Kyle Seager has retired

Kyle Seager, longtime Seattle Mariners third baseman, announced his retirement today.

Seager, who turned 34 last month, was originally a third round draft pick by the Mariners out of UNC in 2009. He made the majors in 2011, and spent his career holding down the hot corner for the M’s. Overall eleven seasons he slashed .251/.321/.442 in 1480 games, totaling 36.9 bWAR.

The Mariners declined their club option for 2022 on Seager, making him a free agent for the first time in his career — coincidentally enough, at the same time his brother, Corey Seager, hit the free agent market for the first time. Corey, of course, signed a 10 year deal with the Rangers, and there were rumblings that the brothers would like to play together in 2022.

Kyle Seager, of course, was a nemesis for Rangers (and Ranger fans) during his career — he had an 879 OPS against the Rangers in his career, and his 37 home runs was more than he had against any other team. While he took Justin Verlander deep five times, the most of any pitcher he faced, he homered off of Martin Perez four times. There are seven pitchers he has homered off of at least three times, including Kolby Allard and Derek Holland.

Seager could have, no doubt, signed a short term deal with a major league team this offseason, either as a starter or in a bench role. Instead, it appears that Kyle is ready to hang them up, after a very nice career.