/.453, 128 OPS+)
2B: Robinson Canó (2014-2018, 821 H, 107 HR, .296/.353/.472, 129 OPS+)
3B: Kyle Seager (2011-2021, 1395 H, 242 HR, .251/.321/.442, 112 OPS+)
SS: Alex Rodríguez (1994-2000, 966 H, 189 HR, 133 SB, .309/.374/.561, 138 OPS+)
LF: Jay Buhner (1988-2001, 1255 H, 307 HR, .255/.360/.497, 125 OPS+) — Played considerably more right field than left field, but defensive quality and priorities will shift him to left, as he does deserve to start in this outfield. Would be the backup in right.
CF: Ken Griffey Jr. (1989-1999; 2009-2010, 1843 H, 417 HR, 167 SB, .292/.374/.553, 144 OPS+)
RF: Ichiro Suzuki (2001-2012; 2018-2019, 2542 H, 99 HR, 438 SB, .321/.365/.416, 113 OPS+) — Ichiro joined MLB at 28 years old after several seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and still accumulated over 2500 hits in the majors! Ichiro will also be the backup in center field.
DH: Edgar Martínez (1987-2004, 2247 H, 309 HR, .312/.417/.515, 147 OPS+) — The iconic Hall of Fame designated hitter. He can also play third base and will be the backup.
The Bench
C Dan Wilson (1994-2005, 1071 H, .262/.309/.384, 80 OPS+) — There aren’t many good options to back up the Big Dumper, but racking up over 1000 hits as a catcher isn’t easy and has to count for something.
2B Bret Boone (1992-1993; 2001-2005, 863 H, 143 HR, .271/.336/.478, 116 OPS+) — His 2001 season is a candidate for the greatest season by a second baseman in the expansion era, and a big part of why the Mariners won 116 games that year.
SS J.P. Crawford (2019-present, 797+ H, .250/.341/.369, 104 OPS+)
1B/OF Raul Ibañez (1996-2000; 2004-2008; 2013, 1077 H, 156 HR, .279/.371/.466, 115 OPS+) — Ibañez can play both corner outfield spots as well as first base. This bench is set up to cover everyone.
Our Guest
We’re finally back into the realm of having guests!
Preston Pack is here with us for a second time, having been with us previously in our opener about the Angels, to provide their take on the Mariners all-time team.
Starting Rotation: The top three starters are incredibly obvious and are the same. Preston also has Mark Langston at #4.
Logan Gilbert (2021-present, 835.1+ IP, 884+ K, 3.58 ERA, 107 ERA+) — “There are quite a few starts you could defensibly fill out the back end of this rotation with. My instinct, personally, was that the best pitcher of the Mariners’ modern era should be on here somewhere—others arguably have better numbers, but there’s value in having a traditional ace. Gilbert, who leads the team in fWAR, bWAR, and innings in the 2020s, is the clear pick.”
Core Relievers: We have the same five relievers at the core of the bullpen4.
Extra Pitchers: We both agree Erik Hanson should be on this roster. Preston carries just 12 pitchers.
Mike Moore (1982-1988, 1457 IP, 66 W, 937 K, 4.38 ERA, 97 ERA+) — “Moore’s numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page—he had a 4.39 ERA and just one winning season in Seattle—but he pitched nearly 1500 innings across seven seasons, placing him fourth in team history. His 1985 campaign, which earned him a tenth-place finish in the Cy Young vote, was also the best single-season bWAR by a Mariners pitcher until Randy Johnson hit his stride in the mid-1990s.”
The Starting Nine: 8 of the starting 9 are a consensus.
LF: Julio Rodríguez (2022-present, 654+ H, 112+ HR, 116+ SB, .274/.331/.469, 130 OPS+) — “It’s tough to measure Julio’s impact—he’s only been in the majors for four seasons, but he’s also on a Hall of Fame trajectory and has been the heart of one of the best eras in franchise history. It’d be hard to tell the story of the Mariners without him, and that on its own goes a long way, but in my opinion there’s also a much simpler way to settle the debate: regardless of his incomplete career, he already has the eighth-most fWAR ever by a Seattle hitter. To me, that’s enough to make it an easy call.”5
The Bench: With Buhner not starting, Preston adds him to the bench. Bret Boone and J.P. Crawford are also on both benches.
C Mike Zunino (2013-2018, 391 H, 95 HR, .207/.276/.406, 89 OPS+) — “Cal Raleigh is an obvious pick for the roster, but the choice of backup catcher mainly comes down to two men: current M’s manager Dan Wilson, who played twelve seasons and over 1200 games in Seattle but never hit above league average, and Mike Zunino, who only played six seasons with the Mariners but was a moderately better hitter. Defense seems like a decent tiebreaker here, and while Wilson’s was good, Zunino’s metrics are a bit better.”
1B John Olerud (2000-2004, 709 H, .285/.388/.439, 121 OPS+) — “Olerud’s time in Seattle was somewhat limited, but it was excellent: three Gold Gloves, an All-Star season, 17.1 bWAR, and 15.1 fWAR. He also played a key role as the everyday first baseman for the 116-win 2001 team.”
Thanks again to Preston for contributing to the project — twice!
We’re almost done with this project. it’s been a fun ride and I really appreciate the contributors! Just two left!
The Pilots then moved to Milwaukee to start the 1970 season.
This is pretty common theme with the relievers, and might explain in part why this sort of project isn’t the most common. Maybe I’m just copping out here, but there’s only so much you can say about relievers. It’s not often you get iconic or memorable relief pitchers, and usually it really is just a case of efficiently getting outs for a decent length of time.
I actually think he should have won it, because I think it’s actually reasonable that it should be harder to win it multiple times, and while Judge’s season was better in a vacuum, Raleigh’s season was rarer and I think that was worthy of special recognition. 60 home runs from a catcher is something we’ll probably never see again, unless it’s another Cal Raleigh season. Prior to 2025, no catcher had ever hit 50 home runs in a season, let alone 60.
Preston’s order is Díaz, Sasaki, Muñoz, Jackson, and Putz.
I will note that if I had gone for a 12-pitcher squad myself, Julio would’ve been the next added batter, without question. It was the necessity of covering positions, really, that limited my choices. As it is, I think Julio passes Buhner in a year or two.—Nick