The idea of Corey Seager back in Dodger blue has obvious appeal. He was a centerpiece in Los Angeles, a homegrown star who turned into one of the biggest bats in the sport. But if the Dodgers are trying to make the smartest move for the next season, nostalgia probably shouldn’t be driving the conversation.
Seager is one of the names floating around this offseason, and Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News said the Rangers may have to explore moving him along with Jacob deGrom, and maybe Nathan Eovaldi as well. As Grant wrote: “Put it all together and what do you have?
The part he wouldn’t say explicitly. The Rangers are going to search for trade partners for Corey Seager and Jacob deGrom.
Perhaps Nathan Eovaldi, too,” Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News wrote. “There simply is no other way.
You can’t put together a competitive team with $190 million in player salaries with three aging players eating up $92 million of that.”
Even with that kind of availability, the fit in Los Angeles looks awkward. The biggest issue is simple: where does he play? Mookie Betts has handled shortstop well since moving there two seasons ago, and while the Dodgers could shift Betts to second and use Tommy Edman as a super utility option, that would still mean bringing in a player who would be a clear defensive step down from Betts.
Then there’s the health piece, and that’s where the concern really sharpens. Seager hit 20 home runs for the fifth straight season and drove in 51 runs in 102 games, which is a respectable line. But it also marked the second straight year he was limited to 102 games, and he has played more than 150 games only once since leaving the Dodgers after the 2021 season.
That matters for a Dodgers team that seems to battle injuries every year. Adding another player with that kind of recent availability record could create more problems than it solves. Seager is also heading into his age-33 season, which doesn’t exactly line up with a position-player group that’s already getting older.
And the contract is no small detail. Seager is only halfway through a 10-year, $325 million deal, so any team that brings him in would be on the hook for $31.5 million annually through 2031 if he stays for the full contract. With that kind of money attached, the Rangers could ask for a hefty return in any trade.
None of that changes what Seager meant to the Dodgers. He spent his first seven big league seasons in Los Angeles, broke out in 2016 with 26 homers, 72 RBIs and a .877 OPS, and finished with 5.3 bWAR on his way to NL Rookie of the Year honors. He made the All-Star team in both 2016 and 2017, then took home NLCS MVP and World Series MVP in 2020 as the Dodgers ended their championship drought.
Across 636 games with Los Angeles, Seager hit 104 home runs, drove in 364 runs and posted a .870 OPS. The résumé is real.
The fit, though, is another story. For all the emotional pull of a reunion, the Dodgers would be better off looking elsewhere.
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For Dodgers fans, the intrigue is less about what either pitcher has done in the past than where they might fit into a rotation and bullpen that never stays static for long. Both have personal ties to San Diego, which only adds another layer to the uncertainty, but for now this remains a matter of speculation rather than anything close to a finished deal. [Read more 🡒]