Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners.
Kyle Seager was the Seattle Mariners’ third-round draft pick in the 2009 draft. Two years later, he debuted and played his entire decade-long career in Seattle. Seager, along with Felix Hernandez, never made it to the playoffs during their Seattle tenure. That doesn’t stop the fan base from loving both players. Although, Seager’s end of his career performance did put a damper on his career.
Seager finished his career as a career .251 hitter averaging 26 home runs, 88 RBIs, 153 hits, a .321 OBP, and a .763 OPS. Unfortunately, after 2016 he never hit over .249, and in his final season, Seager’s batting average dropped to .212. Only two times in his career did he hit 30 or more home runs, 2016 and 2021.
Fans can legitimately debate whether 2014 or 2016 was Seager’s best season. He put up better stats in 2016. However, 2016 was his only All-Star appearance and Gold Glove selection. For his career, Seager has a .966 fielding percentage. Peaking in 2014 at .981
So, again he was a pretty good third baseman for the Seattle Mariners. Arguably the best in the franchise’s history. In several different seasons, he was the Seattle Mariners’ best player. Seager was also one of the few prospects that actually panned out during an era when the M’s struggled to develop talent.
Many of his teammates loved him. It would also be hard to find many Mariners fans who say they didn’t like Seager. Sure he had his flaws, but ultimately his positives outweighed the negatives.
However, there are two individuals in Seattle who are not fans of Seager. Those two are Mike Salk and Brock Huard of 710 ESPN. And none of these guys are backing down from their views on each other. So, why is this even a topic now that Seager is retired?
On April 20 (4/20, maybe coincidentally?) Seattle sports talk radio host Mike Salk stated that he wants Kyle Seager “to burn.” Yikes! What did Seager do to deserve this kind of venom from Salk?
It all goes back to the Brock and Salk Show days. Brock Huard allegedly commented that he felt Seager should be performing better than he was, based on the money Seager was getting paid.
A simple and fair enough statement that many fans felt after Seager signed his big contract in 2015 to stay with the Seattle Mariners. Apparently, Seager didn’t agree with Huard and was subsequently rude to the host when appearing on the show. So then, what does Salk have to do with this, and why is he so bitter? I guess Salk didn’t care for how Seager handled himself with Huard. So Salk is sticking up for his friend.
I don’t know for sure, but that is the conclusion I can draw based on the evidence. There is no love loss between these guys. Seager’s wife has even gone as far as to “limit” what Salk can see on her Twitter account. Meanwhile, Huard can see everything. A curious move by Julie, but then Salk is still on the radio, whereas Huard is on a podcast.
“Part of the reason. Not the only reason. Part of the reason why I’m rooting and enjoying the Suarez era is because I want Kyle Seager to burn.”
So as not to take things completely out of context, you can listen to the entire segment here. Salk also states that Eugenio Suarez is better, or at least a case can be made that he’s better than Seager. His opinion is based on a small sample size, Suarez’s attitude, and his leadership. Salk states that Seager’s leadership was overblown and that he was a locker room lawyer.
Right now, some fans are pulling up the numbers of both Seager and Suarez, trying to compare the two and argue that Suarez is better. Listen, if you are one of these people that is trying to make comparisons between Seager and the Seattle Mariners version of Suarez (not his entire career), just stop.
We are literally only a few weeks into the season. Not one player even has 100 at-bats. So, there is still so much that can happen between now and the end of the year.
As for their respective careers, offensively, both players are similar, with Suarez getting the nod for more power. Ddefensively, there is no comparison. Seager is hands-down better. Subsequently, April 21st turned into Kyle Seager appreciation day. Now, here’s the good news, you can like both players.
Seager is one of the better players in M’s history. Suarez is off to a really nice start, both offensively and defensively. It’s quite possible that Seattle Mariners’ infield guru Perry Hill’s work with Suarez is paying off. And maybe Suarez will be comparable to Seager defensively when it’s all said and done. But for Salk to go out of his way to throw shade on Seager, well, that’s just childish and petty.
I can tell you Salk’s behavior is more than likely something I would have done 20 years ago when I was in high school. I’m not saying Salk should apologize for his take because nothing offensive was said. He just shared his true feelings on the matter, but it’s probably something that he didn’t need to share. Salk could have easily shared his truth without going after Seager.
For the rest of you fans, I have some advice. Go out and enjoy this year’s Seattle Mariners team. Let Seager enjoy his retirement. He’s earned it. Support and cheer on this year’s Mariners team. This season is shaping up to be really fun and enjoyable.