Seattle Mariners

Catchers & Infielders:

• C – Dan Wilson
• C – Cal Raleigh
• 1B – Alvin Davis
• 2B – Robinson Cano
• SS – J.P. Crawford
• 3B – Edgar Martinez (1B)
• CI – Kyle Seager (3B)
• 2B – Bret Boone
• SS – Omar Vizquel

Outfielders:

• LF – Ichiro Suzuki (RF)
• CF – Ken Griffey Jr.
• RF – Jay Buhner
• RF – Raúl Ibañez
• CF – Julio Rodriguez

Starting Pitchers: 

• SP – Randy Johnson
• SP – Felix Hernandez
• SP – Hisashi Iwakuma
• SP – Erik Hanson
• SP – George Kirby
• SP – Jamie Moyer

With every team, we started building their all-time 25-man and 40-man rosters by using the Hall of Fame as a starting point, figuring that a player enshrined in baseball’s immortal Hall would certainly qualify to make his team’s all-time roster.

Almost all the Hall of Fame members are easily identifiable with one team so it’s a simple way to start every roster with near-inarguable selections. And then there’s Randy Johnson…

While “The Big Unit” played for six different teams in his career, he didn’t spend too many years in Montreal (two years and just 11 appearances), Houston (11 starts after the 1998 trade deadline), New York (two seasons), or San Francisco (his final season, with just 17 starts).

Selecting his Eternal team really comes down to Seattle versus Arizona. It’s pretty clear that his best seasons came in Arizona, while his rise to fame and length of tenure favor Seattle. Here are the particulars (with advantages in BOLD):

Randy Johnson

Seattle: 9.5 years, 5 All-Star appearances, 1 Cy Young Award, 39 WAR, 3.42 ERA, 130 Wins, 51 CG, 2162 K, 19 SHO

Arizona: 8 years, 5 All-Star appearances, 4 Cy Young Awards, 52.6 WAR, 2.83 ERA, 118 Wins, 38 CG, 2077 K, 14 SHO + 1 World Series Title

It’s REALLY close – (maybe the toughest call to make on any one player) but we gave the edge to Seattle. Given that his Expos days are barely remembered, we all got to know Randy Johnson as a Mariner first.

He spent more seasons there and had more wins, complete games, strikeouts and shutouts there than he did in Arizona.

While we fully understand (I was living there during his early Diamondback days) his impact legitimizing the franchise as a free agent destination, the fact that his best seasons were in Arizona, and the joy the 2001 World Series win brought to a title-starved city, we still give the slightest of edges to Seattle.

This is a double-edged sword though, because the same parameters that make “The Big Unit” a Mariner also send Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees, Mark Langston to the Angels, and Adrian Beltre to the Rangers.

As with every team, we are trying to build an active roster with 13 position players and 12 pitchers, and then a 15-player inactive roster of guys who just missed the cut, but remain valuable as callups in case of slumps or injuries.

The 13 active position players are usually two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. The stats are built around the average of the player’s best three consecutive seasons.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame gives us a more than half of the Seattle roster. Cooperstown gives the Mariners Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. To build the rest of the roster, we use WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a great stat for looking at the all-around contribution to a team for both hitters and pitchers.

We get lots of help here, as in order we find: Ichiro Suzuki, Kyle Seager, Robinson Cano, Jay Buhner, Alvin Davis, Bret Boone, Mike Cameron, Harold Reynolds, Raul Ibanez, Dan Wilson, Phil Bradley, Julio Cruz, Franklin Gutierrez, Mitch Haniger, Omar Vizquel, Jose Lopez, Bruce Bochte, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Tino Martinez.

Because each team needs at least three catchers, Dave Valle gets some consideration as well.

Once plugged into the simulation software, we looked at their OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) and their defensive rankings and they break down like this:

CATCHER: Dan Wilson, Mike Zunino
FIRST BASE: Alvin Davis, Edgar Martinez (sometimes)
SECOND BASE: Robinson Cano, Bret Boone
SHORTSTOP: Omar Vizquel
THIRD BASE: Kyle Seager, Edgar Martinez (sometimes)
LEFT FIELD: Ichiro Suzuki, Raul Ibanez
CENTER FIELD: Ken Griffey Jr.
RIGHT FIELD: Jay Buhner, Phil Bradley

I can only imagine how many runs will get saved by a defensive unit that includes Omar Vizquel, Ichiro Suzuki, and Ken Griffey Jr.

That leave inactive roster options Harold Reynolds, Franklin Gutierrez, Tino Martinez, Kenji Johjima, Joey Cora, Mitch Haniger, Jose Lopez, Bruce Bochte, and Mike Cameron.

For the pitching staff we’re looking for six starters and six relievers. Bear in mind that across the whole game you will see dynamic, outstanding starting pitchers that can’t crack an all-time rotation but are better served as relievers on a team than sitting inactive.

Hall of Fame members are automatically on the roster so one seat is reserved for Randy Johnson. With 23 players on the roster, we are now looking to fill 17 pitcher slots.

Once we dug into the career WAR rankings (as a Mariner) we came up with these names: Felix Hernandez, Jamie Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Mike Moore, Hisashi Iwakuma, Erik Hanson, Jim Beattie, Floyd Bannister, James Paxton, Joel Pineiro, Matt Young, and Scott Bankhead. Outstanding relievers J.J. Putz, Jeff Nelson, Mike Schooler, Kaz Sasaki, and Edwin Diaz

We looked at their overall numbers in the simulation software and leaned heavily on ERA to come up with these designations:

STARTING ROTATION: Randy Johnson, Felix Hernandez, Hisahi Iwakuma, Jame Paxton, Jamie Moyer, Marco Gonzalez
RELIEVERS: Arthur Rhodes, Mick Schooler, Jeff Nelson, Kaz Sasaki
SET-UP: J.J. Putz
CLOSER: Edwin Diaz

The bullpen looks impressive, and I love the 1-2 punch of Randy Johnson and Felix Hernandez.

The inactive pitcher options are: Freddy Garcia, Mike Moore, Floyd Bannister, Jim Beattie, Scott Bankhead, and Erik Hanson.

So how did we do?

If the Mariners are your favorite squad you know them better than us. What did we get right? Where did we go wrong?

Are you comfortable with Edgar Martinez playing on the field a little more?

Is Edwin Diaz your choice at closer?

What batting order would you suggest versus lefties and righties?

Let us know in the forums below and if you make a compelling case we will adapt it in-game. We want every squad to be the best they possibly can be and appreciate your help fine-tuning the Mariners for Eternal Baseball.

Photo Credits:

• Seattle Mariners Game by terren in Virginia
• SoDo Mojo by Ian Sane
• Tigers @ Mariners by Dave Sizer
• Seattle Mariners – Opening Day 2009 by Chase N.