Atlanta Braves: Kyle Seager trade as a possibility

The Cost of Kyle

With the lack of buzz around Kyle Seager recently, you would think that he could have a low trade cost. There is just one problem with that logic.

With the Seattle Mariners in the middle of a rebuild, they are on the hunt for top prospects. And with how much we value many of our top prospects, a good deal could be hard to find.

The Mariners would possibly take some of our backup bullpen or bench guys to play for them while they continue to rebuild. This tactic could be used to lower the amount of prospects they get, yet they would more than likely still want one of our top prospects put into the deal to aid the timing of their rebuild.

Previous trade talks have shown that many of our top prospects are off-limits. Alex Anthopoulos may also choose to save many of these prospects for trades closer to the trade deadline which could be more worth while.

You also have to factor in his actual salary cost.

According to Spotrac, Kyle Seager will be paid $37 million from 2020-2021. This contract also includes a club option in 2022 for $15 million… which has the ‘poison pill’ effect of becoming a player option if he’s traded.

So that’s 3 years and $52 million in reality… not counting possible performance incentive clauses.

Seeing what Anthopoulos has done so far this offseason, I see this salary for a player of Seager’s caliber being a real deal stopper.  The guaranteed two years of control do seem appealing because it is just enough time to allow Riley more growth.  That that third year, however, could be a deal-breaker.

Camargo could also be blocked in his prime by just this two-year contract. His salary cost is also much less for projecting to put up very similar numbers in 2020.