Seattle Mariners 2020 Review/2021 Preview – Corner Infield
Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners.
Third Base
The Best
Over the last decade, Kyle Seager has been the rock of Seattle’s infield at the hot corner. The power-hitting lefty began the season on fire with a .304 average the first two weeks of the season. During the year, Seager became only the fourth man in Seattle Mariners history with 200 home runs. Additionally, he rose to fourth place in franchise history for RBI and fifth in runs scored.
He slumped in September and saw his season batting average drop from .283 to .232. A final week surge had the veteran fishing up at .244. Seager led the team with 60 games played (first in the American League), 40 RBI (10th), 32 walks (9th), and 12 doubles. He was also second to Kyle Lewis on the M’s with nine home runs.
There have been plenty of rumors in the last couple of years that Seattle is trying to trade Seager. The biggest stumbling block is his contract. Seager has one more season left on the deal; however, the M’s have a $15M option for 2022. If he does move in a trade, the final season becomes a player option, which Seager most likely cashes in.
The rest
Say the Mariners do trade Seager in the off-season or during next season; as of now, the internal choices to replace him would be Ty France, Dylan Moore, Tim Lopes, and Sam Haggerty. Moore is the best defensive player of the four. Servais would have to decide if he’d rather have Moore at second or third with France taking the other spot.
The Up and Comers
The Mariners have two third basemen listed among their top 30 prospects, Austin Shenton is 18th and Joe Rizzo comes in at 23. Shenton, a local kid out of Bellingham, was drafted in 2019 in the fifth round. A left-handed hitter like Seager, he has some pop in his bat. Defensively Shenton is average at best. Although he spent the summer at Seattle’s alternate training site, Shenton is likely headed for High-A or Double-A next season.
Rizzo, who was expected to play in Double-A this year did not get an invitation to the team’s alternate site. He’ll get a chance to show what he can do as part of the Mariners Arizona Instructional League team this fall.
Our series continues later in the week.