Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager has been discussed as a potential trade candidate far more often than one might typically expect for a two-time World Series Most Valuable Player.
The Rangers traded another expensive infielder in Marcus Semien to the New York Mets last month, and they got a bit of salary relief in the deal. But that pales in comparison to the kind of haul they could surely get for Seager, who has six years and $189 million left on his contract and remains one of the elite players at his position at age 31.
Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reported last week that the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves had been among the teams calling on Seager. Naturally, given the 24-hour nature of the first two media markets on that list, rumors quickly spun out of control.
However, on Sunday, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young did all he could to put those rumors to bed.
During an appearance for MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Young plainly stated that he had no intentions of trading Seager, without even adding a qualifying phrase that baseball executives typically love, like “you never know” or “we don’t want to rule anything out.”
“Maybe they thought by trading Marcus that we would be open on Corey,” Young said. “There have been a number of teams who have called, and some of the teams have characterized Corey as, perhaps, if he were a free agent, would be the best player on the free-agent market right now.
“What I love is that Corey Seager is a great player for the Texas Rangers, and our goal right now is to win a championship. … And so while I understand teams checking in, I think that’s been a little bit overblown in terms of, we are not shopping Corey Seager. We want Corey Seager to help us win our next championship. … I want to make that very clear.”
Is the case closed? Teams might still call, and the Rangers still seem to have a goal of reducing payroll, so we shouldn’t be caught completely stunned if the rumors resurface. But Young’s firmness certainly suggests that a trade is a pipe dream for the likes of Red Sox and Yankees fans.
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