Mariners Spring Training Preview: The Infield

September 22, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager (15) catches a fly ball in foul territory for the final out of the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Third Base:

Seager has been a godsend to the Mariners. As an afterthought on the 25-man roster in 2011, he found his way into the starting lineup. Granted, Chone Figgins (I hate that name) couldn’t find north with a compass and couldn’t make contact with a baseball to save his career.

Since then Seager has been the Mariners starting third baseman, and really the only thing close enough to a guarantee on this roster in recent years besides Felix Hernandez.

He tanked hard at the end of last year, but still finished with 20 homers and a triple slash of .260/.338/.426.

His biggest fault late in the year was his case of the dropsies. After a first half with really solid defensive play at the Hot Corner, he ended the season with 15 errors and a .964 fielding percentage. But it would take a lot more than that to get Seager off third base. You know, like investing $240 million on a superstar.

No, wait, that’s second base. We will hit that in a few slides.

When it comes to Seager’s backup, Bloomquist is going to be the guy. He is essentially going to be backup at all infield positions except for first base. And, I don’t know if Nick Franklin will be starting the season with the big squad. But I’ll talk about that when we get to shortstop.