The Texas Rangers have finalized the contracts for their new half-billion dollar middle infield, wrapping up their deals Wednesday with two-time All-Star shortstop Corey Seager and Gold Glove second baseman Marcus Semien.
The middle infielders are part of the Rangers’ MLB-record offseason spending spree that included outfielder Kole Calhoun on a $5.2 million deal for next season. Those signings came after a 102-loss season for Texas.
Seager got a $325 million, 10-year deal from the Rangers that included a $5 million signing bonus. His salary will be $32.5 million next season, peak at $35 million in 2023, then $34.5 million in 2024, $32 million in 2025 and $31 million in each of the last six years of the deal.
Semien’s $175 million, seven-year deal is worth $25 million next season, then $26 million each from 2023-27 before $20 million in the final year in 2028. There are no opt-outs in his deal.
The deals got finalized hours before the expiration of MLB’s five-year collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association at 10:59 p.m. Texas time, which is expected to lead to a lockout by management.
The 27-year-old Seager played his first seven big league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who during the pandemic-altered 2020 season played 16 consecutive postseason games at Globe Life Field in Arlington on the way to their first World Series title since 1988.
Seager was the MVP in both the World Series and NL Championship Series. He hit .350 with seven homers and 19 RBIs, including the go-ahead RBI in the World Series-clinching Game 6 win over Tampa Bay, in his playoff games at Texas that also included an NL Division Series sweep over San Diego.
He hit .306 with 16 homers and 57 RBIs in 95 games this year, when he broke a finger on his right hand after getting hit by a pitch May 15 and missed 2 1/2 months. He is a .297 career hitter with 104 homers and 364 RBIs in 636 games.
Semien was a shortstop in his six seasons with Oakland from 2015-20 before starting 147 games at second base and playing all 162 games for Toronto this year. He signed an $18 million, one-year deal with the Blue Jays in free agency last offseason.
The 31-year-old Semien hit .265 and set career highs with 45 homers, 102 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in his only season in Toronto. The 45 homers set an MLB record for a second baseman. He finished third in the AL MVP voting, as he did in 2019 when he played all 162 games for the Athletics and hit .285 with 33 homers and 92 RBIs.
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