Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, the World Series MVP from 2020, will decline the club’s one-year contract qualifying offer and become a free agent, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Seager, 27, batted .306 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI, playing in just 95 games after he fractured a bone May 15 when he was hit by a pitch from the Miami Marlins’ Ross Detweiler.
By declining the one-year, $18.4-million qualifying offer, Seager becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. The Dodgers also gave a qualifying offer to utility man Chris Taylor, but his decision is not yet known. They did not extend the offer to veteran left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
In seven seasons, all with the Dodgers, Seager is a career .297 hitter over 636 games with 104 home runs and 364 RBIs. A two-time All-Star, Seager won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2016 when he also finished third in NL MVP voting.
Seager not only won the 2020 World Series MVP, he was MVP of last year’s NLCS as well, as the Dodgers went on to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays for the title. Los Angeles lost in the NLCS this season to the Atlanta Braves, with Seager going just 4-for-24 in six games with two home runs.
The Dodgers can still bring back Seager on their own free-agent deal, but they already have two shortstops on the roster in Trea Turner, acquired from the Washington Nationals in a July trade, and Gavin Lux.
If Seager signs a deal with another team this offseason, the Dodgers will receive a compensation draft pick in 2022 after the first round.
–Field Level Media