Best duos in Seattle Mariners history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Seattle Mariners history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 1992 Seattle Mariners
- Edgar Martinez: 6.5 WAR (#10 position player in 1992)
- Dave Fleming: 5.1 WAR (#19 pitcher in 1992)
- Total: 11.6 WAR
#9. 1994 Seattle Mariners
- Ken Griffey Jr.: 6.9 WAR (#3 position player in 1994)
- Randy Johnson: 5.5 WAR (#5 pitcher in 1994)
- Total: 12.4 WAR
#8. 2009 Seattle Mariners
- Franklin Gutierrez: 6.6 WAR (#12 position player in 2009)
- Felix Hernandez: 5.9 WAR (#13 pitcher in 2009)
- Total: 12.5 WAR
#7. 2014 Seattle Mariners
- Robinson Canó: 6.3 WAR (#10 position player in 2014)
- Felix Hernandez: 6.4 WAR (#5 pitcher in 2014)
- Total: 12.7 WAR
#6. 2000 Seattle Mariners
- Alex Rodriguez: 10.4 WAR (#1 position player in 2000)
- Paul Abbott: 2.6 WAR (#64 pitcher in 2000)
- Total: 13 WAR
#5. 2001 Seattle Mariners
- Bret Boone: 8.8 WAR (#4 position player in 2001)
- Freddy Garcia: 4.2 WAR (#22 pitcher in 2001)
- Total: 13 WAR
#4. 1998 Seattle Mariners
- Alex Rodriguez: 8.5 WAR (#1 position player in 1998)
- Jamie Moyer: 5.6 WAR (#10 pitcher in 1998)
- Total: 14.1 WAR
#3. 1993 Seattle Mariners
- Ken Griffey Jr.: 8.8 WAR (#2 position player in 1993)
- Randy Johnson: 6.6 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1993)
- Total: 15.4 WAR
#2. 1995 Seattle Mariners
- Edgar Martinez: 7 WAR (#4 position player in 1995)
- Randy Johnson: 8.6 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1995)
- Total: 15.6 WAR
#1. 1997 Seattle Mariners
- Ken Griffey Jr.: 9.1 WAR (#3 position player in 1997)
- Randy Johnson: 8 WAR (#4 pitcher in 1997)
- Total: 17.1 WAR
