The Texas Rangers have reached an agreement on a seven-year contract with Gold Glove second baseman and potential shortstop Marcus Semien, according to a person familiar with the deal.
That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday night because the deal was pending a physical and not finalized. ESPN, which first reported the agreement, said it was worth $175 million.
Semien was a shortstop in his six seasons with Oakland from 2015-20 before starting 147 games at second base and playing all 162 games for Toronto this year. He signed an $18 million, one-year deal with the Blue Jays in free agency last offseason.
The 31-year-old Semien hit .265 and set career highs with his 45 homers, 102 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in his only season in Toronto. He finished third in the AL MVP voting, like he did in 2019 when he played all 162 games for the Athletics and hit .285 with 33 homers and 92 RBIs.
Semien could play shortstop or second base for the Rangers, depending on what other moves might be made this offseason.
After a 102-loss season, the Rangers had indicated they were willing to spend as needed and could be active in free agency this offseason to improve the team. They went into the offseason with only about $28 million committed to salaries for 2022.
Texas this year used a club-record 26 rookies, with at least four or five of them routinely in the lineup.
The Rangers had their fifth consecutive losing season since last winning the AL West in 2016. They finished 29th in the majors with their .232 team batting average and were shut out a majors-high 15 times while scoring an AL-low 625 runs, their fewest in a full 162-game season since 613 in 1994.
Semien has a .256 batting average with 160 homers and 482 RBIs in 1,020 career games over nine seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2013-14), Oakland and Toronto,
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