By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
Third-round draft pick Kyle Seager hasn’t signed his first pro contract yet, but he’s holding a pen.
Seager, who hit .393 with six homers and 62 RBIs while earning first-team All-ACC accolades as a UNC junior, said Friday he’s reached an agreement with the Seattle Mariners as far as dollars and destination.
The former Northwest Cabarrus star is now in Arizona waiting for a heart specialist to give that contract his final blessing. With hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table, the Mariners have to be certain they’re getting a healthy player.
Seager underwent open-heart surgery when he was 2 months old, which makes his textbook lefty swing a small miracle.
There’s been no hint of health issues since he traded his pacifier and rattle for a plastic bat, but the Mariners, who were well aware of every cough, sneeze and flu shot in the 21-year-old’s medical history when they drafted him, want to cover all the bases.
“It’s turned into a nice little adventure out here,” Seager said with a chuckle. “They flew me out to Seattle Thursday, I toured the stadium, went through a complete physical and was ready to sign on the line. Everything went greató no problems at all ó but because of that open-heart surgery I have to get an updated electrocardiogram (EKG) every 2 to 4 years. My last one was in ’07 so they flew me down to Peoria, Arizona, to get another one done.
“It’s not like I was hiding this or anything. All the teams knew about the surgery. This is just one last precautionary thing the Mariners wanted to do. We should get everything wrapped up on Monday. That would let me fly out Tuesday morning and start playing.”
While he was taken in the third round, Seager was the Mariners’ fourth pick. They also chose second (UNC’s Dustin Ackley, who will be an instant millionaire if the Mariners can work out a deal), 33rd and 51st.
While terms of the agreement between the Mariners, Seager and his advisor (Andrew Lowenthal of ProFormance) obviously can’t be disclosed yet, a ballpark figure can be determined.
Seager was the 82nd pick in the draft. Major League Baseball recommends “slot” signing bonuses for players picked during the first five rounds. The recommended bonus for No. 82 in 2008 was $485,000, although the 82nd pick, Texas Tech outfielder Roger Kieschnick, actually got $525,000 from the San Francisco Giants.
Due to the tumbling economy, the commissioner’s office advised a 10-percent cutback for this year’s draft picks. That would bring MLB’s recommended bonus for Seager’s draft position down to the $440,000 range.
Seager said he and his advisor agreed to accept an offer of “slot” from the Mariners so he should be in that neighborhood or a little better ó and that’s a nice neighborhood to be in.
“I was anxious to play and really wanted to sign quickly,” Seager said. “Negotiations weren’t stressful. We weren’t trying to be hard negotiators and I understand the Mariners are a small-market team. Still, we were able to negotiate a few more things into the contract.”
The Mariners agreed to guarantee the funds for Seager’s final year of school ó he’s in fine academic shape ó whenever he finds time to complete his undergraduate work. That’s a nice insurance policy in case of injury.
Another perk was more unusual. The Mariners had planned for Seager to debut with the Everett (Wash.) AquaSox to allow him get his feet wet in rookie ball. Now they’ve agreed to start him at Clinton (Iowa) in the Class A Midwest League. That will be more challenging, but if he hits he could leap onto the fast track toward Seattle.
Seager has been given an opportunity to bypass the bottom three rungs in the farm system. There also are three steps above Clinton in the Mariners system ó High Desert (Calif.), West Tenn (Jackson, Tenn.) and Tacoma. It’s conceivable Seager will be batting between Ichiro and Ackley at Safeco Field in 2012.
Seager played second base two years at UNC, third base as a junior. The Mariners like him as a second baseman, his preferred defensive position.
“Teams have kinda been split on me since I was a sophomore,” Seager said. “With Seattle, it’s clear. They drafted me as a second baseman.”
Seager projects as a capable defender who will seldom strike out, draw plenty of walks, hit for high average and hammer doubles.
He rapped 66 doubles in his three years at UNC, second-best total in school history. He had 30 as a sophomore to go along with his 26 as a junior. Those are the two highest season totals ever posted by a Tar Heel.
While he’s waiting for that EKG, Seager had time to look up an old friend ó Kannapolis Legion teammate Garrett Sherrill, a Milwaukee Brewers farmhand who is rehabbing his right elbow within shouting distance of Seager’s hotel.
In 2006, when both were Kannapolis Wojans, Sherrill was 8-3 and Seager belted 13 homers for a 33-10 Area III champion.
“Yeah, it was pretty lucky that Garrett’s out here,” Seager said. “We do plan to grab some dinner together.”