5 Reasons the Mariners Will Be Watching the Playoffs from Home… Again

3. Epic Failure by Seager, Hernandez, Cano
No two ways around it, Kyle Seager and Felix Hernandez were awful in 2018. It substantially easier to predict with Felix, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. The Mariners entered 2018 knowing the Felix was a shell of his former self and didn’t do anything to change it (more on that later).
In addition to the struggles of Seager and Hernandez, the Mariners also missed arguably its best bat when they lost Robinson Cano. Yes, the Mariners played very well during Cano’s suspension, but one cannot help but wonder how well they would have played had Cano not missed 80 games. Hernandez, Seager, and Cano are the Mariners 3 highest paid players. In 2018, the provided 1.7 bWAR and 2.0 of it came from Cano.
No, that isn’t a misprint. Robinson Cano who missed more than half the season was worth 2.0 bWAR. Seager was worth 0.7 bWAR and Hernandez was worth an almost impressive -1.0 bWAR.
The simple fact that the 3 highest paid players on the team, worth $70 million provided somewhere between $10-$14 million of value ($5-$7 million per win). Pretty much tells you everything you need to know.
The failure of the Mariners 3 highest paid players is one of the biggest and most obvious reasons for the Mariners collapse.