Kyle Seager calls signing extension with Mariners ‘a great feeling’

It has been a whirlwind week for Kyle Seager. The agreement with the Mariners on a seven-year, $100 million extension was reached before Thanksgiving. He and his family flew to Seattle on Monday, and shortly after that he was put through an extensive physical that is necessary before such deals. The paperwork will be signed later today and a press conference will be held at Safeco Field, but before that he sat down with “Brock and Salk” on 710 ESPN Seattle.

“It’s really exciting. Me and my wife, we love Seattle,” Seager said. “The organization has been great to us. It felt like a second home to us. When the opportunity presented itself, it’s something that we were super exited about. This is something that was really special.”

Seager knew that an extension might be part of his offseason. His agent told him to be ready for it. Discussions and negotiations took place and the deal came together.

Seattle is where Seager wanted to be for a number of reasons.

“Obviously you can take the financial part as a part of it, but at the same time, we were going to arbitration so we were under team control for three years,” he said. “But when this opportunity presented itself, this is the place we wanted to be. Me and my wife have traveled around, this is our favorite city, so it was perfect.”

Seattle suits Seager both on and off the field.

“You look at the history of the Mariners, it’s such a special organization,” he said. “You walk through the hallways and you see all the pictures on the wall, it’s special. The field is beautiful, it’s a gorgeous place to play. The city is great. It’s different from back home. Me and my wife Julie are from a small town in North Carolina. It’s obviously a big city but it doesn’t feel like that to us. It’s green, there are trees, it’s all about the nature, so we love it.”

But it wasn’t all about the greenery, be it dollars or trees. Seager has been watching the organization’s progress on the field.

“Last year factors a lot into the decision,” he said. “You take the financial part away, you can have all the money in the world but if you are not playing well and you are not succeeding, it is not fun. The couple of years before, we lost, we got beat up a little bit, but we were learning and getting better. You look at the team last year. You bring in (Robinson) Cano and those guys and we got the core we had and it is something special and it is something we can repeat for a long time I think.”

Of course, Seager was a huge part of the success, which as Mike Salk pointed out perhaps would have been a surprise three years ago. When Seager was drafted by the Mariners in the third round in 2009, the thought by many was that he could be a utility player. He wanted more.

“I think you have to be realistic with yourself,” Seager answered when Salk asked how he got from potential utility player to an All-Star and Gold Glove third baseman. “I looked at people who were ahead of me, I looked at where I was. The utility role was put on me for a little while and I realized that for me not only to stick in the big leagues but to be able to be an everyday player, I needed to get bigger and stronger and I needed to learn to use my body a little bit better and hit for more power, especially if I was playing third base. I have got to produce a little more.”

The work was put in with help from his brothers, his managers and coaches and his teammates. Cano in particular was someone he was able to learn from both last season and in past seasons.

“He is someone I watched a lot of film on,” Seager said. “A left-handed hitter, I wanted to be very similar to him, obviously one of the best hitters in the game. When he came in here how open he was, how willing he was to talk about everything, how he handled himself, just how helpful he was, it was awesome. He wanted everyone to succeed, to get better, to win. He brings a calming force to the team that maybe we didn’t have in the past, and that was huge.”

The team is about to welcome another veteran hitter as the Nelson Cruz signing should be official in the next day or two. Seager said that move sends a strong message to the players and fans alike.

“It tells you exactly what you want it to: we’re going for it,” he said. “We needed the big right-handed hitter and that is obviously him. It is going to be fun not having to play third base against him. He’s a big guy and it is a little scary down there. He still hit probably the hardest ball I’ve ever seen last year. He hit the home run, the line drive down the line down at Safeco? That was unbelievable. That’s a force, that’s a presence. That’s something I think everyone is excited about.”

It’s something Seager can think about when he returns home after the press conference to continue his offseason workouts. Of course, he will return with a huge contract, which means his paycheck is about to get much heftier. How does that change things for the guy who is known as “old school” and “Simply Seager”? It would appear the enormity of the deal is still sinking in.

“The security is obviously nice,” he said. “It takes care of me and my wife and our family from a financial standpoint, but it’s awesome just really to be able to settle in because in baseball everyone knows it’s a business. Things happen, people get traded, people get released. You sign a deal like this you can really settle in. It’s obviously a great feeling.”

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