ESPN MLB Insider Predicts That Seattle Mariners' Legend Will Make Hall of Fame!

Last week, the Seattle Mariners made a major announcement, revealing that Randy Johnson will get his No. 51 retired by the Mariners in 2026. He will join Ichiro, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Jackie Robinson as the only retired numbers in franchise history.

Johnson is one of the greatest left-handers in baseball history, if not the greatest, and his career was forged in Seattle.

He spent parts of 10 seasons with the Mariners, going 130-74 in that time. He had been acquired in 1989 via a trade with the Montreal Expos and stayed until he was traded in 1998. He had a 3.42 lifetime ERA in Seattle, tossing 19 shutouts and 51 complete games. The most intimidating pitcher of his era, he had 2,162 strikeouts with Seattle in 1838.1 innings. He helped lead the M's to their first playoff appearance in 1995, going 18-2 and winning the American League Cy Young. He also went 20-4 in 1997.

However, as great as Johnson was, his numbers (and loyalty) to Seattle are not as strong as those of Felix Hernandez. So, the news surrounding Johnson prompted calls for the M's to retire Hernandez's No. 34 as well.

We asked Buster Olney of ESPN about that on the latest Refuse to Lose podcast, and here's what he had to say:

Well, ​first ​and ​foremost, ​Randy ​Johnson ​is ​one ​of ​the ​greatest ​pitchers ​that ​we've ​ever ​seen. ​We ​would ​not ​say ​that ​about ​Felix ​Hernandez. ​However, ​your ​point ​is ​well-taken. ​And ​you ​know ​this ​too:​Felix's ​impact ​was ​not ​only ​as ​a ​pitcher ​and ​what ​he ​did ​on ​a ​field ​for ​what ​were, ​generally ​speaking, ​not ​very ​good ​teams, ​but ​also ​in ​the ​community. ​Like, ​he ​made ​a ​commitment to ​that ​organization. ​​And I ​remember,​ he ​was ​someone ​who ​stayed ​in ​Seattle ​during ​the ​off-season. ​He ​was ​connected ​to ​the ​community ​in ​a ​way ​that ​you ​don't ​necessarily ​see ​with ​All-Star players. ​And ​I ​do ​think ​that ​over ​time, ​because ​as ​more ​players ​are ​put in ​the Hall ​of ​Fame, ​the ​standards ​I ​think ​come ​down ​a ​little ​bit... ​Felix, ​his ​numbers ​aren't ​a ​slam ​dunk ​case ​for ​the ​Hall ​of ​Fame, ​but ​I ​think ​eventually ​he ​will ​get ​into ​the ​Hall ​of ​Fame, ​and ​at ​that ​point ​you're ​going ​to ​want ​to ​have ​his ​number ​available ​to ​retire. ​I ​agree ​with ​you. ​I ​think ​they ​should ​retire ​it ​because ​I ​think ​there's ​going ​to ​be ​a ​day ​when ​he's ​going ​to ​get ​in.

Hernandez won a Cy Young and was a two-time Cy Young runner-up. He was a six-time All-Star who also threw a perfect game. He's a member of the Mariners Hall of Fame and had a run of 16 straight starts of seven or more innings pitched and two runs or less allowed, which made baseball history in 2014.

Lifetime, Hernandez was 169-136 with a 3.42 ERA. He made 419 career appearances, with 418 of them being starts. He struck out 2,524 career batters, the most in M's team history.