Marcus Semien signing seven year, $175 million deal with Rangers, per report

Free agent INF Marcus Semien has signed a seven-year contract with the Texas Rangers, per Jeff Passan. The deal is worth $175 million, per Joel Sherman. The Rangers are coming off a season in which they went 60-102 and finished in last place in the AL West.

Following a tough 2020 season, Semien bet on himself in 2021, signing a one-year deal with the Blue Jays last winter. He made that bet pay off in a big way as he crushed 45 homers, the most in MLB history by a primary second baseman. He also finished among the top 3 in the AL MVP voting for the second time in three seasons. After spending most of his eight previous seasons at shortstop, Semien handled the move to second deftly; per Statcast, his seven outs above average were sixth-best at the position. Semien was also a plus baserunner and played in all 162 games for the second consecutive full season.

His 2021 home run total is probably not repeatable since Semien’s expected slugging percentage (.444) was nearly 100 points less than his actual slugging percentage (.538). But Semien is a four-tool player who offers above-average defense up the middle to go along with his skills at the plate and on the basepaths. Even as he enters his age-31 season, Semien is one of the most durable players in baseball and should remain productive near the top of the order for at least a few more years.