Rangers Boss Chris Young Clears up Corey Seager Trade Buzz at Winter Meetings

The Texas Rangers left the MLB winter meetings having only made a couple of moves, but none of them involved Corey Seager.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Young woke up on Wednesday morning in Orlando to read reporting about the Boston Red Sox reaching out the Texas Rangers about Corey Seager.

The Boston Globe (subscription required) reported late Tuesday that the Boston Red Sox had reached out to four teams to “explore” possible trades. One of those teams was reportedly the Texas Rangers. The player was Seager.

So, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) had to ask if the Rangers were shopping Seager. Young made it clear that’s not the case.

“Yeah, we’re not motivated to move him,” Young said. “We’re trying to win. Corey is a great player. You have to have great players to win. That’s why we signed him.”

Grant also reported that the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves had reached out about Seager.

Corey Seager’s Future in Texas

Young didn’t confirm the Red Sox reached out to him about Seager. He did say that that “…here have been a number of teams that have checked in on a number of our great players.” It would lead one to believe that Young and general manager Ross Fenstermaker have been fielding calls throughout the offseason on a variety of players. The same goes for Young and Fenstermaker reaching out to other teams to gauge interest in making trades.

Texas did make one trade on Wednesday during the Rule 5 Draft. The Rangers traded for Baltimore Orioles minor-league pitcher Carter Baumler, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the draft. The Rangers gave up minor league pitcher Jaiker Garcia and cash.

Earlier this offseason the Rangers traded second baseman Marcus Semien to the New York Mets for Brandon Nimmo. The move only saved the Rangers about $4 million between Semien’s contract and Nimmo’s contract. But that trade was more motivated by getting an outfielder who offensively is platoon-proof and can give the position group some of the power it lost when the Rangers non-tendered Adolis Garcia.

Trading Seager is an entirely different matter. He’s the team’s best hitter. Even in an injury-truncated 2025 in which he only played in 102 games, he slashed .271/.373/.487 with 21 home runs and 50 RBI. In four seasons since he signed his 10-year, $325 million deal with Texas he has slashed .278/.355/.517 with 117 home runs and 303 RBI. He’s hit at least 30 home runs in three straight seasons, been named a three-time All-Star and finished second in AL MVP voting in 2023.

Right now, for this team, there is no replacing Seager. That’s why Young isn’t motivated to trade him. Doing so turns this offseason retool into a rebuild.