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Seattle Mariners centerfielder Julio Rodríguez is many brands to many people.
To viewers, his Instagram feed, YouTube channel, TikTok and new website—he’s The J-Rod Show. To fans in the outfield at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, he’s the wall-climbing patroller of the No Fly Zone.
To the nearly 20 brands he’s partnered with during his two years in the MLB, the 2022 American League Rookie of the Year represents the future.
“He’s the CEO of the J-Rod Show brand,” said JB Greer, director of baseball player marketing at Octagon, which represents Rodríguez.
After helping the Mariners to their first playoff appearance since 2001 last season, Rodríguez got off to a slow start in 2023. With the Mariners just 45-44 at the All-Star break and Rodríguez initially missing from the Seattle-hosted All-Star game, he was added just a week before the event to replace injured players.
Rodríguez used flights, credits and miles from his partnership with Alaska Airlines to fly his family in for the event. To show his appreciation to Alaska and other sponsors, he hosted a breakfast for both his family and his brand partners at Seattle’s Hyatt Regency (owned by Rodríguez partner Hyatt). He displayed the custom products they’d made for him—from Wilson gloves to PLB Sports’ Juli’Os Cereal—as well as his Opening Day cover of Sports Illustrated.
He shook hands and took pictures with members of various brand teams just before heading to All-Star Week’s Home Run Derby… where he hit a single-round record 41 home runs.
Afterward, he shared his thoughts on the morning’s events with Adweek.
“It was definitely great to be able to have a nice little breakfast with them and just kind of be able to say thank you to everybody that has supported me, that believed in me and basically traveled along on this road with me,” he said.
The Mariners went 43-30 the rest of the way and contended for the Wild Card until the second-to-last game of the season. Rodríguez, meanwhile, exceeded last year’s totals for hits, runs, home runs, RBI and stolen bases while giving MLB the seventh most-sold jersey in the league. Along the way, he continued helping youth baseball programs both in Seattle and his hometown of Lomo de Cabrera in the Dominican Republic.
