Infielder Marcus Semien and the Texas Rangers are in agreement on a seven-year contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday.
The deal is worth $175 million, a source said.
The Rangers were not done there, however. They also were finalizing a four-year, $56 million contract with right-hander Jon Gray, pending a physical, sources familiar with the deal told Passan.
After a 102-loss season, the Rangers had indicated they were willing to spend as needed and could be active in free agency this offseason to improve the team. They went into the offseason with only about $28 million committed to salaries for 2022.
Gray, 30, who had spent his entire career with the Colorado Rockies, recovered from a rough 2020 season to post a 4.59 ERA with 157 strikeouts in 149 innings in 2021. He nearly doubled his strikeout percentage and dropped his hard-hit rate from 46% to 38%.
Semien, too, struggled in the shortened 2020 season with the Oakland Athletics, and he bet on himself last offseason, accepting a one-year offer from the Toronto Blue Jays in an attempt to rebuild his value and reenter free agency. He bet right. Semien moved to second base with Toronto and responded with one of the best power seasons from a second baseman in major league history, hitting .265/.334/.538 with 45 home runs, breaking Brian Dozier’s record for home runs by a second baseman.
The move to second base went smoothly as well, as Semien won a Gold Glove. He played every game for the second time in three seasons (and has missed just 10 games over the past four) and led the majors with 86 extra-base hits. While he played in the shadow of teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. throughout the season, Semien finished second in the American League in Baseball-Reference WAR behind Shohei Ohtani and third in FanGraphs WAR behind Ohtani and Guerrero, then finished third in the MVP race, matching his result in 2019, and making him the only player with two top-three MVP finishes in the past three…
Source : espn
