12 Days of Mariners-mas: Fan Favorite Kyle Seager is #9

On the 9th day of Mariners-mas, a young North Carolinan with a head as smooth as a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas morning was drafted by our beloved Seattle Mariners. Twelve years later, Kyle Seager has claimed his crown as the Mariners’ greatest third baseman of all time, and forever cemented his place in the hearts of M’s fans.

Kyle Seager was drafted in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of the University of North Carolina, but was largely overshadowed at the time by his Tar Heel teammate, Dustin Ackley, who was picked second overall by the Mariners in the same draft. Ackley and Seager both debuted with Seattle in 2011, but while Ackley’s uninspiring Mariners tenure ended in 2015, Seager remained a strong contributor for the next 10 years.

After several years of mediocrity in the late 2000s, Kyle Seager helped bring hope to the Seattle Mariners fanbase.

While the Mariners never made the playoffs during Seager’s tenure in Seattle, they came closer with him than they ever did in the eight years between 2003 and his arrival. Seager was a key cog on the Mariners’ 87-win team in 2014 that missed the playoffs by one game, the 86-win team in 2016, the 89-win team in 2018 that would have made the postseason if not for the Oakland Athletics’ unprecedented second-half surge, and 2021’s improbable 90-win team that saw itself eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the season.

One mustn’t look farther than Seager’s final game in a Mariners’ uniform to understand the impact he made on teammates and fans alike during his time in Seattle:

Kyle Seager finished his Mariners career with a .251/.321/.442 slash line, 242 home runs, and 807 RBIs, and 309 doubles, with the latter three accomplishments all placing him in the Top-4 of all-time Mariners. Baseball Reference places Seager 7th in WAR in Mariners’ history, but the SoDo Mojo team agreed to place two other greats ahead of him before the obvious Top 6, as Seager was unfortunately never able to help Seattle break its infamous 20-year postseason drought.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the 8th day of Mariners-mas, and let us know what you think along the way!