Veteran shortstop Corey Seager is only weeks removed from winning the World Series with the Texas Rangers. Seager was, naturally, an important piece of Texas' October run. He posted a 1.133 OPS in 17 playoff games, and he was rewarded with his second career World Series MVP Award.
It was the kind of performance the Rangers no doubt envisioned when they signed Seager to a 10-year pact worth $325 million prior to the 2022 season. For as brilliant as that move appears now, there's always another, natural angle to consider on massive free-agent signings. In this case, it's asking why Seager's original team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, didn't make a more serious effort to retain his services.
For those who have forgotten, the Dodgers' decision to let Seager leave appeared reasonable enough at the time because they had Trea Turner in tow. The thinking went that there's no way they could keep both, and that the Dodgers presumably preferred Turner for whatever reason. That proved to be incorrect, as Turner left for the Philadelphia Phillies last winter.
Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman was asked about Seager and that series of events during a recent appearance on the Dodgers Nation YouTube show.
"I can't get into it too much, but there are players that have engaged earlier and have shown a real desire to be here that we've been aggressive and lined up and figured things out," Friedman said of Seager. "I think it was important for him to go out and test free agency, which I respect."
Friedman added: "For us, we felt like we were aggressive and tried to make it happen -- didn't necessarily have the back and forth to try to get something done. But then we ended up with Freddie Freeman and distributing our talent in a little different way."
The Dodgers, despite winning 100 games this season, are likely to find themselves in the shortstop market again over the coming months. Veteran Miguel Rojas provided good defense and little else, while youngster Gavin Lux missed the season after tearing his ACL in the spring.
