Kyle Seager won’t be in Seattle on Saturday when the Mariners celebrate the 50 greatest players in franchise history, and his explanation is drawing plenty of side-eye.
The Mariners will host the Tampa Bay Rays at T-Mobile Park that night, with the game itself carrying real weight as Seattle tries to keep pace in the American League playoff race. But the bigger spotlight will fall on the franchise reunion, a night built around nostalgia and the kind of name recognition that can send fans straight back through decades of Mariners memories.
Alex Rodriguez is expected to be part of that celebration, too, which adds another layer to the evening. His decision to leave after the 2000 season has lingered for years, and the chance to have him back in the mix is being framed as a kind of closure for some fans.
Seager, though, will be absent. According to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, he said he can’t make the trip because he has a commitment coaching his son’s youth league team at a tournament.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it up there,” Seager said via text earlier this week. “We’re actually heading up to Cooperstown Dream Park for a tournament, so I won’t be able to make it.”
That answer didn’t sit well with everyone, especially because Seager was coaching in the championship game at Cooperstown Dreams Park on Tuesday night, a detail that was documented on social media. The source material makes the point plainly: if Seager wanted to be in Seattle, he could be. It’s his call, but the stated reason doesn’t exactly hold up.
None of that changes what Seager meant to the Mariners. He played 11 seasons in Seattle and spent his entire career with the club, finishing with a .251 average, 242 home runs, one All-Star nod and one Gold Glove. He also had nine seasons with at least 20 homers and two seasons with 30 or more.
For a lot of Mariners fans, he remains one of the defining players of the 2000s.
In Other News...
Mariners Fans Must Decide How To Feel About Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez is set to be back at T-Mobile Park in August as part of the Mariners' 50 Seasons Celebration Weekend, when the club will honor its 50 greatest players. It is a fitting but tricky reunion for a player whose talent helped define an era in Seattle, and whose name still carries the kind of baggage that makes any public appearance feel layered with meaning.
Rodriguez remains one of the most gifted players in franchise history, even if his departure after the 2000 season for a record-setting Rangers deal changed the way many Mariners fans remember him. His legacy in Seattle has always lived in two places at once, among the teams legends and in the hard feelings that followed, with the later PED suspension only adding to the debate over how he should be received when the celebration arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Suddenly Face A George Kirby Decision They Can't Ignore
George Kirby delivered one of his best outings of the 2026 season against the Twins, carving through seven scoreless innings and reminding everyone why his profile still carries so much weight around the league. For the Mariners, it was the kind of start that reinforces both his importance in the rotation and the reality that elite starting pitching is always in demand, especially when a club is trying to balance present contention with future roster planning.
Kirbys name has already been part of the broader trade conversation, with Seattle drawing interest before the deadline even if nothing moved into serious talks. Add in the long view around his contract timeline and the organizations next wave of pitching talent, and the decision gets harder by the day. The Mariners do not have to act immediately, but they also cannot afford to ignore how quickly a pitcher of Kirbys caliber can become the center of a bigger offseason question. [Read more 🡒]