Alex Rodriguez leaves behind complicated legacy in Seattle

SEATTLE — Before the money, the steroids and the suspension, Alex Rodriguez was the savior. When he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1993, there was no doubt about the expectations. He was the chosen one, the player who was to lead the Mariners to the World Series.

That was a long time ago. As Rodriguez prepares to end his 22-year baseball career following Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, his time in Seattle almost seems like a footnote.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]

His accomplishments with the club are incredible. Rodriguez was a prodigy. He reached the majors at 18, and made his first All-Star team at 20. Two years later, he became the third player ever to join the 40/40 club. He led the league in batting average, doubles, hits and runs during his tenure in Seattle. He won four Silver Sluggers and made four All-Star teams and finished second and third in MVP voting.

“It was like watching a skinny Mike Trout play shortstop,” says Washington native Kyle Davis.

Then, it was over. During the 2000 offseason, Rodriguez left the Mariners to sign a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers. At the time, it was the largest contract ever handed out to a baseball player. Mariners fans immediately turned on him.

“He was well-respected and well-liked, but we felt like his true colors came out [when he left,]” says Tacoma resident Pat Krick. “It was just like he became kind of a horse’s ass as far as his personality.”

A driving factor behind that hatred was the fact that Rodriguez left for the money. In one of Rodriguez’s first games back in Seattle, a fan dangled a dollar bill from a fishing pole as A-Rod came up to the plate. Fans in the upper deck threw fake money around with Rodriguez’s face on it.

“He left us for that big huge contract in Texas and broke our hearts,” says life-long Mariners fan Mike Deller.

Adds Davis: “I just remember seeing how much money he signed for and feeling like it was such an absurd, ludicrous number. This was before baseball started handing out $100 million contracts to fourth outfielders and middle relievers, so it was hard to even believe something like that was real.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Texas struggled to win with Rodriguez because they couldn’t build a talented team around him. Due to his contract, he was traded to the New York Yankees. It was there that Rodriguez won his first World Series and admitted to using steroids and received a year-long suspension for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.

All of the things that made Rodriguez a controversial sports figure occurred after he left Seattle. That only complicates his legacy among Mariners fans.

“He was young and he was charismatic and he didn’t have a spin [in Seattle,]” Krick says. “Later, it seemed like he had issues. Like he wasn’t telling the complete truth. Here is where he was young and vital and, obviously, incredibly talented. There was really a good feeling about him when he was here.”

In A-Rod’s cases, those literally were the good ol’ days.

“He was respected for his talent [in Seattle,]” Dreller says. “Unfortunately, the steroid thing will follow him around. I don’t know if it will ever get him into the Hall of Fame, but in my estimation, he had the talent to get into the Hall of Fame without it. Unfortunately, he felt he needed a little extra.”

After Friday’s game, A-Rod’s major-league career will come to an end, he says. Seattle fans will never have to experience Rodriguez returning as an opposing player again. They’ll never have to boo with all their might as he approaches the plate in the city where his career began.

Time away from the game can wind up doing incredible things for a player’s legacy. San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds has been able to return to baseball as the Miami Marlins’ hitting coach despite leaving baseball as public enemy No. 1. The San Diego Padres currently employ Mark McGwire as their hitting coach despite the steroid stigma surrounding his playing days.

Time tends to heal all wounds, but it’s unclear if that will be enough to save Rodriguez’s reputation in the city where he became a superstar.

“He will not be forgiven,” says Krick. “Ichiro is beloved and we don’t care who he’s playing for, same with Griffey. But Alex is a different story. He was a traitor.”

“So what?” Dreller says. “That’s my reaction now. So what? Yeah, his record is tainted. I don’t care if he gets into the Hall of Fame. Bye bye.”

Given Rodriguez’s polarizing nature, that type of reaction is to be expected. But, as with most things involving A-Rod, nuance is often the best policy.

“A-Rod is such a unique and epic baseball villain that he seems to defy precedent.” Davis says. “But so far Seattle has shown that we’re willing to forgive and forget when it comes to superstars who left for other teams. I think as time passes, people will slowly soften and come around and be willing to appreciate the good times.”

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik