Nine years ago, there’d been Julio Rodríguez’s before.
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 Beltré and Vladimir Guerrero,
Sammy Sosa and César Cedeño has seen superstars before. Even Julio’s 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.
Five years ago, there’d been Julio Rodríguez’s before.
On the precipice of his big league debut, Rodríguez was one of the sport’s 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’s 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’s no wonder Ichiro, whose adoration for/friendship with Ken Griffey Jr. is well-documented, has found a kindred reignition of his life’s spirit in Julio. We’re closing in on our target, but not there yet.
This year, there’s been Julio Rodríguez’s before.
Jason Heyward, Cody Bellinger, Frank Robinson, Barry Bonds. The contemporaries are no longer overly-hyped hopes, they’re 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’ve got a population of one.
Aptly, Rodríguez’s 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’s 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+.
Instead, sitting out his All-Star election came in conjunction with a thumping return. One of the sport’s most dangerous hitters down the home stretch, Rodríguez continued to deliver in October, cracking four homers in the club’s pennant challenge, including the first run of the ALDS and three big flies off Toronto’s starters in the ALCS. Alongside J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh, and Eugenio Suárez, he’s tied for 8th in M’s history in playoff games, and fourth in homers. Again, not alone, but instead in good company.
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.
It isn’t 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’s face and centerfold. By any fair assessment, he’s met the mark and then some. Of the top-25 outfielders by bWAR 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’s history (Cedeño, 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.
Every healthy player surrounding Julio’s 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’ll no longer have to wear the burden of being Seattle’s Supreme, at least not right away. Perhaps by 2037, in the waning years of his contract, we’ll laugh at this stretch where Rodríguez was more Edgar than Junior. But it’s 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’s 18 years in SoDo. That last year’s bittersweet conclusion is truly just preamble for another, greater triumph. That we haven’t seen anything quite like Julio Rodríguez after all.
