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What do we do about Kyle Seager?

seahawksfan234

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I figured this topic deserved its own thread.

He completely adjusted his diet and workout routine this offseason and is clearly in much better shape, but the results have been... not good.

As of this post he is currently hitting .186/.260/.331

Here is how much we owe him with his age in parantheses:
2019: $19.5m (31)
2020: $19.5m (32)
2021: $18.5m (33)
2022: $15m (34)*

*The final year of his contract is a club option but becomes fully guaranteed if he is traded.

Right now he is trending downward and unfortunately has shown no signs of improvement. Are we stuck with him indefinitely? It would appear he is untradeable. Even if he starts showing up at the plate, I doubt someone would be willing to take on his contract.

If you're the Mariners GM, how do you handle this?
 

Duders

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I won't pretend to be the GM on this one....but, if the current GM is not planning on having a competitive team until 21' then it's not going to make much difference whether we keep him or eat his salary. I'm pleased Seag attempted to get his physical bod in shape, but I still say "oh shit, Seager's up" whenever we need a base knock (of any kind) for an rbi. I guess, because of my displeasure with Seager, I say if you can unload him ANYWHERE, eat the loss asap, get a 3rd baseman to build into the team sooner, rather than later. Obviously Seag is not going to be in rebuild so groom someone now.
 

PolarVortex

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This is now year three of a continuous erosion of skills. Some players are still young at 35 ( Nelson Cruz). Some players are old at 30 (Seager, Felix). Seager He'sis done. Cut him. He's taking playing time away from younger players that need the experience. Cut him. His final year is guaranteed only if he is traded, but not if he is cut.
 

jerseyhawksfan79

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If someone down on the farm is ready to take over Seager's spot next season, then he moves to the bench for the next 2 yrs and cut his final year.
 

seahawksfan234

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I won't pretend to be the GM on this one....but, if the current GM is not planning on having a competitive team until 21' then it's not going to make much difference whether we keep him or eat his salary. I'm pleased Seag attempted to get his physical bod in shape, but I still say "oh shit, Seager's up" whenever we need a base knock (of any kind) for an rbi. I guess, because of my displeasure with Seager, I say if you can unload him ANYWHERE, eat the loss asap, get a 3rd baseman to build into the team sooner, rather than later. Obviously Seag is not going to be in rebuild so groom someone now.

I wish there was a way we could dump him somewhere, but at this point I think you're right that it just makes sense to cross our fingers and pray that he somehow turns it around. Right now even if we ate his entire contract AND covered the poison pill in his contract, I can't imagine anyone would realistically send anything back in return.
 

seahawksfan234

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This is now year three of a continuous erosion of skills. Some players are still young at 35 ( Nelson Cruz). Some players are old at 30 (Seager, Felix). Seager He'sis done. Cut him. He's taking playing time away from younger players that need the experience. Cut him. His final year is guaranteed only if he is traded, but not if he is cut.

I don't know what the issue is with Seager. Since cutting weight his defense has dramatically improved from what I can tell, but I think it has been the shift that is killing him. I don't think it's so much age related as it is the change in the game and Seager's inability to adapt. Considering how much he's owed and the lack of organizational options at 3B, might as well keep throwing him out there while the team isn't competitive and pray he figures something out.
 

PolarVortex

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I wish there was a way we could dump him somewhere, but at this point I think you're right that it just makes sense to cross our fingers and pray that he somehow turns it around. Right now even if we ate his entire contract AND covered the poison pill in his contract, I can't imagine anyone would realistically send anything back in return.
He's not going to turn it around. Players in a three-year steady decline rarely turn it around without Dominican milkshakes. The odds are not astronomical, but they are close.
 

seahawksfan234

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If someone down on the farm is ready to take over Seager's spot next season, then he moves to the bench for the next 2 yrs and cut his final year.

Among our top 30 prospects we only have one third baseman (Joe Rizzo ranked at #22) and he's still just lingering at high A. He's the only organizational option at 3B right now unless the team thinks that Shed Long or J.P. Crawford could slide over to third.
 

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I don't know what the issue is with Seager. Since cutting weight his defense has dramatically improved from what I can tell, but I think it has been the shift that is killing him. I don't think it's so much age related as it is the change in the game and Seager's inability to adapt. Considering how much he's owed and the lack of organizational options at 3B, might as well keep throwing him out there while the team isn't competitive and pray he figures something out.
Oh yeah, the shift definitely killed him. I was alluding to this last year. But almost every left-handed hitter in MLB deals with the shift now. Seager is done. At the very least he is done in Seattle but maybe someone can partially resurrect him somewhere else. Get him some fresh mentors with creative ideas, figure out why he hits lefties better than righties because it should be the opposite, put him in a small park where he can abuse the right field wall...some kind of plan along those lines and maybe he can be a league average player again.... but I doubt it.
 

seahawksfan234

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He's not going to turn it around. Players in a three-year steady decline rarely turn it around without Dominican milkshakes. The odds are not astronomical, but they are close.

That's fair but I don't think it's a lack of physical ability. He just can't hit against the shift and I wonder how much of it is mental since his K rate has also shot up. Since there aren't really any other guys in the minors the only replacement options would be Ryon Healy once he gets healthy or Tim Beckham. Healy was disgustingly awful defensively at third and Beckham only has 59 career games at third and committed 7 errors in the process.
 

PolarVortex

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Among our top 30 prospects we only have one third baseman (Joe Rizzo ranked at #22) and he's still just lingering at high A. He's the only organizational option at 3B right now unless the team thinks that Shed Long or J.P. Crawford could slide over to third.
If they move Wade LeBlanc at the deadline, and I honestly think he has better trade value than Leake, maybe they can get a somewhat decent prospect who plays third. Hell, Tommy Milone is even a better trade value than Leake with all the money Leake is tied to.

On the flip side, I don't to see LeBlanc leave. I'm a fan and he's cheap.
 

seahawksfan234

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Oh yeah, the shift definitely killed him. I was alluding to this last year. But almost every left-handed hitter in MLB deals with the shift now. Seager is done. At the very least he is done in Seattle but maybe someone can partially resurrect him somewhere else. Get him some fresh mentors with creative ideas, figure out why he hits lefties better than righties because it should be the opposite, put him in a small park where he can abuse the right field wall...some kind of plan along those lines and maybe he can be a league average player again.... but I doubt it.

Really hard to say what's going on. Last year his K rate shot up along with his inability to hit against the shift. Either he's doing too much, too little, or you could be right that age has taken its toll and his bat speed has diminished but that would be hard to determine.
 

seahawksfan234

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If they move Wade LeBlanc at the deadline, and I honestly think he has better trade value than Leake, maybe they can get a somewhat decent prospect who plays third. Hell, Tommy Milone is even a better trade value than Leake with all the money Leake is tied to.

On the flip side, I don't to see LeBlanc leave. I'm a fan and he's cheap.

I haven't heard LeBlanc mentioned much but that's an interesting proposal. He is cheap, but he turns 35 this year his cumulative numbers haven't been very pretty.

If the Mariners ate most of the money on Leake's contract I do believe he would be a valuable trade asset. The guy has been remarkably consistent throughout his career.
 

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I figured this topic deserved its own thread.

He completely adjusted his diet and workout routine this offseason and is clearly in much better shape, but the results have been... not good.

As of this post he is currently hitting .186/.260/.331

Here is how much we owe him with his age in parantheses:
2019: $19.5m (31)
2020: $19.5m (32)
2021: $18.5m (33)
2022: $15m (34)*

*The final year of his contract is a club option but becomes fully guaranteed if he is traded.

Right now he is trending downward and unfortunately has shown no signs of improvement. Are we stuck with him indefinitely? It would appear he is untradeable. Even if he starts showing up at the plate, I doubt someone would be willing to take on his contract.

If you're the Mariners GM, how do you handle this?

Seager is one smart business man... He sold us fools gold... He could sell ice to an eskimo....
 

jerseyhawksfan79

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Among our top 30 prospects we only have one third baseman (Joe Rizzo ranked at #22) and he's still just lingering at high A. He's the only organizational option at 3B right now unless the team thinks that Shed Long or J.P. Crawford could slide over to third.

Since it's a rebuild, I'd say keep playing Seager and as bad as it is at least he's earning a pay check even if he doesn't deserve it. The Rizzo kid needs another 2 to 3 yrs so no need to rush him up.
 

wazzu31

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Well they are eating payroll at every trade so cut him!

But to this, I’m just guessing ownership isn’t exactly pleased with eating all of this money. I highly doubt they would ok just waiving Seager. The best thing for Seager’s career is if he just goes out there and tries being Bryce Harper, where he will just try to beat the shift by going for homers every time.
 

mcnabb7542

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But to this, I’m just guessing ownership isn’t exactly pleased with eating all of this money. I highly doubt they would ok just waiving Seager. The best thing for Seager’s career is if he just goes out there and tries being Bryce Harper, where he will just try to beat the shift by going for homers every time.

That's the problem I have with Kyle is that he is a smart baseball player and why he hasn't adjusted his approach at the plate to where he is driving the ball to the opposite side of the field instead of playing right into the shift. It's not like every pitch is coming at him in on the hands. I watched and he has half ass swung at some pitches on the outside corner, ( to protect) why wont he just adjust and be better prepared on waiting on those pitches and stepping towards that side and driving it down the 3rd base line.

I know coming from a fan that has taken a swing for a very long time, but still its the damn approach you would think he would be all over the adjustments....
 

wazzu31

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That's the problem I have with Kyle is that he is a smart baseball player and why he hasn't adjusted his approach at the plate to where he is driving the ball to the opposite side of the field instead of playing right into the shift. It's not like every pitch is coming at him in on the hands. I watched and he has half ass swung at some pitches on the outside corner, ( to protect) why wont he just adjust and be better prepared on waiting on those pitches and stepping towards that side and driving it down the 3rd base line.

I know coming from a fan that has taken a swing for a very long time, but still its the damn approach you would think he would be all over the adjustments....

I totally understand why you, as well as every old school baseball player is frustrated with that. Listening to John Smoltz talk about how much he hates the shift at least confirmed my personal opinion. Somehow with the new analytics bunting to get on base is bad and is a win for the defense. The math does not add up to me as I don’t get how the probability of getting with an easy bunt single and getting on base is bad but intentionally trying to beat it by hitting into hoping for a home run has better odds. It is just weird to me that analytics somehow values home runs more than .OBP when the more you get on base mathematically has higher a chance of scoring than having everyone try for home runs.
 

mcnabb7542

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I totally understand why you, as well as every old school baseball player is frustrated with that. Listening to John Smoltz talk about how much he hates the shift at least confirmed my personal opinion. Somehow with the new analytics bunting to get on base is bad and is a win for the defense. The math does not add up to me as I don’t get how the probability of getting with an easy bunt single and getting on base is bad but intentionally trying to beat it by hitting into hoping for a home run has better odds. It is just weird to me that analytics somehow values home runs more than .OBP when the more you get on base mathematically has higher a chance of scoring than having everyone try for home runs.

Exactly!

The man hasn’t lead the team in HRs for over 4 years get him on base and let another guy collect the RBIS
 
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