Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Corey Seager Declines Qualifying Offer, What it Means for LA

The offseason is in full swing for the Dodgers, as they begin to gain more clarity on their free agency outlook. After extending qualifying offers to Chris Taylor and Corey Seager before Sunday’s deadline, the Dodgers have already received an answer from one of the two.

This was always the expected outcome, as Seager stands to get a serious payday at some point this winter. He’s an offensive powerhouse that plays one of baseball’s premium positions, and he still has years of prime production ahead of him. So why would the Dodgers even waste time in offering him a one-year contract?

For starters, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. If by some miracle Corey accepted the $18.4 million contract, the Dodgers get one of baseball’s best shortstops at an extreme discount. If he declined as expected, however, they at least get a compensation pick in next year’s draft if he leaves to sign with another team.

In the grand scheme of things, today’s news means very little in terms of a final decision from the long-time Dodger. All that is decided is that Seager believes he is worth more than $18.4 million annually, which should go without saying. Los Angeles still has a chance to negotiate a long-term deal with him if they so choose, but they will have to cough up a much higher total if they are to stand a chance.

Related: Dodgers Bring Back Old Friend Andrew Heaney on 1-Year Deal

The offseason is only getting started, so any news regarding a Seager contract is likely still months away. In the meantime, the Dodgers have plenty of other players to make decisions about. With 11 free agents handing in the balance, this offseason could prove to be instrumental for a team that has dominated much of the last decade.

NEXT: More Details Emerge on Joe Kelly’s Injury and Initial Diagnosis

Daniel Palma

Daniel is an avid sports fan who loves his hometown teams. If he's not watching baseball, you can find him playing or coaching. No matter what, he'll always root for the Boys in Blue!

26 Comments

  1. Let him decline offer. Seager wants a crippling $300+ million dollar 10 to 12 year deal that he could care less about what that would do to Dodger payroll to where the team would be very hard pressed to address more important needs in starting pitching and the bench. He’s not the only player in this regards as to being somewhat selfish IMHO. He is NOT worth that kind of money. I certainly would get CT3 signed first.

    1. You might be right but has Seager or Boras ever actually stated contact terms or is it just internet scuttlebutt?

      1. They most likely between themselves had internal discussions and exchanged ideas but with the deals that Lindor and Tavis Jr. received, it appears that a $300 million deal may be a starting point. Boras is going to attempt to get what they may be asking for from some team out there. But my guess is this won’t happen until a new CBA is reached. WSS.

      2. It’s just based on Lindor’s $341 million contract… basically Now the market rate for Superstars like it or not.

        Wether he gets that much or not is up to the owners.

        I personally don’t think I’d shell out that much, but it’s a drop in the buck for billionaire owners, and nobody reading this would turn down the money if they were in Seager’s shoes.

    2. you would be correct. I share your option that the dodgers can not afford to take on another massive 10 year contract, Betts. Like Mookie, it will be shocking if Seager lives up to what the Yankees are about to pay him. further, like Betts, he’s no Mike Trout.

  2. Agreed….CT3 may want to be an everyday single position guy…2nd base would be good…Trea will be a fine replacement at SS and is quicker to balls than Corey. Plus Corey used to drive me nuts with that 1st pitch swinging crap. I have confidence in Friedman that he will find a couple of gems…

  3. 18 million is never enough…..goodbye Corey! anyways……..where was he during the the playoffs? I guess that like a few others, a 60 game season was plenty. 2 big trophies, hot wheels and a huge diamond studded ring were good enough for this part time player. “Scotty, you can do much better than this stinking offer, can’t you? I know that you can.” Adios LA…it was fun.

  4. Corey Seager has been a very good player throughout his career in Los Angeles – He has won many awards and has deserved them. Unfortunately,
    professional sports has become big business and the emotional ties we’re used to, from the good old days, are gone. Where sports used to be an escape from reality for a few hours; we now have politics involved and that illusion has been ruined. In today’s world, the athlete does what is best for him and his family and who can blame them – it is what it is, sadly.

  5. We’ll see what all these seager haters think 5 years down the road! that freak broken hand can happen to anybody! Cory in his prime best years ahead of him and when dodgers want somebody like him it will cost them more than 35 million a year.

    1. Luis, nobody, including me have any hate towards Seager. Most would like to have him back but a switch to 3rd willingly would go a long way towards finding a way to retain him. But an asking price of a 10 to 12 year deal for $300+ million just might be too much to be expecting. I’m ok if Seager returns but CT3 and the starting pitching and bench are more important at the outset here.

  6. Come on man. Talking Scot Effing Boras here.
    That guy could care less what you people think.
    Seager is gone.
    $$$$$$ First.

  7. It is more important to get pitching depth as was the main problem in the post season.Plus they already have a huge contract with Betts that they will regret later Dow the road they don’t need another. Seated is to injury prone to give 300 million to not worth it no one is.

  8. Bye, Bye Cory. Enjoy New York. It’s the same shithole LA and Kalifornia has become, so I’m sure you’ll feel right at home. Well, at least until the savage Yankee ingrate fans start to tear you apart. How much money do professional sports players need to make to be happy, by the way? Guess the millions you were making with the Dodgers who gave you your chance, wasn’t good enough. Ahh, monetary and ego greed – we humble fans love it!

  9. I’d be shocked if he was back. Baseball’s on a short half life these days and with Turner, that one, not the other one, for another year, SS is covered. Plus it seems like Corey has always had more potential than production. Seems like he’s always hurt. I know, he’ll probably go somewhere else for a ton of money and play in 158 games, 39 HR and 117 RBI next year, but such is life. I think Kike left a bigger hole than Corey will.

    1. Mike, Kike and Joc both left big holes on this team because the Dodger bench was nothing short of horrific in 2021. Those Triple A replacements for the many injured players this year were a complete bust. It’s why the bench, as well as starting pitching needs to be addressed this off season.

      1. what team wouldn’t want 106 regular season victories? Dodger bench was not the worst in all of baseball. Hopefully we’ll see some improvement there next season, but horrific – nah

      2. The Triple A guys? Jeez, they were awful. One would come up and I’d hope for a weak fly ball or a non DP groundout, anything besides another strikeout or DP. One would come up, he’d go 1 for 16 and get sent down, then #2 would come up and he’d be 0 for 12 and get sent down. Then #3 would come up for a day or two, maybe not even play and get sent down where #1 would be back. They’re probably good guys, good players, maybe not ready for prime time, maybe just not MLB caliber. As a casual observer I couldn’t even get a feeling for their personality.

        In case any of the guys are reading this, my apologies. You’re probably a good guy and a good player, maybe you just need a little more time to get used to the bigs, or maybe not quite good enough. I’m sure emotions run high, getting called up, sent down and back and forth, feast or famine sort of thing. But as a guy watching TV, everyone looked interchangeable and not very good. Sorry.

  10. Rarely do players with mega deals perform up to their contracts. Scherzer did, Trout was super, when healthy but even the dodgers can’t afford to keep signing players to long term $35m contracts.Nobody else I can think of has consistantly performed to their contract level. Seager won’t, betts is already under performing. Last add, Seager has 250 playoff at bats, his batting average over half a seasons at bats against playoff pitching ??? .238.

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