Originally Posted on the Previous Iteration of Baseball.FYI by Javier Reyes, @javiipeno
Look, I don’t know everything. In fact, some might say I don’t know anything at all. But one thing I do suspect to be true is that Major League Baseball tends to be a much more localized sport than others. Most fans aren’t aware of the developments going on with other teams and players outside their division — and especially so with ones outside of the major media markets. This all makes one particular activity — the activity of fantasy baseball — an immeasurably helpful one in discovering great players that you might not have been alerted to otherwise. In my case, that player was Kyle Seager.
Last summer, I took a trip down to Atlantic City with one of my best friends. Why, exactly, did we venture to a place littered with casinos, expensive services, and overpriced beverages despite neither of us having any real income at the time? There’s probably a more YA-novel-esque way to put it, but for the sake of time let’s just say we’re young and can be aggressively, magnificently, and exceptionally stupid. One of our nights there, we indulged in some adult beverages and hung out in a lounge area in one of the casinos just chatting it up and, most importantly, watching some baseball highlights.
It was in this laid back environment, on August 19, 2019, that nearly epitomizes “manliness” that I was alerted to Mr. Seager, who had just hit his second home run of the game against the Tigers. Hearing the man’s name sent an ever-so-slight chill down my spine. Why? Because for years, Kyle Seager was one of the overlooked guys I learned about, appreciated, and defended. That is, until the dark times: Before his production descended into lifelessness faster than Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock in The Other Guys.
You see, once upon a time, Kyle Seager was one of the most perennially underrated players at his position. Drafted in the third round by the Mariners in 2009, Seager quickly became an above-average producer when he made his way to the majors. His production, essentially from 2013 to 2016, was excellent and particularly memorable given that baseball wasn’t quite in the offensive explosion stage that it is now. He was consistent, and even improved slightly each year with his home run totals. He was also a proficient defender, earning a gold glove in 2014 and retaining a dWAR of 1.6 or higher during this stretch.
Of course, these aren’t the most in-depth numbers in the world, but still! Seager was an overlooked player on Mariners lineups that featured Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, but was still incredibly valuable. There were more high-profile names like Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Evan Longoria, and Adrian Beltre in the American League, but Seager was still there. He was always there, and was always overlooked.
Sometimes this oversight helped, though. In 2016, I can remember poaching him from a disgruntled team in my fantasy league after an atrocious start, having nothing but a .159/.266/.378 slash line to his name by the end of April. Of course, Seager rebounded — as he always did — in a big way immediately, batting .361/.421/.630 in May. He ended up amassing perhaps his most impressive offensive season of his career, batting .278/.359/.499 with a career high in home runs (30) and RBIs (99).
Do you know how good that felt? To be right about a player nobody actually talked about? Plus, that was only his age-28 season, which one would presume as a sign that things would get even better. But nay, Mr. Seager instead began his descent into mediocrity, and helped lead to my descent into madness. His 2017 season was a step down, but perhaps could’ve been attributed to simply being a case of bad luck; an “off year”, if I may. Then in 2018 and 2019, things got worse. Here are some of his seasonal numbers after 2016:
- 2017: .249/.323/.450, 27 HRs, 88 RBIs
- 2018: .221/.273/.400 22 HRs, 78 RBIs
- 2019: .239/.321/.468 23 HRs, 63 RBIs
I understand those numbers aren’t actually near the realm of atrocious, I just felt like lying for dramatic effect. The real issue is more about how Seager’s production declined when, theoretically, your decline shouldn’t be happening this early. Where did this come from? Was it some unknown injuries? Has it just been bad luck for three seasons? I’m not entirely sure, but what I am sure of is an incident that is an epitome of the weirdness in baseball.
It’s a reality, I find, that is more unique to baseball. The NBA is a banner of consistency amongst star players, and only gradually are their declines. In the NFL there may be teams that fall apart, but not necessarily players. In baseball, who the heck knows? Kyle Seager is an exhibit of how momentary and fleeting the successes in baseball could be.
He’s Grady Sizemore but actually healthy. He’s becoming Evan Longoria but without the one or two iconic viral moments. He’s a leading, and perhaps underdiscussed, candidate for the Carl Crawford Award for Most Random and Unexpected Decline for a Notable Player. Maybe the world just isn’t big enough for two Seagers, as Kyle’s peak season happened to be the year brother Corey’s first season took place (2017), in which he was the NL Rookie of the Year and finished 3rd in MVP voting.
Call me a hipster if you so desire, but I love rooting for players that I feel are overlooked. It’s objectively fun to pretend you’re the only one aware of their greatness. But of course, there’s an equally fervent feeling of embarrassment when your position on something — the player, team, or even coach — turns out to be wrong. Maybe Corey’s Brother will turn it around, but for now he’s just another reminder of how jarring and maddening sports can be.
So when I’m sitting with my friend, kicking back with a couple of overpriced beers and watching baseball highlights, I am reminded of this. And maybe, just maybe, the universe thought it’d be funny for me — the idiot who believed in Kyle Seager’s long term potential for stardom — be witness as he smacks his third home run of the game. But not only is it his third home run that I just happen to see in real time, it’s also a ridiculous one as it only leaves the park after bouncing off the outfielder’s glove. I have approximately zero idea of what to make of this.
Baseball is amazingly stupid and chaotically beautiful sometimes.