The Texas Rangers have made by far the biggest splash of the offseason so far. They have agreed to a giant 7 year, $175M contract with superstar infielder Marcus Semien. Semien has been an incredible infielder for almost his entire career. In 2019, Semien posted a 8.4 WAR with the Athletics, and this past season for the Blue Jays, posted a 7.3 WAR. He finished 3rd in MVP voting in both seasons. In this breakout season in a stacked Blue Jays lineup, Semien slashed .265/.334/.538 with 45 HRs and 102 RBIs. Another notable thing about Semien is that in both the 2019 and 2021 seasons, he played in every single game, 162 games played each year. This speaks to his ability to stay heathy thus far, and is a good indication for the Rangers. Semien was my favorite of all hitting free agents this offseason, and he lands in one of my favorite places to watch over the next few years. I expect the Rangers to keep adding pieces and not slow down just yet. It is rumored that they are still interested in signing a star shortstop in addition to Semien and slide him to 2nd base like he was this season. If they do not sign another shortstop, it remains to be seen which middle infield position he will slot in at.
It is also worth noting that the Blue Jays lineup that Semien is used to being a part of was STACKED and he did not have to worry about being pitched around. Depending on how this offseason goes for the Rangers, currently their lineup is pretty thin and Semien will likely be ‘the guy’ that gets pitched around most of the time.
Keith Allison on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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