Mariners' Top 5 shortstops

No one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on their career while playing for that club. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only.

Here is MLB.com's ranking of the top 5 shortstops in Mariners history.

1) Alex Rodriguez, 1994-2000

Though many Mariners fans are still bitter that Rodriguez chose to sign with the Rangers for 10 years and $252 million in free agency in 2001 after being drafted No. 1 by the Mariners in 1993 and developing into a rising star in Seattle, there’s no question he’s the top shortstop in franchise history.

After debuting as a teenage backup in 1994-95, A-Rod was a four-time American League All-Star and four-time AL Silver Slugger Award winner over the next five years. He finished second in the ’96 AL MVP voting after leading the league in batting at .358 while ripping 54 doubles, 36 homers and 123 RBIs despite not turning 21 until midseason.

In his seven years in Seattle, Rodriguez posted a .309/.374/.561 line with 189 homers and 595 RBIs. All those are No. 1 in franchise history for shortstops, along with his games played (790), at-bats (3,126), hits (966), doubles (194), runs (627) and stolen bases (133). He owns the top five bWAR seasons by a shortstop in team history and his total bWAR of 38.1 is more than the next five Mariners shortstops combined.

“Alex was a great talent,” said Lou Piniella, who managed Rodriguez throughout his time in Seattle. “Just a great, great young man. He really was. He had a wonderful work ethic and respected the game of baseball. There wasn’t anything this young man couldn’t do on the field. He could hit, he could hit for power, he could field. He developed into a wonderful ballplayer, a superstar.”

2) J.P. Crawford, 2019-present

No one could’ve envisioned it at the time, but when the Mariners acquired Crawford from the Phillies at the outset of a rebuild -- a former Top 5 prospect in the sport who just couldn’t find his footing -- they were getting a player who would become a foundational leader, pillar in the community and arguably one of the best at his position in franchise history. Crawford wasn’t a player that the club intended to build around, but rathero ne that they believed could be an augmented piece to a more high-profile cast. Yet his durability and productivity has led to him carving out one of the more inspiring stories of his era in Seattle, which included a five-year, $51 million extension on Opening Day in 2022. There’s an increasing chance that he winds up in the team’s Hall of Fame one day.

3) Omar Vizquel, 1989-93

Vizquel was a wizard with the glove and he began an outstanding 24-year Major League career with five seasons in Seattle. The Mariners signed him as a 17-year-old out of Venezuela in 1984 and he broke into the Majors as Seattle’s full-time shortstop in ’89.

Though defense was always his calling card, Vizquel hit .294 with 15 stolen bases in ’92 and he posted a .252/.309/.303 line in his five seasons before being traded to the Indians for Felix Fermin, Reggie Jefferson and cash prior to the ’94 season. His 660 games and 10.3 bWAR are second to A-Rod among all Mariners shortstops.

4) Jean Segura, 2017-18

Segura posted two strong offensive seasons after being acquired from the D-backs and was elected to the 2018 AL All-Star team by MLB as the Final Vote winner and hit a three-run home run off Josh Hader in that Midsummer Classic.

Segura’s batting average of .302, on-base percentage of .345 and slugging percentage of .421 are all second to A-Rod among Mariners shortstops and he totaled 21 homers and 108 RBIs in his two seasons. His 42 stolen bases are also second to Rodriguez despite being 10th in games played at 269, with the Mariners trading him to the Phillies in ’19.

5) Carlos Guillen, 1998-2003

Guillen was acquired from the Astros along with Freddy Garcia and John Halama in the Randy Johnson trade in ’98 and initially played second base and third base before replacing A-Rod at shortstop in 2000. Though he dealt with some injuries and illness in his time with the Mariners, Guillen played a key part in several outstanding Mariners teams.

His walkoff squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Rickey Henderson and finish off a three-game sweep of the White Sox in the 2000 American League Division Series stands as one of the franchise’s highlight moments and he played an integral role on the 116-win team in 2001 when he batted .259/.333/.355 in 140 games.