Corey Seager's Top Landing Spots with Braves Reportedly 1 of 8 Teams on No-Trade List
Faced with a rising payroll and potential luxury tax penalties, the Texas Rangers seem poised to move on from some players who were instrumental in their run to the 2023 World Series title.
Corey Seager is the best player on the team and their highest-paid position player with salaries of $31.5 million per season through 2031, so he could potentially bring back a significant haul if he were to be moved.
It's unclear if dealing Seager is something the Rangers are seriously considering. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal noted the Atlanta Braves, with their void at shortstop, could have pursued him except they are one of the eight teams on his partial no-trade list.
Rosenthal previously reported on Nov. 11 that the Rangers are "virtually certain" to cut payroll, but Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi are "almost certainly" not among the players they intend to part with.
The five-time All-Star hit .271/.373/.487 with 21 homers in 445 plate appearances last season. He ranked seventh among all shortstops in FanGraphs' wins above replacement, despite playing just 97 games at the position due to injuries.
If a scenario presents itself where the Rangers choose to part with Seager, there are some teams that could potentially fit his contract into their books either in full or by getting Texas to kick in some money still owed to him.
New York Yankees
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It's worth pointing out up front that the full eight-team no-trade list in Seager's contract isn't publicly available, so there's a possibility some of these clubs are on it.
That said, if the New York Yankees aren't on the list, they have a glaring need at shortstop that Seager would fill quite nicely.
The Yankees finished tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the fifth-worst production from their shortstops by FanGraphs' wins above replacement in 2025 (1.2). They got a collective .213/.272/.387 slash line from the position.
José Caballero is currently penciled in as New York's starting shortstop for next season, but that seems almost certain to change at some point.
Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner is reportedly looking to get their payroll under $300 million in 2026. Even with Trent Grisham accepting the qualifying offer, they are only projected to have $259.3 million in salary commitments when factoring in arbitration-eligible players.
Seager would be a transformative addition to their lineup with both his glove and bat. He accounted for 4.0 fWAR in just 102 games with the Rangers last season. His 16 defensive runs saved were the second-most among all shortstops, even though he was the only player in the top seven who played fewer than 950 innings in the field.
Toronto Blue Jays
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When Corey Seager was a free agent after the 2021 season, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the Toronto Blue Jays were "very much" in the mix before the star shortstop wound up signing with Texas.
That was a very different time for the Blue Jays because they weren't yet the high-payroll juggernaut that they have become, resulting in the franchise's first World Series appearance in 32 years this season.
Now, the Blue Jays find themselves in a position where they need to figure out what they are going to do at shortstop. Bo Bichette is a free agent at the age of 27 and coming off a strong season.
Even though the potential of Toronto retaining a homegrown talent like Bichette would make for a nice story, Seager is arguably a better all-around player right now.
The one drawback is Seager is four years older than Bichette, so the Blue Jays would be sacrificing some of their long-term future. But they were so close to a title this season and figure to be among the best teams in the AL again next season that they can afford to have some tunnel vision if the opportunity to acquire Seager were to present itself.
Los Angeles Dodgers
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The connection is obvious since Seager was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, spent his first seven MLB seasons with the club and won World Series MVP in 2020 to help them defeat the Tampa Bay Rays for their first title in 32 years.
There didn't seem to be any hard feelings when Seager left the Dodgers as a free agent. Passan noted Los Angeles had strong interest in keeping him before the Rangers came in with their offer.
Finding a spot for Seager with the Dodgers isn't an issue. Mookie Betts has proven to be the most versatile player in MLB, rotating between right field, second base and shortstop over the past three seasons. He has played all three positions at a high level, including leading all shortstop in defensive runs saved in 2025.
Second base was one of the few weak spots for the Dodgers last season. Tommy Edman received the bulk of the playing time there, but hit just .225/.274/.382 in 97 games.
If the Dodgers were to acquire Seager, they could just shift Betts over to second base to solve that issue.
