Rangers Sign Corey Seager To $325M Deal
If anything, the Rangers are clearly not afraid to spend. After confirming the signing of a 7-year deal with infielder Marcus Semien on Wednesday, Texas announced another big deal in champion shortstop Corey Seager.
According to an insider close to the deal, Seager’s 10-year contract is worth a cool $325 million – and with a no-trade clause included too.
The 27-year-old was 2020’s MVP of the World Series and NLCS. He had been the one to lead the Dodgers to a World Series victory last year while playing a stunning line of .328/.425/.746, and with 1.171 OPS.
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Seager Part Of A Bigger Plan
Let it not be said that the Rangers aren’t surrounding Seager with support acts geared at success. To the Seager and Semien getup, the Rangers have reportedly also added right-hander Jon Gray by way of a 4-year contract.
Seager’s big-money signing is all about trying to establish a continuous plan, explained Texas president of baseball operations Jon Daniels on Wednesday. Instead of laying all the responsibility of being the so-called “finishing piece” on a single player’s shoulders, Daniels said the goal is to bring together a team of players who are able to take the franchise where it dreams of going while also assisting and mentoring younger players along the way as they grow.
For Seager, joining the Rangers isn’t without some familiarity. He enjoys a history with Rangers manager Chris Woodward, who used to be third-base coach to the Dodgers between 2016 and 2018. And there’s also hitting coach Tim Hyers, who worked as the Dodgers’ assistant hitting coach in 2016-17.
An Era Of Offense Beckons
Seager may very well prove to be the right sort of offensive threat needed by the Rangers to get back into contention in the AL West. Even though he had battled with injuries at times over the last 5 years, whenever he’d been on the field, he’d made an impact.
Not unlike Semien, Seager’s addition to the team marks an instant upgrade on the offense. Still, now that the Rangers have signed two middle infielders, they’ll have a bit of shuffling to do. Lucky for them they’ve also got Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who played shortstop for the Rangers in 2021. The Rangers will be happy to move him to just about any other position because of his enormous versatility as a player.
Still – having too many tremendous infielders is the least of any team’s problems – and especially so for the Rangers who will be looking hard to avoid a repeat of the A-Rod era sort of rut.