Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Texas Rangers face a pivotal decision about their long-term roster strategy with Corey Seager.
- Seager's recurring injuries and declining performance numbers have raised serious questions about his future value and durability.
- Holding onto Seager past the trade deadline could eliminate any chance of moving him later due to expanded no-trade rights.
The Texas Rangers are one of many MLB teams with a lot to figure out. They're still very much alive in the AL West and AL Wild Card races, but with another month to go until the trade deadline, it's far from certain that they'll be in a position to be full-fledged buyers. A rough couple of weeks could result in them going in the other direction, and that could mean anything from trading rentals like Joc Pederson and Tyler Alexander to fielding offers for Corey Seager, which The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal raised the possibility of on Thursday.
Is a Seager trade likely? Absolutely not. The Rangers plan on competing, and even if they fall out of the race, Seager is locked in under contract long-term. The Rangers don't have to trade him, and presumably won't be rushing to move the face of their franchise and 2023 World Series MVP, who is still a great player when healthy, but they should. Here's why.
Corey Seager's injury woes are only getting worse
Durability was a concern with Seager even before he signed with the Rangers, and those concerns have only grown since he arrived in Texas. He played in 151 games in his first season with the Rangers, but has only been having more trouble staying on the field since.
Year | Corey Seager Games Played |
|---|---|
2022 | 151 |
2023 | 119 |
2024 | 123 |
2025 | 102 |
2026 | 51 |
Seager has been placed on the IL nine times since the start of the 2023 campaign, including three different times this season. He's been IL-bound due to lower back inflammation twice this season alone. As he continues to age, does anyone think this is going to magically improve?
He's a good player when he's on the field, but the best ability is availability, and the fact of the matter is that Seager simply lacks that at this stage of his career.
Moving Corey Seager would pave way for much-needed Rangers retool
The Rangers are in a weird spot. On one hand, they're not even a full game out of first place in the AL West, and they're holding sole possession of the AL's third Wild Card spot. On the other hand, they're a .500 ball club that ranks in the bottom five in runs scored and hasn't been more than two games over .500 since March. This team has some good pieces, but they haven't been particularly good all year. A weak AL has them in a decent spot standings-wise, but it's not like they're particularly close to World Series contention.
They're not in a spot to win a World Series right now, they have a ton of money tied into older veterans like Seager, and they have the fourth-worst farm system in the league per Baseball America ($). With all of this in mind, why not get younger and bolster the farm in one swoop by trading Seager?
The Rangers won't net a massive return by any means, and they'd probably have to eat a portion of his contract, but he has another five years worth a total of more than $150 million left on his deal after this season. Doesn't it make sense to get out of that if you can, when the team isn't in true contention?
This could be the Rangers' last chance to trade Corey Seager
It makes some sense to want to hold onto Seager, especially if they're in a postseason spot come deadline day, but keeping him now could stop them from ever being able to trade him. Keeping him past this year's deadline would then give Seager a full no-trade clause.
MLB has what's called 10-and-5 rights, which means if a player has spent at least 10 years in the majors and the last five years with the same team, he gains a full no-trade clause. As of now, Seager has an eight-team no-trade clause, but that list increases to all 29 other teams if the Rangers hold onto him past the deadline.
This does not ensure Seager is going to be a Ranger for the remainder of his career. In fact, the Rangers themselves acquired a player with a full no-trade clause, Brandon Nimmo, just last offseason. Seager having a full no-trade clause, though does make him much harder to move, as a deal would require his approval. It's entirely possible that he does not want to uproot his family and make a life-altering change, even if the Rangers feel the urge to move him.
Not trading Seager now opens the door to what could be a disastrous back-end of this contract. The injuries are already a concern, and it's not as if his play this season (.182 BA, .667 OPS) has been any good, either, when he's been healthy enough to play. It's not out of the realm of possibility that his best playing days are behind him, and it'll be a struggle to get him to play on a nightly basis. Is that the kind of guy you want to be paying over $30 million for the next five years? Is potentially making the playoffs in a year in which they almost certainly aren't good enough to win a World Series title worth the risk of being stuck with an albatross of a contract?
I'm not saying it's now or never regarding a Seager trade, but if he doesn't want to go anywhere, it very well could be.
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