MLB Top 5: Seattle Mariners Second Basemen and Shortstops

By Kevin Rakas

This is the third article in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for the Seattle Mariners. In this installment are second basemen and shortstops.

As with many other teams, the Seattle Mariners have plenty of speed and defense among their middle infielders. However, the club boasts three power options at the top of the second base and shortstop lists. While talented, the stars at second base and shortstop are not perfect.

The best Second Basemen and Shortstops in Seattle Mariners History

Second Basemen

Honorable Mentions – Joey Cora is a native of Puerto Rico who was drafted by the Padres in the first round in 1985. He dealt with several knee issues (including a surgery) and recovered from a stabbing after a minor league game in 1986 to have three brief callups with San Diego. Cora was moved to Chicago and spent four years with the White Sox before signing with the Mariners in 1995. He became a starter on the first playoff team in Seattle history, scoring seven runs and amassing six hits, including a home run, against the Yankees in the Division Series. Two years later, Cora earned his only All-Star selection after scoring 105 runs and setting career highs with a .300 average, 172 hits, 40 doubles, 11 home runs and 54 RBIs, and he set a team record with a 24-game hitting streak in May. After the Mariners fell out of the playoff race in 1998, he was traded to the Indians, finishing his four-year run (1995-98) ranked seventh in franchise history with a .293 average to go with 354 runs, 600 hits, 119 doubles, 164 RBIs and 822 total bases in 544 regular season games and 11 runs, 13 hits, one homer and three steals in 15 postseason contests. Cora signed with the Blue Jays in 1999 but retired during spring training. He has spent the last 24 years as a coach at the major and minor league level, including eight years with the White Sox as a third base and bench coach that encompassed their 2005 pennant season. Cora also worked with the Cubs, Mets, Expos, Marlins, Pirates and Tigers, managed in the Venezuelan Winter League and worked as an analyst with MLB Network.

Dustin Ackley was a North Carolina native who played in three straight College World Series with the Tar Heels before being drafted second overall by the Mariners in 2009. He got some Rookie of the Year consideration two years later and had a couple of decent seasons with Seattle before the team brought in a player higher on this list and Ackley shifted to the outfield. The 2013 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award winner continued to drop in batting average, leading to a trade to the Yankees in 2015, finishing his Mariners career with 249 runs, 488 hits, 42 home runs and 201 RBIs in 584 games. Ackley spent parts of two seasons in New York before a torn labrum and separated shoulder led to surgery. He played two years in the Angels’ minor league system before retiring in 2019.

5. Julio Cruz – The Brooklyn-born infielder grew up with his grandparents, moved to California with his family as a teenager and signed with the Angels in 1974. Cruz was selected by the Mariners in the expansion draft and appeared in 60 games for the first-year club. Throughout seven seasons with Seattle (1977-83), he was known for speed and defense. Cruz had arguably his best year in 1978, winning the fielding title and stealing 59 bases, which was a career high and finished second, both in the league and in team history. Four years later, he set career highs with 83 runs, 133 hits and eight home runs to go with 49 RBIs and 36 steals. Overall, “Cruzer” posted six seasons with at least 30 stolen bases, and his 290 were a franchise record when he left Seattle (he is now second). His total includes a record-tying 32 in a row in the strike-shortened 1981 season. The Mariners traded Cruz to the White Sox in 1983, and he appeared in the postseason for the only time in his career, although his new club lost to the eventual champion Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. He was released by Chicago in 1987, played briefly in the minors for Los Angeles and Kansas City and retired the following year. Cruz coached in high school and in the minors with the Brewers and Mariners, and he also was a member of Seattle’s Spanish-language broadcasts. The 2004 Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame inductee passed away in 2022 at age 67.

4. Jose Lopez –The native of Venezuela signed with the Mariners early in the 21st century and played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in 2002. Lopez made his debut two years later and came back from a groin injury to earn the only All-Star selection of his career in 2006. He had his best season in 2008, when he hit 18 home runs, drove in 89 runs and set career highs with a .297 average, 80 runs and 191 hits. The following year, he produced personal bests with 25 homers and 96 RBIs. Lopez converted to third base for his final season in Seattle and, while his numbers dropped, he hit a pair of grand slams and bashed three home runs in a game in September. He was traded to the Rockies after the season, ending his seven-year tenure with the Mariners (2004-10) batting .266 with 380 runs, 897 hits, 189 doubles, 80 home runs 431 RBIs and 1,348 total bases in 873 games and leading the league in assists at both second and third base. Lopez appeared with four major league teams over the next two years, then played eight seasons in Japan, winning four gold gloves, earning three All-Star selections and being named MVP of the Climax Series with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2017. Three years later, he became the first non-Japanese player to get 1,000 hits in both the major leagues and in Nippon Professional Baseball. Lopez officially retired in 2022.

3. Harold Reynolds – The Oregon native was drafted by the Padres in 1979 but went to college for another year and ended up being taken second overall by the Mariners. Reynolds became a switch hitter in the minor leagues had several callups before joining the Seattle on a full-time basis in 1986. His biggest weapon on offense was his speed, and he stole 25 or more bases six straight years, including an A. L.-high (and team record) 60 in 1987, the only time in the decade that someone other than Rickey Henderson led the league. That year, Reynolds earned his first of two straight All-Star selections, and he followed that by leading topping the Junior Circuit in triples. He also had a solid season in 1989, when he scored 87 runs, drove in 43, stole 25 bases and set career highs with a .300 average and 184 runs and registered a personal-best 100 runs the next season.

Reynolds was also stellar in the field, winning three gold gloves and leading all A. L. shortstops in assists five times, double plays four times and putouts three times. He won the Roberto Clemente Award after the 1991 season and spent one more year with Seattle before leaving as a free agent. Following a decade with the Mariners (1983-92), Reynolds ranks second in franchise history in triples (48), third in steals (228), eighth in games (1,155), runs (543) and walks (391) and ninth in hits (1,063) and doubles (200) to go with a .260 average, 295 RBIs and 1,410 total bases. After playing one season each with the Orioles and Angels, he made the broadcasting rounds as an analyst and commentator on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight as well as SNY, TBS, MLB Network and Fox. Reynolds filed a lawsuit following his firing from ESPN after a female intern alleged sexual harassment against him. The sides settled in 2008.

2. Robinson Cano – The native of the Dominican Republic signed with the Yankees and became one of the best players in the game during his nine seasons in New York. Cano finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, earned five All-Star selections, five silver sluggers, two gold gloves and two Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards, finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting four straight years, drove in at least 100 runs three times, was a member of the 2009 championship team and won the All-Star Home Run Derby two years later. Following the 2013 season, Cano signed a 10-year $240 million contract with the Mariners and continued his fantastic play, earning three more All-Star selections. He posted a .314-27-107 stat line in 2014 and batted .298 with 195 hits, 103 RBIs while setting career highs with 107 runs, 39 homers (a franchise record for second basemen) and 349 total bases two years later. Cano was named MVP of the 2017 All-Star Game after hitting a game-winning home run in the 10th inning of the American League’s 2-1 victory.

The beginning of the end of Cano’s time in Seattle began the following year, when he was suspended 80 games for violating the performance-enhancing drug policy. He batted .303 but was traded, along with closer Edwin Diaz, to the Mets in the offseason. Cano finished his five-year run in Seattle (2014-18) ranked tied for fifth in franchise history with a .296 average and ninth in slugging percentage (.472) to go with 389 runs, 821 hits, 159 doubles, 107 home runs, 411 RBIs and 1,311 total bases in 704 games. His stats began to decline with New York and a second PED suspension, this time for the entire 2021 season, sapped what little power he had left. Cano played just 33 games for three teams the following year The four-time World Baseball Classic participant and 2013 tournament MVP spent the past two years playing with the Baseball United league in the Middle East and then in the Mexican League, where he won the batting title in 2024.

1. Bret Boone – The 1990 Mariners draft pick is part of a three-generation baseball family, with his grandfather, Ray, earning two All-Star selections during a 13-year career as an infielder primarily in the 1950, his father, Bob, winning seven gold gloves and being named to four All-Star teams during a 19-year career as a catcher, and younger brother, Aaron, earning both an All-Star selection and a pennant with the Yankees in 2003 and is in his seventh season as New York’s manager. Bret spent two years with the Mariners at the start of his career, hitting 12 home runs in 1993, which was then a franchise record at the position. He was sent to the Reds after the season in the trade that brought future All-Star catcher Dan Wilson to the Mariners.

Boone spent five years with Cincinnati and was part of a unique game in September 1998 in which the entire starting infield was made up of two pairs of brothers (he was joined by Aaron and Larkin brothers, Barry and Stephen). After stints with the Braves and Padres, he returned to the Mariners in 2001 and put together four straight stellar seasons. The first one was the best, with Boone finishing third in the MVP voting (behind teammate Ichiro Suzuki) after setting career highs with a .331 average, 118 runs, 206 hits and 360 total bases to go with a new club record for second basemen with 37 home runs and a league-leading 141 RBIs for a team that tied a major league record with 116 wins. He had three straight years driving in at least 100 runs and hitting more than 20 home runs four times. Boone had another fantastic campaign in 2003, posting a .294-35-117 stat line with 111 runs and 183 hits, and he earned two All-Star selections, two silver sluggers and three gold gloves in that span.

Thanks to his production and sense of humor, Boone was a fan favorite during his seven-year run with the Mariners (1992-93 and 2001-05). He ranked seventh in franchise history in slugging percentage (.478), ninth in home runs (143) and RBIs (535) and tenth in runs (467) and total bases (1,491) to go with a .277 average, 863 hits and 167 doubles in 803 games. The 2002 fielding champion appeared in 10 postseason games the previous year, totaling three runs, eight hits, two homers and six RBIs. Boone finished 2005 with the Twins and had failed tryouts with the Mets and Nationals before retiring in 2010. Former big league slugger Jose Canseco alleged in his book that the second baseman used steroids, but Boone denied the allegations and said the conversation between them never took place.

Shortstops

Honorable Mentions – Craig Reynolds was a Houston native who was selected in the first round by the Pirates in 1971. He played 38 games in two seasons with Pittsburgh before he was traded to Seattle after the expansion draft. Reynolds was a light hitter but was good at the little things, and he even earned an All-Star selection in 1978, but did not play in the game. After a season in which he drove in 44 runs and set career highs with a .292 average and 160 hits, Reynolds was traded to the Astros, where he spent the final 11 years of his career. Following his retirement in 1989, he worked in wealth management and was a pastor at a Baptist church in Texas.

Like Reynolds, Spike Owen was a Texas native who appeared in the 1986 playoffs. After being selected sixth overall by the Mariners in 1982, he made his debut the following year. Owen’s best season was 1984, when he batted .245 with 43 RBIs and set career highs with 67 runs, 130 hits and 16 stolen bases. The hard-nosed player became a captain with Seattle, but the 1986 team, which had high hopes, floundered, and he was the tying whiff when former college teammate Roger Clemens tied the single-game record with 20 strikeouts in late April. Owen joined Clemens on the Red Sox after an August trade, finishing his four-year tenure with the Mariners (1983-86) with 190 runs, 380 hits, 23 triples (fifth in franchise history), 11 home runs and 136 RBIs in 462 games. After joining Boston, he did something he wasn’t going to do with the underachieving Seattle team, appear in the playoffs. Owen totaled seven runs, 15 hits and five RBIs in 15 games, but the Red Sox lost to the Mets in the World Series. He played with the Expos, Yankees and Angels and was a minor league coach with the Astros and Rangers for nearly two decades following his 1996 retirement.

Carlos Guillen was a Venezuelan-born infielder who signed with the Astros in 1992 and sent to the Mariners in the trade for Randy Johnson in 1998. He played second and third base while the top player on this list was in Seattle but moved to his natural position in. Guillen finished off a Mariners sweep of the White Sox in the 2000 Division Series with a winning squeeze bunt in Game 3, then amassed at least 60 runs scored and 50 RBIs in each of the next three seasons. He battled tuberculosis late in the 2001 season but returned in time to play during a loss to the Yankees in the ALCS. Guillen was traded to the Tigers in 2004, finishing his six seasons with the Mariners (1998-2003) with a .264 average, 264 runs, 439 hits, 29 home runs and 211 RBIs in 488 games. He earned three All-Star selections in eight seasons with Detroit, but shoulder and hamstring injuries, as well as knee surgery, marred the final three years. Guillen returned to Seattle in 2012 but retired during spring training.

5. Yuniesky Betancourt – The Cuban-born infielder fled his native country in 2004 and spent the year playing with Mexico before signing with the Mariners. He played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game and made his major league debut the following year. Betancourt was known for his range as a fielder (although he was wild with his throwing arm) and his ability to hit with runners in scoring position. His best season was 2007, when he set career highs with a .289 average (tied), 72 runs and 38 doubles to go with 144 hits and 67 RBIs. Betancourt was traded to the Royals in 2009, finishing his five-year run with the Mariners (2005-09) with a .279 average, 245 runs, 582 hits, 123 doubles and 202 RBIs in 588 games. He alternated between Kansas City and Milwaukee over the next four years, then spent one season in Japan, had a failed tryout in the Mexican league and became the first ex-major leaguer to return to play in Cuba. Betancourt was one of four people charged with defrauding an insurance company in 2024.

4. Jean Segura – The native of the Dominican Republic signed with the Angels but played just one game with the team before being sent to the Brewers in the 2012 trade for Zack Greinke. Segura was an All-Star with Milwaukee the following year and led the league with 203 hits during his once season with Arizona in 2016 before a trade to Seattle. He signed a five-year extension the following season but lasted just two years in Seattle, batting .300 with 80 runs, 45 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in his first campaign. Segura improved slightly in 2018, earning his second All-Star selection after batting a career-best .304 and totaling 91 runs, 178 hits, 10 home runs, 63 RBIs and 20 steals. He was traded to the Phillies for the next player on this list after the season and spent the next four years in the City of Brotherly Love. Segura played for the Marlines in 2023 and spent this past season in the Orioles organization until he was released in September.

3. J.P. Crawford – The team’s current starter was a first-round pick of the Phillies in 2013 and was sent to the Mariners in the trade for Segura following the 2018 season. Crawford batted just .226 in his first year but worked to improve his offense. After a gold glove season in 2020, he scored 89 runs, drove in 54 and set career highs with a .273 average, 169 hits and 37 doubles. He had a dip in production after signing an extension in 2022 but recovered to post personal bests with 94 runs, 19 home runs and 65 RBIs while leading the league with 94 walks and earning MVP consideration for the first time in his career. Coming into the 2024 season (2019-present), Crawford has 316 runs, 567 hits, 124 doubles, 43 homers and 231 RBIs in 596 games. He has also led the league in putouts by a shortstop in 2021, finished second in assists twice and had four hits, including two doubles, one home run and four RBIs in five career playoff games.

2. Omar Vizquel – Venezuela has produced fantastic fielding shortstops through the years, and he followed names such as Carrasquel, Aparicio, Concepcion and Guillen to the major leagues. While he is best known for his time with the Indians, Vizquel signed with the Mariners as a 16-year-old in 1984 and spent five years in the minor leagues. He made his debut in a lineup highlighted by a fellow rookie with quite a bit more fanfare in center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. Vizquel batted just .220 his first season and spent his early years learning to bat left-handed and becoming a switch hitter. He also missed the first half of the 1990 season after suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament during spring training. He batted .294 and won the fielding title in 1992, then led the league in double plays and took home his first gold glove the following year.

“Little O” was traded to Cleveland before the 1994 season, finishing his five seasons in Seattle (1989-93) with a .252 average, 223 runs, 531 hits and 131 RBIs in 660 games. His new home provided him a spot in a potent lineup allowed him to improve his offense and show off his spectacular defense. He earned three All-Star selections and eight more gold gloves with the Indians, giving him nine in a row. Vizquel was an integral part of a team that went to the ALCS three times and won the pennant twice. He earned two more gold gloves with the Giants, spent time with the Rangers, White Sox and Blue Jays and retired at age 45 after the 2012 season, ending his 24-year career with 2,877 hits. Vizquel was a coach with the Angels, Tigers and White Sox, and he was a manager in Mexico for two years. However, he has tarnished both his image and his case for the Hall of Fame in recent years thanks to multiple allegations of domestic abuse by his wife and a 2021 lawsuit against both him and the White Sox by a minor league batboy who alleged he sexually harassed him and targeted him because of his autism.

1. Alex Rodriguez – Those Mariners teams of the late 1990s were stacked, with many of the players from that ear appearing on these lists. Other than Griffey Jr. and flamethrowing southpaw Randy Johnson, the biggest name is Rodriguez, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic who settled in New York City and later moved to Miami. Instead of joining the Hurricanes for college, he signed with the Mariners after he was taken with the first overall pick in the 1993 draft. Rodriguez began the following year in Class A but spent 17 days in the major leagues before the season ended. After another partial season in 1995, he took the majors by storm, finishing as the MVP runner-up, earning All-Star and silver slugger honors, winning the batting title with a .358 average (second in team history), leading the league (plus posting a team record and setting a record for shortstops) with 141 runs, a career-high and club-record 54 doubles and 379 total bases, posting a personal-best 215 hits (also a record for the position), and amassing 36 home runs, 123 RBIs and a .631 slugging percentage (third on the team list).

Despite a rib injury, Rodriguez was an All-Star in 1997 and returned to form the following year, posting a .310-42-124 stat line along with 384 total bases, 123 runs, a league-leading 213 hits and a career-best 46 stolen bases, becoming the third player to join the 40-40 club (along with Canseco in 1988 and Barry Bonds in 1996). The stellar campaign began a streak of 13 straight seasons with at least 30 home runs and three in a row with at least 40 bombs and 100 RBIs. Despite hitting 42 more in 1999, Rodriguez was not an All-Star. He earned his fourth and final selection and finished third in the MVP voting in 2000 after batting .316 with 41 homers, 123 RBIs, 134 runs (second in team history) and 336 total bases. Thanks to his prolonged success, Rodriguez was involved in a bidding war in the offseason, with Texas winning the bidding with a 10-year, $252 million offer, the largest in professional sports at the time. Rodriguez finished his seven-year stint in Seattle (1994-2000) as the all-time franchise leader in slugging percentage (.561) and ranked third in average (.309). fifth in home runs (189) and stolen bases (133), sixth in runs (627) tied for sixth in on-base percentage (.374), eighth in RBIs (595) and total bases (1,753) and tenth in hits (966) and doubles (194) in 790 games. He appeared in 15 postseason contests, totaling six runs, 18 hits, three doubles, three homers and eight RBIs.

“A-Rod” was the MVP in 2003, and he led the league in home runs three times (including a career-best 57 in 2002) and runs and total bases twice each as a member of the Rangers. However, he only lasted three years before his was traded to the Yankees following his MVP season, then voided the rest of his original contract and signed a bigger deal, this one 10 years and $275 million. Rodriguez moved to third base in New York and won two more MVP Awards in 2005 (.321 with a league-leading 48 home runs and 130 RBIs) and 2007 (.314 and A. L.-best 54 homers and a career-high 156 RBIs). He helped the Yankees win a title in 2009, hit his 600th home run the following year and underwent two hip surgeries. Rodriguez spent 12 seasons with the Yankees with his numbers declining over his final five years. Rodriguez ended his 22-year career with 2,086 RBIs (fourth on the all-time list), 696 home runs (fifth), 2,021 runs (eighth) and 3,115 hits to go with his three MVPs, 14 All-Star selections, 10 silver sluggers and two gold gloves. These numbers would normally all be guarantees for the Hall of Fame, except for outside circumstances. While he was recovering from his second hip surgery in 2013, Rodriguez began to be linked to the Biogenesis lab in Florida that was under investigation for providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. He ended up getting suspended for the entire 2014 season, and the ordeal has hurt his Hall of Fame chances. Rodriguez has not gotten close to the 75 percent of the vote needed for election, and he could end up on the Contemporary Baseball Era committee ballot with Bonds and Roger Clemens unless writer sentiment changes in the next few years.