Free Agent Poll: Corey Seager

We used this idea last year. The idea is to go through some of the top free agents, use the contract FanGraphs suggests they will get and have a poll asking if we would like to sign him for that amount.

Both Keith Law and Ben Clemens have Corey Seager as the number two free agent of this off-season.

Seager is just 27. He turns 28 at the end of April next year. He’s played 7 MLB seasons, all with the Dodgers, playing 636 games, with a .297/.367/.504 line and 104 home runs. That all adds up to a 23.7 fWAR.

Last year he missed some playing time with a fractured hand, suffered when hit by pitch. He played 95 games, had a .306/.394/.521 line with 16 home runs.

FanGraphs didn’t like his defense much. He had a -14.1 UZR/150 at short (Bichette was -5.0 this season). His UZR has been in the negatives for the last four seasons. If we signed Seager, moving him to third might be a good plan.

We could use a left-handed batter.

Part of what Keith Law said about him:

He has hit the ball harder than ever before in the last two seasons, and a higher percentage of his balls in play have been Barrels as well. He has a modest platoon split, nowhere near what you’d expect from a typical left-handed batter, and while southpaws can still get him with breaking stuff, he does enough damage when he does connect on them that it’s a solid tradeoff. He’s a below-average defender at shortstop and always has been, so any projection going forward should assume he’s going to move to another position — likely third base, where I think he’ll be at least an above-average glove.

Ben Clemens:

Every team that’s in on Correa will likely be in on Seager as well, but he’s no mere consolation prize. The hardest-hit batted ball of his career came in 2021. So did his highest walk rate. Meanwhile, he struck out only 16% of the time. He did it by hunting a pitch to drive (he posted a top-10-percent zone swing rate) and mostly laying off balls. If you’re looking for the hitter in this class with the best chance of going nova and putting up Trout-esque numbers, I’d bet on Seager.

Clemens figures Seager will get 8 years, averaging $30 million a year, for a total of $240 million.