.
Haniger is #15 in the league in WAR, despite playing 21 games to most others' 35-38 games. Ben Gamel is #33 in the league, despite only 18 games' activity. If you check Fangraphs there's a trick to finding them on the WAR leaderboards: you have to drop the filter that says "Qualified" by amount of time played.
:- )
Ran across this Hey Bill from late in 2011:
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This implies James' own firm conviction that it's very, very rare for a position player to "get good" late in his career. (If you just joined us, this is not at ALL rare for a pitcher, because pitchers will polish off their mechanics or add a pitch or learn to expand the strike zone or whatever. But hitters rely on 100,000 pitches' worth of sight recognition, that and talent.)
...
Mike Morse himself had just finished hitting for a 133 and then 147 OPS+ at ages 28 and 29 when James answered this question. He hit 111 in a part-time season the year after James answered it, and then 84 the following year. For what it's worth. But that's the kind of thing that has always earned James our respect. You go back and look at answers like this from 1988, or 1994, or 2005, and there sure are a lot of them that turn out like this answer did.
Not that anybody would shed many tears if Mitch Haniger gave us two full years at a 140 OPS+. And not that James' answer limits Haniger; it does not. The Mainframe continues to boggle at Haniger's craftsmanship inside the batters' box and outside of it.
...
Which brings us to the real question. Do you think that the Mariners, in 40 years, have ever had a set of rookies look as good as the Mariners' four rookies look right now? In order: Haniger, Gamel, Heredia, Motter. (I don't know if Motter is technically qualified for a ROY vote and that would have nothing to do with the question anyway.)
In 1984 the Mariners did have Jim Presley to go with Alvin Davis, but Presley was bad in 1984. I'm talking about, if you plotted their trajectories forward in dashed lines from where they stand right now. Is this the best we've ever seen it look? Ruppert Jones, Julio Cruz and Dan Meyer were actually a nice trio of players in the expansion year, but Cruz didn't start and Meyer wasn't a rookie.
It would take a lot to pry me loose of Mitch Haniger, Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia and Taylor Motter in a trade. Would you cough them up right now for a couple of years of Jose Quintana plus Michael Kopech, the 100-MPH righty they got from Boston?
Maybe Motter, but the other three are a part of my long-term strategy at this point. None of them are narrow in their skillset...all of them have, IMHO, very high floors and high ceilings. That's my starting outfield for the next six years and you can't have them.
For Trout, thank you? :)
OK, I'm cheating, I know.
Just a reminder about lifetime OPS+ numbers: Kaline 134, Killebrew 143, Frank Robinson 154, Henry Aaron 155, Joe Dimaggio 155, Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas 156, Willie Mays 156, Stan Musial 159, Micky Mantle 172, Mike Trout 172, Ted Williams 190.
Purposely leaving Barry Bonds off that list, mind you.
Gehrig was 179. Ruth 202. Back in the Jurassic.
Since the end of WWII, Trout ranks among the very greatest hitters of the era. That makes him one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game. As good as Nelson Cruz has been over the past three seasons ('17 included), Trout has been 15-25% better. And he's been a + defender in CF.
Starting in '54, the year Mays returned from the army (age 23), he ran OPS+'s of 175, 174, 146, 173, 165 & 156, over the next 6 years.
Starting in '12, his first fulltime year (age 21), Trout has gone 168, 179, 168, 176, 173, 233.
Mantle, the Boy Wonder, had numbers of 162, 144, 158, 180, 210, 221 for his first 6 full seasons.
I am really glad I get to experience the baseball glory of Mike Trout.
And Bryce Harper is pretty good, too. Sort of Trout-ish, in fact. Sort of. In his good seasons.
Getting back to the original question (sorry for the hijack, Doc), the M's are indeed loaded with positional youth. I am loving it.
We're dirt poor in rotational health, however.
Moore, anyone?
Ichiro had the best season. Any of the current 4 continuing as they have would be making a case for 2nd best Ms Rookie season ever. Possibly best in the case of Haniger. The Ms have had hardly any rookies ever break out and almost all of those that have were Japanese imports. 4 now at 40 years? It's about time.