I just submitted a different article on the same topic so whoever has the keys these days can ignore that one.

Seager had a very nice career. I'm a bit surprised that he retired as I'm sure he could have played another few years.

Interesting that Kyle retires at age 34 the same offseason that his little brother signs a 10-year, $325 million contract at age 27.

There goes the guy who I felt was high on the Jays list of offseason plans - Jose Ramirez the idea candidate, but given he was unlikely then Seager I saw as a good choice for 3B with Espinal mixed in vs some LH (Espinal also would play 2B vs other LH pitchers giving Biggio a break). Ah well. Hopefully he has a nice retirement and invested better than many big leaguer's did.

This is a shocker to me. His 35 homers were "only" good for a 100 OPS+, but he's been an above average player for a decade and is still young. He's made crazy money by normal person standards, but not by pro athlete standards. He could do anything from re-signing with Seattle and moving up their career leaderboards to signing a deal with Texas and go play with your brother.

One of the most beloved players in the history of the Seattle Mariners, and an absolute joy to watch play defense.

My name is Votto, and I love to get Moppo Posted: December 29, 2021 at 03:05 PM (#6058930) This is a shocker to me. His 35 homers were "only" good for a 100 OPS+, but he's been an above average player for a decade and is still young.

It's not the 35 HR driving the 100 OPS+, it's the .212 BA/.285 OBP. And 34 is not young for an MLB player. If you look at the past four seasons, you can see the decline setting in. The HR last year are probably a result of selling out and guessing on certain pitches/counts, or just a bit fluky. I would take the under for a 90 OPS+ season if he played again next year.

I think he had some sort of issue with the Mariners front office that kind of ruled out a reunion.

I can see why a 34 year old guy wouldn't want to uproot himself to hustle for a starting job with a new team. Retire now and you can ignore the lockout stuff too.

So he just turned 34, and counting the $2m he got for the team declining his 2022 option, he made about $103.5m, most of it in the last five years. If he wanted to play for at least a few more years, he certainly could have signed a two-year deal for, what, at least $10m a year?

I don't know his family situation, but when I was 34, I had been married for seven years, and had two daughters who were 5 and 3. Knowing nothing about his financial situation, can we assume that he has at least $20m saved up in some form from his playing career? The question for most of us is, if you could retire at 34 with a young family and that kind of financial security, how valuable would being on the road most of the year for the next two years be to you and your family? If you could get a 2/$20m contract, but you'd play in Texas or Toronto or something while your family was in Seattle, after taxes that $20m is $12 million, there are doubtless opportunities to make pretty good money working for the Mariners, buying car dealerships around the Pacific Northwest, etc....well, it is probably a tough call.

At any rate, I find the decision-making process that somebody in Seager's position would use fascinating, and underexplored by the media. For the handful of athletes making Tom Brady, Lebron James, Mike Trout money, it is not about the money. For most professional athletes - the ones who hope to get a second contract, or play more than three years, or actually reach free agency, it is generally all about the money (they are only going to make a few million over their career, tops, and know they cannot come close to retiring off of what they made through age 27).

But for the tier of pro athletes who are neither Brady/James/Trout, but also not pre-arb players, these decisions are probably really interesting. I'd be interested in a podcast, or TV series, or a "30 for 30"-style documentary on the personal financial decision-making of professional athletes.

I think he had some sort of issue with the Mariners front office that kind of ruled out a reunion.

Mariners CEO Kevin Mather resigned in February after the fallout from making some incredibly insensitive remarks, on several subjects related to the M's, during an online event posted by the Bellevue, Washington, Breakfast Rotary Club. One of the things he indicated was that this would be Seager's last year with the club, and that he wouldn't be re-signed when his contract ran out at the end of the season. Seager was reportedly extremely upset about Mather making the statement, and believed that he was speaking for the entire front office. Although Seager did not discuss it publicly, there's a good chance that it scuppered any chance of him re-signing with the team if they had offered him a contract.

As #5 implies, I doubt Seager was looking at 2/$20. It's MLB GMs so you never know for sure but he is the sort of player that teams have been quite stingy with the last few seasons. It's still a surprise to see a guy retire after an average season but I figure the player usually knows what they're doing -- i.e. he knows how diminished his skills were last year even if he was able to compensate for a season. He feels he's looking at a 180 BA and 30% K-rate. (#5 didn't mention that his K-rate was 24% last year vs a career 18%, that's a big change.) He's had 4 straight years with a BABIP of 251 or worse, he knows he can't catch up to fastballs anymore. Even the defense and baserunning have slipped a bit the last few years, he knows he's slower. I almost nominated him as a potential "big name" who might jump in the foreign signings thread before seeing this thread.

Kudos to the guy not just for a fine career but also for doing what he's needed to do to remain a solid player for the last few years. As #5 notes, looking back at it now, there are hints in all his numbers the last few years. This year's numbers sure look like a classic case of a guy cheating on fastballs and swinging for the fences to remain some sort of threat. I never blame a guy for going out before things get bad. (I also don't blame a guy for holding on.)

Only Seager and Ortiz end with 30/100, I think.

Most games played never in post season


Kyle Seager, 1,480 Games in 11 seasons since 2011

Jean Segura, 1,230 Games in 10 seasons since 2010

These are the only two active players with over 1,000 games without getting into the post season, so now Segura is the active leader. That’s some bad luck for both of them, not even ever getting into a Wild Card game. Both are very good players of course.

Seager 112 career OPS+, 34 Career WAR, solid power hitter, good fielder.

Segura admittedly much better player than I originally gave credit for when Dbacks first got him in 2016. He turned into a hit machine and defense was fine. While He has a 99 career OPS+ and 26 WAR in ten seasons, which is more than just fine, since 2016 it’s really a different story:

110 OPS+, and 21 of that 26 WAR, or 4 WAR per 650 PA.

I hope Segura gets a chance to play in the playoffs before it’s over for him. He’s signed with Philly for one more year then there is a team option for 17M in 2023. They probably don’t pick that up, so he’ll be fighting for a job after 2023.

Adam Dunn is the leader since the Wild Card era began., (14th overall). He played in 2001 games between 2001-2014 without getting into the post season.

I'm not one of those "I wish players stayed with the same team" people (although, as a Cubs fan, I admit being incredibly sad this July), but Seager's career transactions are beautiful in their simplicity.

June 9, 2009: Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 3rd round of the 2009 amateur draft. Player signed July 2, 2009.

November 4, 2021: Granted Free Agency.

Seager makes $103 million before taxes; the Mariners get 36.9 WAR for their money. Congratulations all around.

For most professional athletes it's not about the money. For some at the end it's probably about the money as they squandered what they made.

“Only Seager and Ortiz end with 30/100, I think.”

According to Stathead, that’s correct.

7 - That's an interesting take on Seager. You're right for the average Joe, what Seager has earned (and hopefully saved a good chunk of) is mind blowing amounts of money. Invested right, his grandkids will never have to want for anything. That being said, it's not Trout money, or Lebron money, or billionaire money, or even 100 million sitting in investment accounts waiting to be used for something. He's probably goy a really nice house (or two), luxury cars, lots of money in the bank and can afford what he needs, but not necessarily anything and everything. His situation would make a really interesting 30 for 30 or podcast material for his personal finances.

If he wanted to play for at least a few more years, he certainly could have signed a two-year deal for, what, at least $10m a year?

MLB Trade Rumors pegged him as getting 2 years/$24M in free agency. Their estimates are usually in the ballpark, so it does appear that Seager walked away from significant money.

“Only Seager and Ortiz end with 30/100, I think.”'

Kong fell six ribbies short.

I stand corrected ... Seager's shot at a good contract were better than I thought. Seager-y players from last year:

JBJ -- 2/$24 (what were they thinking?)
Duvall -- 1/$5 (bargain)
Eaton -- 1/$7
Gardner -- 2/$5
Didi -- 2/$28 (what were they thinking?)
Y Gurriel -- 1/$7 (bargain)
E Hernandez -- 2/$14 (bargain)
LeMahieu -- 6/$90 (maybe too good for this group?)
Santana -- 2/$17.5

That's a massively mixed bag and 2/$24 clearly at the top end but it certainly can't be ruled out. And of coruse we can debate which of these is Seager-y enough. As it worked out, Didi and Bradley were both below replacement level (both age 31) so that was not money well spent in year 1. Looks like Carlos Santana may have fallen apart for good (79 OPS+ in 659 PA); Eaton below replacement too.

All told those 9 players added up to about 12 WAR for about $78 M which works out fine for the teams. Duvall, Gurriel and Hernandez paid off very nicely. Seager should project to about 1.5 WAR which by that quick calculation would run about $10 M in this market.

Adam Dunn sort of got to the postseason. He was on the 2014 A’s, who lost a crazy wild card game to the Royals. Dunn didn’t play in the game, and might not have been part of the active roster. But he was on the team and would have been eligible.

7/15, even with all the taxes he must have paid plus agent's commissions, I have a hard time not envisioning Mr. Seager with assets at least in the $50MM range.

He has been making pretty good money for a while now ($8MM in 2016, $11MM in 2017 and between $18.5 and $19.MM since 2018). Surely he is getting a return from that money, after taxes and agent's commissions.

Adam Dunn sort of got to the postseason. He was on the 2014 A’s, who lost a crazy wild card game to the Royals. Dunn didn’t play in the game, and might not have been part of the active roster. But he was on the team and would have been eligible.

It appears Dunn was on the roster.

Many, many athletes keep playing for self-gratification. Its ego, the lifestyle.

It appears Dunn was on the roster.
Yes - I remember the game and the announcers making a big deal whether he would make an appearance.

$103 million, probably paid $30-40 million in taxes. Say he spent $10 million on real estate, cars, fun, etc. Let's say $50 million in the bank. Put that $50 million in the S&P 500 and he could live like a king off the gains.

Seager was one of my favorite visiting players, durable and professional.

Not only 35/101, but both were his career highs (though as people have noted, a career-low BA.) That must be really unusual, to retire with career bests in major categories. Sandy Koufax had career bests in Wins and ERA in 1966, though quite different circs.

24, Agreed.

Johnny Depp reportedly can blow through $2M per month so, sure, Seager can't live that lifestyle. That included $30,000/month for wine. (Who knows how much the blow bill was?) But the man also had 40 FTEs not including security (another $150,000 per month).

Drop like a lot of entertainers and athletes can blow insane amount of money while the money is coming in. He won’t be able to do it once the money stops coming in.

Johnny Depp reportedly can blow through $2M per month so, sure, Seager can't live that lifestyle. That included $30,000/month for wine. (Who knows how much the blow bill was?) But the man also had 40 FTEs not including security (another $150,000 per month).

Whenever I'm talking to people that are outraged how much top paid athletes make I ask them if they are equally outraged by how much top paid celebrities and entertainers make, which is often WAY more.

Kylie Jenner at 590M ?

Even Dr. Phil at $65M...now that makes me feel outraged.

FORBES CELEBRITY TOP 100

Wow, I have thoughts on that Forbes list.

Howard Stern is still in the top 10?

Bill Simmons made $82 million last year (when was The Ringer sold to Spotify?)

The highest-paid NFL player is Kirk Cousins?

And Travis Scott will have plenty of money to pay his lawyers.