Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager watches from the dugout during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field on Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON — Corey Seager stood in the tunnel between the Rangers dugout and clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, willing to take questions.
He just couldn’t provide any answers.
Not about the condition of his back. Not about his return. Not about much of anything.
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“Um, I’m getting treatment, trying to stack good days and progress,” he told The Dallas Morning News. “Honestly, it’s frustrating to get those answers, and it’s frustrating to not be able to give them to you. We play a sport that can be violent on the back, but they’ve also told me you could sneeze and this could happen. They just keep telling me backs are unpredictable.
“I wish they’d tell me it’s a hamstring. At least I know how to manage a hamstring.”
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (left) looks out from the dugout before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Globe Life Field on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
It was an honest answer. And it was as candid as he can be. Seager rarely offers much in terms of a glimpse into his emotions, but his tone and his face told the story. He doesn’t know when he’ll be ready. Doesn’t know how to get ready at this point. And he wants to be ready.
The best we can do at this point is offer more won’ts than wills. Seager hasn’t started to swing a bat since coming out of the lineup eight days ago in Cleveland. He won’t be ready to be activated from the IL when he’s eligible Saturday. It makes it unlikely that he’ll be ready when the Rangers return from the All-Star break July 17.
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Wyatt Langford, who went on the IL three days before Seager with a hamstring strain, was out on the field running Tuesday and has started swinging a bat. He is significantly ahead of Seager. If he continues to make progress, he’s likely to go on a rehab assignment over the All-Star break, perhaps to Arizona, in hopes of being able to join the Rangers when the second half opens in Atlanta. If guessing, in the best case, Seager is probably a week behind that, which might give him 10 days of games ahead of the trading deadline.
All of this leaves the Rangers equally frustrated. Seager and Langford are the team’s two best players and biggest offensive threats. Together they have combined to play in 91 games this season; the Rangers played game No. 91 of the season Tuesday. The duo has missed half of the season and the percentage is going to tilt to more than 50% by the time they return.
In the meantime, the Rangers, who began play Tuesday at 45-45, are in a stretch of 16 home dates in a 19-game stretch that concludes with a critical four-game set against Seattle. It is time to go. Now. But can a team go without its two best players?
And if it can’t, then maybe the Rangers will start to rebuild. If so, a great place to begin a rebuild would be by trading Seager’s hefty contract and, if he’s productive, getting back a pretty good haul of prospects. You see the problem here. If he’s not healthy, he’s got no value. And after the year, Seager will have the right to veto any trade the Rangers might present to him. Creates an incredibly difficult situation to navigate.
It’s an impediment to any kind of planning.
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Can this team win without Seager? And if they can’t win without Seager, can they get anything for him? The unfortunate answers are probably “no” and “no.”
If that’s the case, maybe the best thing is to consider if it is time to move Seager out of the middle of the infield and to a “safer” position like first base. Because to use one’s ability, one must have reliability. You can’t build a team around a superstar who misses about a third of each season. And yeah, that’s about what Seager will average over a four-year period — if he comes back for the series with Seattle that starts July 24 and plays every day thereafter. Are you gonna play a guy with a questionable back every day? Another question nobody wants to answer.
Which left us with one last direct question for Seager: He’s going to be 33 next year, he’s missed so many games — is it time to consider moving positions to increase his durability?
“No,” Seager said plainly.
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Wouldn’t expect anything different from him. He’s a shortstop. But, as the Rangers options for how to best use him dwindle, it’s something which they may have to answer for him.
At least at that point, there would be some answers.