The early success of A-Rod. The loyalty of King Felix. The electric speed of Ichiro. The hitting ability of Edgar. The swagger of Griffey. There’s a little bit of all these things in Julio Rodríguez. But if you add them up you get something totally unique. He’s only in his second year, but incredibly, we can already say that there will never be anyone like him to wear a Seattle Mariners uniform again. 

In many ways, being a fan of Seattle sports teams can feel like a burden. There’s certainly been success stories with the Sounders, Storm, and Seahawks taking home titles in the last decade, but there’s been more reason to drink to forget the previous year than celebrate it at the conclusion. Ask the local therapists who have to talk weekly about Malcolm Butler and Dikembe Mutombo.

But while there hasn’t been much to celebrate in terms of team success, we have been blessed with our fair share of superstars. From those Mariners legends to Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp to Russell Wilson and Sue Bird. Julio is not only next in line, he’s elbowing his way into the pantheon. 

For those who haven’t been paying attention, Rodríguez announced himself last year by winning the 2022 Rookie of the Year while helping the Mariners end a 21-year playoff drought. After a minor scuffle to begin this season, he’s played as well as any player in baseball over the second half of the year. This has been particularly true in the month of August—he has hit .422 while mashing seven homers and stealing 11 bases. Along the way he’s inserted himself into the MVP race and launched the Mariners into first place in its division. 

Comparing Rodríguez to the other superstars who have played in Seattle is both tricky and dangerous, if only because his youth and inexperience lead to volatility; there’s a real chance he ends up being as good if not better than any player to wear a Mariners uniform (yes, including Griffey), but there’s also the possibility he may not live up to those lofty heights. For every player destined for Cooperstown, there are more who see their flame put out more quickly than anyone can anticipate.

Perhaps the most obvious player to compare to Rodríguez is someone that some fans of the hometown nine have some animosity toward: Alex Rodriguez. On top of the similar A-Rod and J-Rod monikers, these players both had borderline unrealistic expectations upon entering the league and then had almost instantaneous success, quickly establishing themselves as top talents.

But in a drama that would take a multi-part series on Hulu to properly explain, A-Rod bolted from Seattle for a then-record $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. J-Rod, on the other hand, has already committed long-term to the team after agreeing to a contract that will pay him at least $119 million over seven seasons that could be worth over $470 million over 12 seasons if he reaches certain incentives. 

In that way, one can’t help but be reminded of Félix Hernández, the most recent superstar in Seattle before J-Rod's arrival. While Julio’s contract would be the envy of the overwhelming majority of humanity, most baseball pundits agree that the center fielder may have turned down several hundred million dollars by agreeing to that deal. Hernández did the same during his dominant run with the M’s—albeit later in the career—by agreeing to a seven-year, $175 million extension that was considered well below market value to stay in Seattle and cement himself as a Mariner Hall of Famer; an honor that was bestowed upon him this season.

Unfortunately for the player commonly referred to as King, the Mariners were never serious contenders during his 15 seasons with the club. The club, however, has seen immediate success in Rodríguez’s first two seasons—much like they did with Ichiro Suzuki. Suzuki helped the Mariners win 90 games in each his first three seasons while also taking home Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. Both Suzuki and Rodríguez entered the league with speed that graded out as an 80 on the 20–80 scale that baseball scouts use to measure players’ talents, allowing them to swipe bases and turn routine ground balls into base hits.

But while Suzuki would famously tease his potential power prowess in batting practice, he never hit more than 15 homers in a season with a career total of 99 in his 12 years in the Pacific Northwest. Rodríguez has already hit 50 in his short time here—the fastest to ever reach that number in the history of Mariners baseball—and his ability to hit the ball out of the park while also showing a tremendous feel for making contact hearkens back to Edgar Martínez. Martínez led all of baseball in batting average twice with a career .312 mark, and while it might be tough for Rodríguez to reach those numbers because he’s more likely to pile up the strikeouts, that aforementioned speed on top of his ability to make hard contact to every single part of the field should make him a long-term contributor in that regard.

And, of course, you can’t have this type of article without comparing Julio to The Kid. The comparisons here are almost too easy. Griffey had his own candy bar. Rodríguez has his own cereal. They both play center field. They both have a smile that could power Ballard. They both have a gracefulness in the outfield that makes things look almost too easy. But maybe most importantly, they both have that “it” factor, a lazy way to say that you can’t truly describe what they have. 

Griffey was able to make baseball cool in the top left corner of America and put himself in the conversation with Michael Jordan as one of the country’s most beloved athletes. It’s something that no Mariner had done before, and with all due respect to the names listed above, it’s something that hasn’t been repeated since to anywhere near the same extent. At least until now. 

And it’s not just the baseball stars that you can offer wildly irresponsible comparisons to. Julio has the intensity of Sue Bird whether he’s just struck out or walloped a double, clapping his hands to fire up his teammates like he’s murdering a swarm of bugs in the palm of his hands. The dedication to community of Russell Wilson, but without the air of self-righteousness. The ability to talk the talk like Gary Payton, the ability to leap like Shawn Kemp. The ability to carry a trident like Jason Momoa, who has probably been to Seattle at some point. 

Obviously, there’s a long way to go for Rodríguez to fully cement himself as one of the Rushmore athletes in this town. But he clearly possesses something special; even the most cynical and jaded Seattle sports fan can see that. It seems more a question of when, not if, we’ll be wondering who the next J-Rod will be.