Julio Rodriguez burst onto the national stage last year with a tremendous season. He put on a show in the Home Run Derby, ran away with the AL Rookie of the Year Award, and became just the fourth rookie outfielder to win the Silver Slugger Award.
Rodriguez may be garnering more national attention now, but he’s always been on that path in Seattle.
Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” and revealed when he first thought about signing Rodriguez to a long-term contract and why he believes the outfielder can become a franchise icon.
“I think it’s probably right here, in Peoria, Arizona, watching him in his first spring training and how easily he acclimated himself with the big league guys and he stood out. He was, at the time, 18 years old and it was hard not to be taken by not just the physical talent, which was pretty obvious, but getting to know the person,” Dipoto said (21:27 in player above). “We’ve known Julio since he was 16 years old in a lot of ways. He finished his education in our program. He grew up in our facility in the Dominican Republic.”
The Mariners initially signed Rodriguez as an international free agent in 2017 when the outfielder was just 16 years old. He made his professional debut the following year and has never looked back.
Rodriguez and the Mariners have a mutual trust that should only continue to grow stronger with time.
“We’ve gotten to know his family. I think there’s a collective trust that we believed in him, we believed in his talent, we believed in him as a player, and his maturity level to handle something like this,” Dipoto continued. “It’s one thing when you hand out a lucrative, multi-year deal to a player that young in age. It’s another thing entirely when you give them multi-generational life-changing money. I can’t say enough about how much we believed in Julio.”
Last August, the Mariners signed Rodriguez to a 12-year, $209 million contract – with the potential for the outfielder to earn up to $470 million over the course of the contract. Rodriguez was 22 years old when he signed the extension that will keep him in Seattle until at least 2034.
It was an unprecedented contract for someone with as little experience as Rodriguez, but the budding star has shown Dipoto and the Mariners everything they’ve wanted to see.
“It’s about age. It’s about talent. It’s about where he is in his career arc and where we are on our win arc,” Dipoto said. “It’s also about the personality and the way he connects with fans, the way he connects with teammates.”
When you envision a team, you usually see the logo, uniform, and a specific player in your mind, Dipoto said. Rodriguez has what it takes to be one of those iconic Mariners players.
“I venture to guess right now when you look at the Mariners, depending on your era, we’ve had some really iconic players. Guys like Ichiro and Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, Felix. I think Julio has all of that to be among that group if his career goes as it could.”
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