Corey Seager attempted to defuse questions surrounding what has been described this winter as a “toxic” relationship with Marcus Semien, leading to his double-play partner’s offseason trade from Texas to the Mets.
The poor relationship between their shortstop and second baseman prompted the Rangers to take back Brandon Nimmo and $5 million from the Mets to shed the final three years and $72 million left on Semien’s deal, according to a Jan. 23 report by The Post’s Joel Sherman.
“I mean, I think that’s things that I heard in-house that people don’t know about, right, that’s just all speculation,” Seager said Monday at the Rangers’ spring-training facility in Surprise, Ariz. “Me and Marcus had a fine relationship, we both respected each other, we were both professional and we knew how to go about our business and try to accomplish a goal, and we did that in ’23, so like I said, you can’t take that away from us.”
The middle infield duo teamed up with the Rangers via free agency ahead of the 2022 season, with Seager leaving the Dodgers for a 10-year contract worth $325 million and Semien bolting the Blue Jays for a seven-year deal worth $175 million. Texas captured the franchise’s first World Series title in 2023, but the team has posted a combined record of 159-165 the past two seasons, including a .500 finish last year.
The 31-year-old Seager, the MVP of the ’23 Series win over the Diamondbacks, was limited to 102 games in 2025 due to season-ending appendectomy surgery in August.
The 35-year-old Semien, a three-time All-Star, endured a down year offensively with 15 homers, 62 RBIs and a career-worst .669 OPS.
Still, the former shortstop also earned the second Gold Glove award of his career — both as a second baseman — with only two errors and a .996 fielding percentage. Semien’s defense was attractive to the Mets, who sought to improve their run prevention in the offseason.