Kyle Seager

Position: 3B
Bats/Throws: L/R
Age: 34 (11/3/1987)

Traditional Stats: 159 games, .212/.285/.438, 35 HR, 101 RBI, 29 2B
Advanced Stats: 99 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR, .308 wOBA
Defensive Stats: 3.7 UZR,  4 OAA

Rundown

The stalwart of the Seattle Mariners is finally moving on after a decade of being the team’s everyday third baseman.

Maybe the healthiest player in baseball, Seager has failed to play fewer than 155 games in a season just once in his career. He’s rewarded the Mariners with a steady top-of-the-order bat and plus defense at the hot corner. Seager is a career .251 hitter with eight seasons surpassing 20 home runs.

Seager is enjoying a power renaissance as he enters his mid-30’s. His average hit a career-low .212 but he traded it for a career-high home run total (35) and RBI total (101).

Despite the career-highs, his advanced numbers place him right in line as an average hitter. His 99 wRC+ was one point off of the league average of 100. Hurting his case was a career-high 24.0% strikeout rate and a .226 batting average on balls in play.

Seager is a heavy pull hitter with 43.5% of his batted balls to right field and 34.1% to center. According to BaseballSavant, Seager’s batter ball profile is similar to Yoenis Cespedes in the 2016 season.

At 34-years-old, Seager is the third-oldest third baseman on the market behind Matt Carpenter and Todd Frazier. The only difference is he’s still productive. Third base is shallow with the top full-time third baseman of the market, Eduardo Escobar, heading to the Mets.

Contract

Spotrac lists Seager’s value at $18.9 million per season and projects him for a three-year deal worth $56 million. It would make him the seventh-highest paid third baseman in the majors.

MLB Trade Rumors is a bit more bearish on the price and see’s Seager getting a two-year deal for $24 million. They projected Escobar to receive 2/$20 and the Mets ended up giving him exactly that.

Recommendation

Before the Escobar signing, I would have been all over Seager if the Mets missed out. Now the only improvement you’ll get with Seager is with his glove. Both Escobar and Seager are equally loved by teammates and bring a leadership aspect that was sorely missed by the Mets last season.

If Seager wants to sign some one-year cheap contract on a contender then the Mets could be a destination for him but there’s a feeling he wants to stick it to Jerry DiPoto and the rest of the Mariners front office that he can still play somewhere at a high level.