Kyle Seager has a shot at a different kind of immortality this week, and Mariners fans have a chance to help make it happen.
The former Seattle third baseman was the fan nominee to become the 100th inductee into the MLB Hall of Pretty Good, with the vote set for Wednesday at 3:30 PM. For a player whose career landed just shy of Cooperstown but left a real mark in Seattle, it’s a fittingly odd and affectionate honor.
The Hall of Pretty Good is the creation of Bryce Whitlow, a 24-year-old special education teacher who started the account during COVID. According to Michael Clair of MLB.com, Whitlow had been drifting away from baseball before the project pulled him back in. Since then, the idea has grown enough that players notice it, with Kevin Pillar and Jonathan Lucroy among those already in the Hall.
Seager’s case is easy to understand if you’ve watched him for any length of time. He’s one of the best Mariners to ever do it, ranking fifth on the franchise’s bWAR list at 37.0, behind only Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki and Alex Rodriguez.
Of course, Seager is not headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. But the Hall of Pretty Good was built for players like him: stars who were never quite inner-circle legends, yet were far more than ordinary. That’s why the idea of Seager landing in Whitlow’s version of the Hall fits so neatly.
There are also rules that keep the field from getting too crowded with all-time greats. To qualify, a player has to be retired or inactive for three seasons, can’t have a bWAR above 38.6, and can’t have won an MVP Award or a Cy Young. As Whitlow puts it, a player can’t be too good.
That line lands a little differently when you look at Seager’s peak. Between 2014 and 2016, he was one of the five best players in the majors, and his 18.5 bWAR over that span ranked third behind only Mike Trout and Josh Donaldson. He picked up AL MVP votes twice during those three seasons, made his lone All-Star team, and posted a career-best 6.9 bWAR in 2016.
The one thing missing from Seager’s resume is postseason baseball. He spent all 11 of his major league seasons with the Mariners, and never got a playoff game.
Still, the Hall of Pretty Good seems like a natural landing spot for him. The bar is 65 percent of the vote, not the 75 percent needed for Cooperstown, and that gives Seager a real chance.
Even with a rocky relationship with the Mariners organization, including his absence from Seattle’s 50th anniversary celebration of the top 50 players in franchise history, his connection with fans hasn’t faded. They’ve never stopped appreciating him, and he’s never stopped appreciating them. On Wednesday, that mutual respect could turn into a little more recognition.
In Other News...
Mariners Face An Offseason Test They Cant Afford To Fail
The Mariners head into the offseason with a familiar challenge in front of them: the AL West is there to be attacked, but only if Seattle actually takes advantage of the opening. Houston has a general manager vacancy and has already interviewed former Nationals executive Mike Rizzo, a reminder that the division rival is sorting through its own uncertainty while the Mariners still search for meaningful ways to improve. So far, Seattle has not made many productive additions, and the pressure is on to use this winter to strengthen both the roster and the decision-making around it.
That makes the next few moves matter even more, especially with key pieces like Julio Rodrguez, Josh Naylor and Cal Raleigh all carrying their own offseason context into the winter. The Mariners do not just need depth for depths sake, they need strategic upgrades that help them compete across a division race that rarely leaves much margin for error. If they want to keep pace, the front office has to turn opportunity into actual help, and soon. [Read more 🡒]
Former Mariners Infielder Just Delivered Seattles Painful October Reminder
Ben Williamson gave Tampa Bay exactly the kind of postseason moment Seattle knows all too well, coming off the bench and lining a pinch-hit single in the 12th inning of Game 4 to help the Rays beat the Brewers 4-3 and stay alive. For Mariners fans, the name alone was enough to sting a little more than usual, because Williamson once belonged to Seattle before being moved in a three-team trade that reshaped the roster.
The reminder lands in October, where every small swing feels bigger for a franchise still chasing its first World Series appearance. Seattle had hoped the deal would help tilt its own future forward, with Brendan Donovan coming back in the swap, but Williamsons clutch hit instead put a former Mariner in the middle of a survival game while the Mariners remained on the outside looking in. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Manager Search May Come Down To One Critical Fit
The Mariners managerial search is getting close to the finish line, and Joe Espada has emerged as a name worth watching as Seattle looks to replace Dan Wilson. Espada, who previously managed the Astros, is one of the final candidates under consideration, with Chicago Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler also in the mix. Around the league, the appeal is obvious: Espada has already done the job at the highest level, and that kind of background always carries weight when a club is trying to steady the dugout.
What seems to make Espada especially intriguing in Seattle is the potential fit with the roster he would inherit. MLB Network insider Jon Morosi pointed to the Mariners pitching staff as a reason Espada could be particularly effective there, which is the sort of detail that can tilt a search when the organization is weighing experience against upside. With the process nearing its end, the decision now looks less about finding a big-name candidate and more about which voice best matches a team built to win with arms and run prevention. [Read more 🡒]