Nine years ago, there\u2019d been Julio Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s before.<\/p>\n
Each year, dozens of teenagers consummate handshake deals often made when they were middle schoolers, making them millionaires in theory, if not in actuality. From Venezuela to Taiwan, Brazil to Cuba, but perhaps most of all in the Dominican Republic, their signing is a celebration. Nine years ago, the future greatest player in the history of Loma de Cabrera signed his deal to be a Seattle Mariner. The island of Adrian Beltr\u00e9 and Vladimir Guerrero, Sammy Sosa and C\u00e9sar Cede\u00f1o has seen superstars before. Even Julio\u2019s beloved hometown, which he invested heavily in this winter to improve the baseball field and surrounding facilities, produced a Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star once before, the stellar SS Rafael Furcal.<\/p>\n
Five years ago, there\u2019d been Julio Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s before.<\/p>\n
On the precipice of his big league debut, Rodr\u00edguez was one of the sport\u2019s top prospects. More than that, he was among a handful of prospects with high odds of superstardom, if such a thing can exist. The swing, the speed, the ability to adjust, the charisma and baseball IQ, it comingled into a conflagration of unmistakable brilliance. Burdened with the expectations of a moribund franchise\u2019s salvation? Immediate impact on every facet of the game? An easy energy infused into every play that reads genuine to kids from 1 to 102? It\u2019s no wonder Ichiro, whose adoration for\/friendship with Ken Griffey Jr. is well-documented, has found a kindred reignition of his life\u2019s spirit in Julio<\/a>. We\u2019re closing in on our target, but not there yet.<\/p>\n This year, there\u2019s been Julio Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s before.<\/p>\n Jason Heyward, Cody Bellinger, Frank Robinson, Barry Bonds. The contemporaries are no longer overly-hyped hopes, they\u2019re factual observations. All of two players have over 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases from age 21 to 24 since MLB began to integrate: Darryl Strawberry and Julio. Up the threshold to 110-110 and you\u2019ve got a population of one.<\/p>\n Aptly, Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s 2025 is testament to his consistency in the aggregate, resembling his increasingly well-grooved pattern through four big league campaigns. A tepid start nonetheless still improving the team is made an afterthought by a mid-summer ignition that simmers from an inferno but remains toasty through the season\u2019s final out. An early-season OBP spike salvaged a BABIP-ravaged first month, then May saw his power return with a hyper-aggressive tack that left little room for whiffs or walks. June ceded the pop but saved the swings, staying valuable with seeing eye singles but sparking serious fears for another season of 20 homers instead of 30+.<\/p>\n Instead, sitting out his All-Star election came in conjunction with a thumping return. One of the sport\u2019s most dangerous hitters down the home stretch, Rodr\u00edguez continued to deliver in October, cracking four homers in the club\u2019s pennant challenge, including the first run of the ALDS and three big flies off Toronto\u2019s starters in the ALCS. Alongside J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh, and Eugenio Su\u00e1rez, he\u2019s tied for 8th in M\u2019s history in playoff games, and fourth in homers. Again, not alone, but instead in good company.<\/p>\n That is what changed in 2025 for Julio, perhaps truly or simply in the veneer of the Root Sports (RIP) broadcast or Heavenly Hot Dog Haze from the 300 level to center field. While technically true in 2024, by midseason it was undeniable to fans casual and analytic: the most valuable player of the Seattle Mariners had become Cal Raleigh.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t right to expect 60 from Raleigh again, but a backstop that bops as Raleigh can is liable to command center stage. For decades, Julio was expected to be Griffey, not truly in sport-stunning stardom, but as the team\u2019s face and centerfold. By any fair assessment, he\u2019s met the mark and then some. Of the top-25 outfielders by bWAR<\/a> between age 21-24, nine are Hall of Famers who largely just need one name (Mantle, Rickey, Aaron, Griffey, Kaline, Frank Robinson, Mays, Raines, and Ashburn), seven are active and likely or borderline for the Hall (Trout, Betts, Julio, Soto, Stanton, Bellinger, and Harper), one is likely to be elected this year or next (Andruw Jones), and five others had Hall-adjacent careers among the best in the sport\u2019s history (Cede\u00f1o<\/a>, Vada Pinson, Willie Davis, Chet Lemon, and Jack Clark). Only two players (Grady Sizemore and Johnny Callison) might be considered disappointing considering their numbers to start their careers, both having seen injuries sap their strength.<\/p>\n Every healthy player surrounding Julio\u2019s place at 13th on that list, between Robinson and Mays (the latter of whom admittedly had far fewer games than any other name listed), augurs ongoing stardom, even immortality. But he\u2019ll no longer have to wear the burden of being Seattle\u2019s Supreme, at least not right away. Perhaps by 2037, in the waning years of his contract, we\u2019ll laugh at this stretch where Rodr\u00edguez was more Edgar than Junior. But it\u2019s right and reasonable to believe that those are the echelons this 25 year old can join in the next decade and more. That one day he could surpass Martinez\u2019s 18 years in SoDo. That last year\u2019s bittersweet conclusion is truly just preamble for another, greater triumph. That we haven\u2019t seen anything quite like Julio Rodr\u00edguez after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nine years ago, there\u2019d been Julio Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s before. 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