By Bill Knudsen
So, who is the Next Mariners Superstar? In the late ’90s, there was no question who the face of the Mariners was. Junior Griffey, with his sweet swing and his backward hat, was synonymous with Seattle. During the early 2000s, Edgar was nearing the end of his career with a bang.
The mid-late 2000’s, Ichiro iconic routines in the batter’s box turned families around the globe into Mariners fans. After winning the Cy Young in 2010, Felix Hernandez dominated his opponents on the mound. From 2015 to the end of last season, Nelson Cruz and his towering blasts sent fans into a frenzy.
Now, as the Mariners enter a new phase in their history, the question begs to be asked: Who is the next superstar of the Seattle Mariners?
Obviously, that player may not even be in the organization yet. But, that’s no fun. So, looking at both current Mariners as well as the farm system, a few candidates do stand out.
First off, Seattle’s starting shortstop J.P Crawford. Crawford came over in a deal with Philadelphia that sent Jean Segura, James Pazos, and Juan Nicasio to the Phillies. In return, the Mariners got a 24-year-old shortstop with fewer than 200 at-bats. After injuries soured the Phillies on Crawford, they became willing to move him and he ended up with the retooling Mariners.
This year, Crawford has a 1.3 bWAR while hitting .247/.333/.406 with four home runs in 60 games. He struggled mightily in July, hitting just .167 for the month but is aided by his .338 performance in June.
He still has plenty of work to do against lefties, hitting .167 on the season against southpaws with only one extra-base hit. Crawford has plenty of time to improve before the Mariners plan to contend again.
Obviously, I cant write an article without mentioning Daniel Vogelbach, so I’ll keep it short. Vogey is just 25 years old and leads the Mariners in home runs with 26. He was the Mariners only All-Star and should be able to lock down the DH spot for years to come.
Similar to Crawford, Daniel also needs some work against left-handed pitchers, but at least he is actually getting a chance to face them now.
Down on the farm, the possibilities are abundant. Cal Raleigh, Kyle Lewis, Justin Dunn, and Evan White are all solid options but I’m going to focus on three that really stand out to me.
Logan Gilbert, who is in his first pro season, is setting the world on fire in the minor leagues. The 22-year-old has already made his way to AA Arkansas after posting an ERA below 2.00 in both Modesto and West Virginia. He has struck out 130 hitters in just 109 innings among the three levels, and while his 3.80 ERA in AA doesn’t stand out nearly as much as his two previous stops, it won’t dissuade anyone from ranking him on the top end of the Mariners’ prospects list.
He is the epitome of the M’s “Control the Zone” mantra, having only walked 25 batters over those 109 innings. As Arkansas’ season draws to a close, Gilbert will be showing his talent in the postseason, along with a rotation that includes Justin Dunn, Ricardo Sanchez, and Justus Sheffield. Speaking of Sheffield…
After being acquired in a deal that sent James Paxton to New York, Sheffield seemed to be the future ace of the Mariners. He posted amazing numbers in spring training, but was sent down to AAA Tacoma due to a lack of rotation spots.
There, he struggled, like everyone else has in the PCL, and eventually got demoted to AA Arkansas. where he has posted a 1.49 ERA while striking out 71 hitters in 66 innings. Sheffield is still just 23 years old and is now facing hitters his age. It’s very likely that we will see him in a Mariners uniform before seasons end in the September call-ups.
After he was traded to Seattle, many began tagging him as more of a reliever, which oddly always seems to happen when the Yankees trade away a prospect… Anyways, Sheffield has a chance to lead a starting rotation that is desperate for talent in the coming years.
Looking to another trade that came from New York, Jared Kelenic seems to be the leading candidate for the newest Mariners superstar role. In 2019, he has hit .297/.373/.531 with 16 home runs, between West Virginia and Modesto.
He is just 20 years old and has dealt with a few injuries but that hasn’t stopped him from leaving his mark on the Mariners organization. He is one of many outfield prospects in the Mariners system and certainly one of the most prominent. While he may not make the big league club straight out of spring training in 2020, he has a chance to make his debut later in the season. He is a massive part of the Mariners plan for contention by 2021.
Of course, there are also players such as Julio Rodriguez and Noelvi Marte, who still are in the lower end of the minors, which makes their timelines a little harder to predict. Of course, if none of the others hit, these two are not a bad fallback plan, or even the superstar after the next one.
For now, though, I think Jarred Kelenic is the most likely to end up amongst the lineage of Griffey, Edgar, Felix and Ichiro in Mariners lore. Seattle fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming years, even if the current state of the team doesn’t inspire much confidence.
Expectations for the rest of the 2019 season. The Mariners came as advertised this year; tons of dingers, suspect pitching and historically bad defense. After the smoke-and-mirrors of their 13-2 start to the season, they’ve been a chore of a team to watch. I’ve seen a lot of bad Mariners teams over the years, and this has been by far one of the worst clubs to have ever taken the field on the corner of Edgar and Dave.
Even then, I’m not disappointed. Those directly involved with the team outright said what their intentions were this year—to take a step-back in order to build something more than just a second wild card contender. From John Stanton to Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners warned its fanbase: Don’t expect much from the big league club this year.
Down in the minors, nearly everything the Mariners needed to go right this year did. At the Major League level, Dipoto was able to deal Jay Bruce, Edwin Encarnación, and some of the other veterans he had taken on in the offseason to offload some of the organization’s more lucrative and restricting contracts, while seeing great strides being made by J.P. Crawford and Omar Narváez on the field.
For as much as the Mariners have failed on the field this year, the first phase of their ultimate plan has been a roaring success.
Now, we’re on the cusp of the moment we’ve all been waiting for. A little more than three weeks remain until rosters expand to 40, which means a small glimpse into the future. You may not get to see everyone immediately, especially those who may come directly from Double-A Arkansas, who’ve already clinched a spot in the playoffs. But at the very latest, fans should expect to see the likes of Justus Sheffield, Kyle Lewis, Sam Delaplane, and Justin Dunn take the field at T-Mobile Park by mid-September, if Arkansas is fortunate enough to make a deep run.
Two bigger names that should be up before then, and perhaps before September 1, are Jake Fraley and Shed Long. Both are currently nursing injuries but should be in line for a call-up by the time they return to full health. Long has already spent a couple of stints with Seattle’s Major League club, but the logjam created by Crawford, Dee Gordon, Tim Beckham, and Kyle Seager in the infield led to the Mariners (correctly) sending Long back down to see more consistent playing time.
With Beckham’s suspension, Long may take his place as the team’s supplemental left fielder and utility infielder for the final month of the season. Even with Gordon expected to return from a quad injury soon, Scott Servais should be able to find ways to get Long in the lineup most nights.
Gordon isn’t the only one set to return from an injury, however, with Mitch Haniger and Braden Bishop also close to making their rehab assignments. It’ll be interesting to see how Servais divvies up the playing time in the outfield once they return, especially if they plan on calling up Fraley and Lewis as well. One would assume that Haniger and Mallex Smith will likely play nearly every day, while the final spot cycles through the trio of Bishop, Fraley, and Lewis, with Keon Broxton and maybe someone like Ian Miller sprinkled in there as well.
The bullpen will be the most interesting group, however, as there’s a laundry list of names who could realistically be called up. You could make a legitimate case for pretty much every single pitcher in Arkansas right now, and surely a couple should find their way to Seattle at some point in September. There’s also Taylor Guilbeau, whom the Mariners acquired from the Nationals at the deadline, and is currently throwing for Triple-A Tacoma.
As for the current major-league unit, perhaps Anthony Bass and Brandon Brennan can enhance their trade stock heading into the offseason with extended roles. Brennan just returned from injury, but had such great success to start the season that he’ll hopefully build upon to close things out. We also know that teams already had interest in Bass at the deadline, so if he does well in his new role as the team’s de facto closer, that could be something to keep an eye on.
Trade stock is something to keep in mind for Dee Gordon and Domingo Santana as well. Can both stay healthy and finish the year out strong? That would do wonders for Dipoto’s hopes of finding a deal for those two, which is likely at the top of his list heading into the offseason.
At the very least, in the next few weeks, the Mariners should be the most talented they’ve been all year. Hopefully they get on a little bit of a run and create some fun memories as they look to establish a culture moving forward.
To wrap things up, yes, the Mariners have been tough to watch, but I implore you to stay with it. The 2019 Mariners, for better or worse, are that one terrible movie you watch just for the epic five-minute action scene at the end. Even at 48-68, some 27.5 games out of first place in the American League West, things are actually getting interesting in Seattle.