Seattle Mariners: 2016 Season In Review
The Good
2B Robinson Cano (6.0 fWAR, 715 PA)—The 2016 season was Cano’s third in Seattle after signing a 10-year, $240 million contract that will keep him well-compensated through his 40th birthday in 2023. It was by far his best season with the M’s. Cano hit a career high 39 home runs. It was just the second time in his career that he hit more than 30. He also drove in over 100 runs for the fourth time in his career. Cano’s 6 WAR season should put him in the mix for some AL MVP votes. I had him fifth on my hypothetical ballot.
3B Kyle Seager (5.5 fWAR, 676 PA)—Seager is a quality ballplayer who doesn’t get the attention he deserves. Perhaps it’s because he plays in Seattle. Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t do anything flashy. He’s just consistent, very consistent. He can be reliably counted on for a .260-.270 average, .330-ish OBP, and .450 slugging, with good defense at third base. This year, he bumped it up a notch and hit .278/.359/.499. He also had his first 30-homer season and drove in 99 runs. Over the last five years, Seager has been the seventh-most valuable position player in the American League, sandwiched between much more well-known players Manny Machado and Dustin Pedroia.
DH Nelson Cruz (4.2 fWAR, 667 PA)—When Nelson Cruz signed a four-year, $57 million contract prior to the 2015 season, it was not well-received among some knowledgeable baseball writers. Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron wrote that the contract “is an early contender for the worst signing of the off-season.” He was quite wrong (but the thinking behind it made sense, as Cruz was an aging outfielder with no defensive value). Cruz has had back-to-back seasons with 44 and 43 homers and combined to hit .294/.365/.561 as a Mariner. He’s been great and has been well worth the $14.25 million per year he’s been paid (in a baseball sense, not a real-world sense). Cruz’ defensive issues have not gone away, though, so the Mariners have transitioned Cruz into the DH role. After playing 80 games in the field in 2015, Cruz played just 48 games in the field in 2016. They should continue to limit his exposure to fly balls and make him the full-time DH in 2017.
SP James Paxton (3.5 fWAR, 121 IP)—James Paxton has spent parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues, but has just 286 career innings under his belt. He’s been good, with a career 3.43 ERA (3.32 FIP), but just can’t seem to stay healthy enough to pitch 175-200 innings. The 2016 season was the best of his career. He set career-bests in starts, innings, strikeout rate, and walk rate.
SP Hisashi Iwakuma (2.4 fWAR, 199 IP)—Iwakuma had a bizarre offseason. The Mariners did not re-sign him after the 2015 season and Iwakuma reportedly signed a 3-year, $45 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A bad physical caused the Dodgers to back out of the deal and Iwakuma re-signed with the Mariners. He was paid $10 million for the 2016 season and had a $14 million option triggered for 2017 because he pitched more than 162 innings. He ended up leading the team in starts, innings, and wins.
CF Leonys Martin (2.2 fWAR, 576 PA)—The Mariners traded for Leonys Martin prior to the 2016 season and it looks like the best trade they made. Martin was coming off a terrible season with the Rangers in which he hit .219/.264/.313. He rebounded to hit .247/.306/.378. That’s still not terrific. You’d like to see more on-base skills out of a speedy player who can steal bases, but it was a definite improvement. Combine Martin’s improvement on offense with good defense in centerfield and he was a slightly above average player at a good price ($4.15 million). One thing to be concerned about was Martin’s second half. After hitting .243/.313/.404 with 11 home runs in the first half, Martin hit .251/.299/.354 with just 4 home runs in the second half. He went from being slightly below league average as a hitter (97 wRC+) to well-below league average (78 wRC+, 22% below league average).
RP Edwin Diaz (1.9 fWAR, 51.7 IP)—Diaz started the season in Double-A. After striking out 54 batters in 40 2/3 innings, he was called up to the big leagues in early June. The Mariners had signed Steve Cishek to be their closer, but Cishek had a few rough patches during the first half of the season. At the end of July, Cishek blew a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth against the Cubs, then blew a one-run lead in the ninth the next day against the Red Sox and that was it. Diaz took over the closer role and saved 18 games from August 2 on. He throws pure fire. His fastball averaged 97.3 mph, right there with Craig Kimbrel, and he struck out 40.6% of the batters he faced, fourth-best among relief pitchers with 50 or more innings. One concern was that Diaz ended up pitching 92 1/3 innings combined in the majors and minors. That’s a heavy workload for a 22-year-old reliever.