From Venezuela, Freddy Garcia burst on to the scene as a rookie with the Mariners in 1999, where he went 17-8 with 170 Strikeouts and was the runner-up to the Rookie of the Year to Carlos Beltran. This had to hurt the Houston Astros, who had traded him five years in the Randy Johnson trade after they drafted him as an Amateur Free Agent.
Robinson Cano would sign with the Seattle Mariners after spending his first nine seasons with the New York Yankees, where he went to five All-Star Games and won a World Series in 2009. Cano was past 30, but still had plenty left to offer the baseball fans of the Emerald City.
When learning that his son (erroneously) was dead from George Steinbrenner, Frank Costanza’s first response was:
“What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for? He had 30 Home Runs, over 100 RBIs last year! He’s got a rocket for an arm! You don’t know what the hell you’re doing!”
Kyle Seager was a Seattle Mariner for the entirety of his eleven seasons, and though he was not a superstar, he was a steady presence in a period when Seattle needed it.