Seattle Mariners: Five trade destinations for Kyle Seager

Kyle Seager appears to be the next member of the Seattle Mariners out the door. Where could they trade him?

If you are a member of the Seattle Mariners, clearly you should rent not buy. General Manager Jerry Dipoto has already dealt Mike Zunino, Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and Alex Colome. Now, it appears Kyle Seager is the next player they want to send out the door.

Evaluators with other teams expect that given the Mariners’ devotion to dumping Cano — eating $20 million and taking on the contracts of outfielder Jay Bruce and reliever Anthony Swarzak — Seattle will do whatever it takes to trade its most expensive remaining player, Kyle Seager.

Seager is owed a combined $60 million over the next three years. The problem is they wouldn’t exactly be selling high on the 31 year old. He’s coming off of his worst season since taking over as the Seattle Mariners’ third baseman.

Seager posted career lows in average (.221) and OPS (.673) which was a 100 point drop from 2017.

We all know Dipoto is like the person in your fantasy league who constantly roster churns and throws out trade ideas at 2am, so if anyone can pull off a Seager trade it’s certainly him.

He could attach Mitch Haniger into the deal, similar to attaching Diaz to Cano. He could take another club’s bad contract and eat money Seager’s deal.

So, where will the Seattle Mariners ship Seager to in the next part of their teardown? Here a few possible destinations for the former All-Star at the hot corner.

San Diego Padres

The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres had discussions earlier this off-season for a Jean Segura/Mike Leake for Wil Myers deal. With Segura on his way to Philly, maybe they can rekindle the conversation, just with Seager instead of Segura.

Myers is not a third baseman, and the Padres have a loaded farm system, so the Mariners could extract a prospect or two for their troubles.

The Padres don’t really have a third baseman at this point and with the amount of outfielders they have and Eric Hosmer at first, there’s no real fit for Myers. Seager does have a Gold Glove in his past, and with a young pitching staff, having a good defense behind them can only help their development.

For the Mariners, Myers is an option at first, DH or in right field should they move Haniger. They could also try and flip Myers, who only makes $5.5 million next year, before the bulk of his contract kicks in. Though at first/DH, maybe he won’t deal with the injuries that he has throughout his career.

The Padres want to try and be ready to take a leap in 2020 and are using this off-season to get that process going.

New York Yankees

It’s been no secret that the New York Yankees were not happy about the defense that Miguel Andujar provided at third base. In their final game of the season, he didn’t even make it onto the field. Maybe they feel that a change at third base is needed and maybe another deal with the Seattle Mariners for Seager is the answer.

Now, part of this to help offset the salary of Seager would be to take back Jacoby Ellsbury‘s deal and provide some money to even it out, Maybe if they do this, they can get a prospect from the Yankees back in order to continue their rebuilding process.

Defensively, Andujar was a -23 DRS , while Seager was a -5 last year. Even if Seager remained a -5, that’s still an 18 run improvement defensively from last season. Seager would also provide some left-handed thump that will be missing Didi Gregorius for a good chunk of the 2019 season.

Now this only happens if they decide to either deal Andujar, fail to sign Manny Machado or make Andujar a first baseman.

These teams make deals all the time, so maybe they can do another this off-season.

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins have a lot of holes and a lot of payroll flexibility. Miguel Sano isn’t good enough defensively at third base. Willians Astudilo may not be the answer either. The club made the Wild Card game just two years ago, and in a division where everyone seems to be rebuilding or retooling, including Cleveland, why not take a risk and add some pop to your lineup and make a deal with the Seattle Mariners for Seager.

For the Seattle Mariners, the fact that the Twins have payroll flexibility and can take the entire contract back without getting back another piece and taking offsetting money like in the other deals that they have made. It can be a straight salary dump and a way to help the Mariners continue their rebuild, even if they have to kick in a little bit of money to help the Twins.

For the Twins, Seager would reprsent a veteran presence and a left-handed power source to go with Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler. A middle of the order with Seager, Rosario, Kepler, Sano and C.J. Cron can provide some pretty good power.  Add some pitching to the staff and maybe they can get back to the postseason in 2019.

Chicago White Sox 

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The Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners already got together on a deal this off-season as the Sox added Alex Colome to help lengthen their bullpen as they embark on taking their next step in their rebuilding process.

Their top third base prospect in Jake Burger has blown out his Achilles multiple times. Yolmer Sanchez was the third baseman last season, but he may be better suited as a utility player for the club. They have payroll flexibility and if they don’t sign Mike Moustakas or Manny Machado, maybe they can turn to the Seattle Mariners for Seager.

The White Sox have a deep farm system so they can take on the money and Mariners can get another prospect or two.

Eventually, Kyle Seager will be moving on from the Seattle Mariners. Where he goes probably depends on where Machado and Moustakas sign. After that, whoever is still looking for a third baseman may turn this route. I can see any of the five teams going this route, though it may not happen until 2019.