Author: Tim Booth
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) – After the Seattle Mariners rejected the All-Star club option and Kikuchi chose a free agent, left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi left the Seattle Mariners.
Kikuchi could have exercised his player option for a year, but after struggling in the second half of last season, he chose to start again elsewhere.
Seattle also announced on November 3 that it would not choose third baseman Kyle Seager, a move that people had long anticipated.
The fate of Kikuchi is a big issue for Seattle entering the offseason. In the first half of 2021, after the Japanese left-handed scored 3.48 with a 6-4 ERA and was the only All-Star in Seattle to be selected, the team seems likely to exercise options for the Japanese left-handed.
But Kikuchi collapsed in the second half of the season and had to withdraw from the rotation as Seattle fought for a playoff spot in the final weeks. Kikuchi led 1-5 with a 5.98 ERA in his last 13 games. In three of his last four games, Kikuchi did not exceed three innings.
“It’s not the way I think anyone envisions the end of the season for him, of course it’s the way it started,” manager Scott Servez said after the end of the season. “But you have to make adjustments, you have to do what is best for the team, and I thought it was the best for the team at the time.”
If Seattle exercises the option to Kikuchi, he will lock him in for $66 million within four years, but the Mariners seem unwilling to make such a promise based on his performance in the second half.
If Kikuchi exercises his player options, the price for a season will be 13 million US dollars.
Kikuchi scored 15-24 with a 4.97 ERA in 70 games in three seasons.
The Seattle Times first reported on Seager’s transfer, and it was anticipated at the beginning of the season. Seager’s choice is $20 million, but both parties seem ready to end the relationship. Seager will receive a $2 million buyout.
On the last day of the regular season, this separation seemed obvious, when Sig left the final in tears. This was the last farewell after 11 seasons with the club.
On November 3, Sig, who turned 34, hit a career-high 35 home runs and 101 RBI. The increase in power production caused his batting rate to drop to 0.212, which was the lowest point of his career throughout the season.
Seager is the winner of the 2014 All-Star and Golden Glove Awards. He signed a seven-year contract worth $100 million after the 2014 season.
