A-Rod was the first overall pick in 1993, and he would see action as an 18-year old for the Mariners. Seattle had something special, so they allowed him to spend more time in the minors to play every day, and in 1995, he was set to be their everyday Shortstop. In that first full season in the Pacific Northwest, Rodriguez would lead the American League in Runs Scored (141), Doubles (54), and would win the Batting Title with a .358 Average. Rodriguez was named an All-Star, won the Silver Slugger, and would blast 36 Home Runs. He was also the runner-up for the MVP.
A-Rod regressed in 1997, though was still an All-Star with a .300 Batting Average with 23 Home Runs. The young Shortstop had a much better 1998, leading the AL in Hits (213) and blasting 42 Home Runs with 124 RBIs. Even more impressively, he would lead the AL in bWAR, and he was also a 40-40 player, as he swiped 46 bases. Rodriguez again had 42 Home Runs in 1998, an even more astounding feat considering he only played in 129 Games.
Rodriguez had one more season with the Mariners, again with a 40 Home Run campaign (41), a first place finish in bWAR, and a third place finish in MVP voting. This year would also be his fourth and final All-Star as a Mariner.
While Rodriguez is often criticized for lack of playoff success, in his three full series with the Mariners, he batted over .300 in each of them. Overall as a Mariner, A-Rod had 189 Home Runs with a Slash Line of .309/.374/.561.
As we know, he would become far more controversial, but was also a multi-time MVP, and based on advanced metrics, and he should have earned at least one in Seattle.
Comments powered by CComment