Thanks to this post on Viva El Birdos, and a disinclination to study for my poli sci exam, I decided to make the 25 year M's team.

The Rules:

I went through the last 25 years of Mets history - 1983 through 2006, inclusive -- and put together a team. A starter at each position. A backup catcher, middle infielder, and outfielder. An extra bat off the bench. A defensive replacement-type. Five starters, 1 closer, and five relievers.

Easy? Sure, except:

    * I took only one player per year.
    * Once I used a player, he couldn't be used again (e.g. only one Dwight Gooden)
    * The player really needed to have the position he's in -- so I couldn't put Todd Hundley as a backup catcher or use John Olerud off the bench.

I went with 9 starters, a 4 man bench (C, IF, OF, Util), 5 SP, and 7 RP (Lou would've wanted it that way).  The 25 years cover 1982-2006.  

Leading off for the 1982-2006 M's:

1.  RF  Ichiro!, 2004  .372/.414/.455 262 hits.  Best thing about an Mariners team that lost the most games of any M's since 1983 ridiculously.  Edgar deserved better than Rich Aurilia and Scot Spiezio.

Batting second...

2.  3B  Edgar Martinez,  1992  .343/.404/.544 Why is Edgar at 3B?  Because otherwise it's Mike Blowers or Jim Presley.  Edgar's first batting title.

Batting third...

3.  SS  Alex Rodriguez,  2000  .316/.420/.606 I've made my peace with the best player any of us will ever see.  This was his best season at SS (park adjusted), and best overall until 2005.

In the cleanup spot...

4.  CF  Ken Griffey Jr.,  1994  .323/.402/.674 Highest OPS of his career.  Junior was on pace for 136 R, 203 H, 35 2B, 6 3B, 58 HR, 130 RBI, 16 SB, 81 BB.  Stupid strike.

Batting 5-6-7...

5.  2B  Bret Boone,  2001  .331/.372/.578
   
6.  DH  Ken Phelps,  1986  .247/.406/.526
   
7.  1B  Alvin Davis,  1989  .305/.424/.496

By OPS+, these are the best years by an M's player at each position (except for Edgar).  Boone, whose career line before 2001 was .255/.312/.413, gets to represent the magical M's.  (How he improved let's not go there.)  Phelps is a pop culture reference and the best non-Edgar DH.  1989 is Mr. Mariner's best season (by OPS+).

Batting eighth...

8.  C  Kenji Johjima,  2006  .291/.332/.451 I'm sorry I didn't get Dan Wilson in.  I never actually was that big a fan.  Joh's rookie year is the best hitting season for a catcher for this 25 year period.  Putting him in did cost me Putz's 2006, though.  (See poll below)

Batting ninth...

9.  LF  Phil Bradley,  1985  .300/.365/.498 For those who don't know, Phil Bradley is the M's leader in LF games played.  (Raul is 68 games behind him.)  He is the only Mariner to start in LF three consecutive seasons.  This was his only All-Star season.

Bench:

C  Dave Valle,  1987  .256/.292/.435
OF  Darren Bragg,  1996  .272/.376/.451
OF  Ken Griffey, Sr.,  1990  .377/.443/.519

Valle would hit 12 HR as a backup catcher.  Bragg would be traded mid-season for Jamie Moyer and never hit as well again.  The senior Griffey only had 77 AB for Seattle that season, but one of his three HR occur right before his son hit a home run.  The only time a father-and-son have gone back-to-back came off California Angels starter Kirk McCaskill on Sept. 14, 1990.  Field of Dreams came out the year before that.  No, I don't cry when I watch that movie.  Not at all.

Starting Rotation:

1.  LHP  Randy Johnson,  1997  20-4, 2.28 ERA, 213 IP, 77 BB, 291 K Lowest ERA in team history until Felix decides that's a record he'd like to have.  In the AL, 2nd in Wins, 2nd in ERA, 2nd in K's, 2nd in Cy Young voting, all to Roger Clemens.

2.  LHP  Jamie Moyer,  1998  15-9, 3.53 ERA, 234.3 IP, 42 BB, 158 K First of Moyer's five great seasons with the M's (1998-1999, 2001-2003).  1998 may have fewer wins than 2001 or 2003, but it's Moyer's Seattle bests in IP, Ks, K/BB, and shutouts and it's all done in the Kingdome.

3.  RHP  Freddy Garcia,  1999  17-8, 4.07 ERA, 201.3 IP, 90 BB, 170 K The Chief's second best year in Seattle (after his 18-6, 3.05 ERA 2001 campaign).  This year he finished second to Carlos Beltran in the Rookie of the Year voting.  Imagine how good he'd have been if he lived during Prohibition...err...never mind that thought.

4.  LHP  Mark Langston,  1988  15-11, 3.34 ERA, 261.3 IP, 110 BB, By ERA this is Langston's best year as Mariner.  You could take his 1987 campaign (19-13, 3.84 ERA) if you're picky and swap it with Valle's 1988 campaign.  Langston would go on to be traded to Montreal for Randy Johnson and would later lose the 1995 playoff game to...Randy Johnson.  

5.  LHP  Matt Young,  1983  11-15, 3.27 ERA, 203.7 IP, 79 BB, 130 K 24 year-old rookie pitcher was the best thing on the 60-102 Seattle Mariners.  ERA+ of 131 is 8th best in team history.  Young never had another All-Star season and only topped 200 IP two more times.  In 1987, he was involved with a trade for Jesse Orosco.  Orosco was 30 at the time.  Orosco would pitch 16 more years.  Young had just 6 years left.

Bullpen:

RHP  Rafael Soriano,  2003  3-0, 1.53 ERA, 53 IP, 12 BB, 68 K
LHP  Arthur Rhodes,  2002  10-4, 2.33 ERA, 69.7 IP, 13 BB, 81 K
RHP  Jeff Nelson,  1995  7-3, 2.17 ERA, 78.7 IP, 27 BB, 96 K
RHP  Mike Jackson,  1991  7-7, 3.25 ERA, 88.7 IP, 34 BB, 74 K
RHP  Edwin Nunez,  1984  2-2, 3.09 ERA, 67.7 IP, 21 BB, 57 K
LHP  Dennis Powell,  1993  0-0, 4.15 ERA, 47.7 IP, 24 BB, 32 K If you're wondering why Dennis Powell is on this list, see below.  

UPDATE: Original list left off Mike Jackson 1991 and Edwin Nunez 1984. My bad.

Closer:

RHP  Bill Caudill,  1982  12-9, 26 SV, 2.35 ERA, 95.7 IP, 35 BB, 111 K

Only two relief pitchers in Mariners history have struck out 100 batters, Caudill in 1982 and Putz in 2006.  After a disappointing 1983 (4.71 ERA, but 73 K/35BB in 72.7 IP), he was trade to Oakland for Dave Beard and Bob Kearney.  Beard had an ERA of 5.80 in his one year in relief for the M's.  Kearney caught 346 games for Seattle over the next four years hitting .231/.265/.348, good for an OPS+ of 67.  Caudill would make an All-Star game with Oakland.  Bill Bavasi, Billy Beane would like a word with you.

Alternative lineups:
Originally I had Goose Gossage, 1994 as one of the relievers just so you could tell everyone that the M's have had two deserving Hall-of-Famers be denied Cooperstown in case Edgar doesn't make it.  This used Griffey's 1993 season, which has the highest OPS+ of any Mariner.  Since OPS+ uses only seasonal park factors, and the park didn't change, I assume it's just a fluke.  (Griffey 1993:  172 OPS+, Griffey 1994:  170 OPS+).

You may have noticed that there are only 24 players listed.  The 25th Man needs no introduction:

IF  Willie Bloomquist,  2005  .257/.283/.330 This team was built for WFB.

Go Mariners!