Monday, February 02

ARLINGTON -- Last month, the Rangers dealt one of their core players in Marcus Semien to the Mets in return for veteran outfielder Brandon Nimmo. 

When Nimmo met with the media on Zoom just days later, he said that president of baseball operations Chris Young emphasized to him that the Rangers are still focused on winning moving forward. This is in no way a rebuild, even as the roster goes through a dramatic overhaul.

One thing seems almost certain at this point: Whatever roster overhaul happens, Corey Seager will remain in Arlington. 

The Winter Meetings -- which took place in Orlando last week -- are always full of rumors. That’s how Seager’s name surfaced online and buzzed around the hotel lobby throughout the end of the week. But Rangers’ brass was quick to explain the situation: Teams have to ask, but the Rangers don’t have to say anything back.

“The reality is, every team is looking for great players, and there have been a number of teams that have checked in on a number of our great players,” Young said on the final day of the Winter Meetings. “The reality is we are not motivated to move Corey Seager. We are trying to win a championship in 2026 and in order to do that, we need great players. Teams do their diligence in trying to find out who's available and who's not. But I can't say there's any substance. Checking in is normal operating procedure for this time of year. Every team does it.”

That’s been the through line of all of this. The Rangers have reiterated multiple times this offseason that they are trying to compete. And teams that are trying to compete don’t trade a player of Seager’s caliber. 

Seager -- who was the Rangers’ World Series MVP in 2023 -- missed most of the last month of the season after appendicitis caused him to need an appendectomy. He was making slow progress down the stretch and could have potentially been available in the case of a postseason run, but was eventually shut down when the club was eliminated from contention. 

Seager had a down year by his standards, which shows just how high the standard is for him. He did hit .271/.373/.487 with a 149 OPS+, 21 homers and 50 RBIs in 102 games this season before he underwent the appendectomy. Despite playing so few games, he still accumulated 6.2 bWAR and 4.0 fWAR. 

That’s the type of player anybody would covet. And there are six years left on the 10-year, $325 million free agency deal he signed ahead of the 2022 season.

“Corey Seager is a great player,” Young reiterated on MLB Network Radio. “Teams are looking for great players. For whatever reason, maybe they thought that by trading Marcus, we would be open on Corey. There have been a number of teams that have called. Some of the teams have characterized Corey as if he were a free agent, he would be the best on the market right now. What I love is that Corey Seager is a great player for the Texas Rangers. Our goal is to win a championship. To win a championship, you have to have great players. While I understand teams checking in, I think it’s been a little bit overblown in terms of -- we are not shopping Corey Seager.”

Anything could happen eventually. Who knows what the future holds. But Seager is a Ranger for now. They don’t seem intent on that changing. 

“We want Corey Seager to help us win our next championship,” Young continued on MLBN Radio. “But call and check in on great players with other teams as well. Teams are doing their job, I get it. It got out in the media from another market and I think it got a little more momentum than it deserved. But we are not shopping Corey Seager, I want to make that very clear.”

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