Fan question: Who will be the Seattle Mariners Third Baseman in 2022?

We are all waiting for the Seattle Mariners and the rest of MLB to start back up again. And as we have struggled to find interesting topics to discuss without repeating ourselves, we are going right to the source.

So we have sent out the bat signal to you, the fans of the Seattle Mariners, via our Twitter (@sodomojoFS) and our Facebook page, asking what questions you want to be answered. We want to know exactly what is on your mind. So first up, a question from our good friend Jordan Leavitt (@mormonpizzaman on Twitter):

A pretty simple question with a not so simple answer. Currently, the Mariners projected third baseman is Kyle Seager and if/when we get to play baseball games again, Seager will man the hot corner in 2020 and, almost assuredly, 2021.

But this is where things get interesting. After 2021, the Mariners have a team option worth $15 million for Seager’s 2022 season. If they decline the option, they’ll pay Seager a small buyout and let him hit free agency.

We need to remember that whether or not there are games played this year, Seager’s contract will toll for 2020 so there won’t be any delay in this decision. The reason this decision isn’t so cut and dry is that we saw Seager both look like his 2018 self last season as well as the 2016 version of himself for 6 weeks. We need more clarity on which is the real Kyle Seager going forward.

Right now, there are exactly zero in-house candidates that are MLB ready for 2020 and this will more than likely be true in 2021 as well. Some of the names who may begin to be options after 2021 include Noelvi Marte, Austin Shenton, and/or Shed Long.

So deciding whether or not Seager will be worth $15 million in 2022 without any information from 2020 or 2021 is an impossible question. But to be worth that sum, he’d only need to be about a 1.5 WAR player, a level he has reached every year since becoming a regular in 2012.

So without data from 2020, the lack of in-house options currently in the organization, and the relative ease for Seager to reach 2 WAR as a 33-year-old player, my official guess is Kyle Seager.

Thanks to Jordan for the question. Please follow Jordan, @Mormonpizzaman, and us, @sodomojoFS on Twitter for more of these fan question opportunities.