Kyle Seager retires after 11 seasons

With a sold-out crowd chanting his name and tears filling his eyes as he hugged his teammates and walked off of T-Mobile Park for the final time, Kyle Seager bid farewell to the only organization he’d ever known in his distinguished baseball career.

But little did anyone know at the time, it was also a goodbye to Major League Baseball.

On Wednesday, Seager’s wife, Julie, posted a message from her husband on her Twitter account:

“Today I’m announcing my retirement from Major League Baseball. Thank you to all of my family, friends and fans for following me throughout my career. It’s been a wonderful ride but I am unbelievably excited for the next chapter of my life.”

At the MLB general managers meetings in November, there were rumblings that Seager, who turned 34 on Nov. 3, was considering retirement for a variety of reasons — the unstable future of baseball, an uncertain free-agent market that expected to be delayed until early February and the call of spending more time with his wife and three young children.

But most baseball insiders believed that Seager’s love of the game and competition, the absence of a postseason appearance on his list of career achievements and his strong 2021 season would be lead him to signing at least a one-year contract for a contending team in need of a veteran hitter. There was some speculation he might join his brother, Corey, with the Rangers.

He had a solid final season for Seattle, playing in 159 games and posting a .212/.285/.438 slash line with 29 doubles, a triple, 35 home runs, 101 RBIs, 59 walks and 161 strikeouts.

In 11 big league seasons with the Mariners, Seager played in 1,480 games and posting a .251/.321/.442 slash line with 309 doubles, 14 triples, 242 homers and 807 RBIs. He had nine seasons of at least 20 homers, tying Ken Griffey Jr. for the most in franchise history.