Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager looks out from the dugout prior to a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – All of a sudden everything is moving fast. Corey Seager took batting practice Friday. Will do it again on Sunday. Maybe he even joins the Rangers in Tampa Bay.
Then comes the confusing part.
Is the rush back to help the Rangers’ playoff chances or is it to showcase him to other teams?
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At the outset of this homestand, President of Baseball Operations Chris Young said in regard to the Aug. 3 trade deadline that the Rangers “will be prepared for anything.” Well, the idea of trading Seager in the middle of a playoff race would certainly qualify as “anything.” Considering trading Seager in the middle of a playoff race is complicated and risky, to cite just two possible challenges.
At the same time, it’s hard to look at this Ranger team on nights they win, like Friday, and say Seager’s bat would be the identity of this team. Or Saturday, when Wyatt Langford fouled two balls off his foot in one at-bat, then doubled and scored.
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At the very least, the Rangers have shown they can survive differently. Without Seager, they have leaned more on contact, situational offense and energy than on waiting for one big swing to define the night. That doesn’t diminish Seager’s value. It does, however, underscore how much the club’s center of gravity may be shifting toward Langford and a younger, more flexible core.
That said, considering trading Seager and still trying to win this season isn’t so much a referendum on Seager, but on the changing core and future of the organization. If the Rangers trade him, they aren’t going to make themselves better offensively but might free up some resources to take on salary in the bullpen and at catcher, which are also significant needs. When healthy, Seager is still great — and the kind of player teams add rather than subtract at the deadline — but his age, health, contract and the financial implications make it a possibility worth exploring.
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Put simply: Unless owner Ray Davis is willing to spend at a level that supports a core with multiple players making $25 million or more, it is difficult to map out a three- or five-year plan that comfortably includes a player owed an average of $31.5 million annually through 2031. It gets harder when that player has averaged 119 games per season from ages 28 through 32.
With few financial resources made available this year and likely for 2027, reallocating the Seager dollars to fill other holes is necessary to make the math work. And as complicated as it would be to trade him at the deadline, it will be infinitely easier than the winter.
Right now, Seager has a limited no-trade clause that would allow him to block deals to a handful of teams. But teams such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are not on the list, according to a person familiar with his contract.
Come the end of this season, though, he will have 10 seasons in the majors and five with the Rangers and will earn the ability to block a trade to any team. In other words, if the Rangers are going to trade him, it might be now or never.
There are serious challenges to trading Seager and contending. First and most obvious, even with his paltry numbers this year, the impact of Seager’s bat on the lineup can’t be dismissed. How can you trade Seager and still make the 2026 team better? Seems an impossible task.
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Only then do you get to further complications like how to extract value for a two-time World Series MVP who could change the playoffs with a swing, but who is battling injuries and age. Or this: How much money would you have to eat to get back a legitimate return? And: Even if the money is a sunk cost, how much of it would Davis be willing to pay to watch Seager play and potentially thrive elsewhere?
It might take a partner willing to move an unproductive contract of its own to make the money balance out a bit. Think red-hot Boston wouldn’t want to move Irving’s Trevor Story? Think the Red Sox wouldn’t consider moving one or both of former top prospects Marcelo Mayer or Kristian Campbell, who have been disappointments this year? There is some rational thought behind the teams reconvening on Seager over whom they had some basic winter talks.
But even there, there are complications. If you are the Red Sox, do you prefer the risks that come with Seager or would you prefer to consider the Los Angeles Angels’ Zach Neto, who is younger and carries less financial burden?
It all creates a very tangled web for the Rangers to navigate over the next week. What’s most important — the potential of Seager’s bat for this season or the potential of him weighing down a franchise turning more frugal and without much in the minor league cupboard?
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At this point, it seems pretty likely Seager will be playing for the Rangers sometime in the coming week.
More pertinent: What about the week after?