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I think the prevailing memory of the 2010s Mariners, at least in the back part of the decade, will be success without any tangible accomplishments. The M’s went 758-862 (.468) during the whole decade, and a slightly better 484-488 (.498) from 2014 on, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The five years Robinson Canó spent in Seattle made some of the best memories this franchise can cling to, and even more once his pal Nelson Cruz showed up in 2015. There was Félix’s season-long heater in 2014, LoMo’s double, LoMo’s homer in Anaheim, The Comeback, Game 161, and Denard Span’s Mariner Moment. We had a perfecto, a combined no-hitter, Kuma’s no-hitter, and Paxton’s no-hitter, all within six years of each other. And of course, we’d be remiss not to mention the Shawn O’Malley Game, and the greatest earthly event of any decade: Do Some Delivery for the Truck, to the Airport.
This decade will go down as the first playoff-less one for the Mariners since the hapless 80s. It will also go down as the only time in Mariner history that two marquee free agents chose Seattle and got the team close to the postseason, even if history will only remember what they didn’t do.
We are gathered here today to pay homage to the best Mariner position players of the 2010s. By bWAR, these are the only 17 fellas to grab 2.5 WAR for the team during this ten-year stretch. There are no first basemen. Good luck with the bottom part.