Rangers agree to deals with Marcus Semien, Jon Gray and Kole Calhoun ahead of potential lockout

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.

The Rangers walked into the free agency’s shopping bazaar and knew three things: they had a lot of money to spend, they needed a lot of upgrades, and it didn’t really matter where the upgrades were coming from.

That is why Marcus Semien became your portal to the large free agency market on Sunday.

The club agreed on a seven-year contract with Semien on Sunday afternoon, according to three sources. At 9 p.m., Major League sources said they had two more agreements with starting pitcher Jon Gray and platoon outfielder Kole Calhoun. All three deals are outstanding physicals.

And since baseball’s collective agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, there is a deadline to finalize and announce the deals. If the sport is banned on Thursday, all transactions would be frozen.

The Rangers are said to be wasting $ 175 million on Semien, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal would be the second largest in Rangers history after the team’s 10-year $ 252 million deal with Alex Rodriguez in 2000. Gray will receive $ 56 million through a four-year contract, according to Passan. The contract with Kole Calhoun is a one-year pact for $ 5.2 million with an option per source for 2023. The Rangers spent $ 236.2 million on Semien, Gray and Calhoun.

Baseball Operation President Jon Daniels and General Manager Chris Young did not offer confirmation or rejection on Sunday. Nobody responded to requests for a conversation.

Semien, 31, took third place in the AL MVP vote earlier this month, making it into the top three for the second time in the past three years. He also won a Gold Glove on the second base, his first full season in the position after being traded from Oakland to Toronto. It had been a shortstop before. And that’s a perfect transition to that: he could either play for the Rangers, according to two sources.

It all depends on how much money the Rangers invest and if they can land another of the elite shortstops in the market. The Rangers have spoken to Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, and Irving’s Trevor Story, the latter two even more. While Seager and Correa are expected to land contracts worth $ 300 million or more each, it’s entirely possible that the Rangers could end up at the same cost on both Semien and Story. There was evidence that, after some initial talks, both the Rangers and Seager may have turned in different directions. The Los Angeles Dodgers could renew their efforts to keep Seager.

One thing is clear: The Rangers were just starting out.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Semien deal is this: They found a top-notch free agent ready to come to Texas after a season of 102 losses. The first deal would be the hardest. It could pave the way for more.

The Rangers did it by simply being ready to outperform the market. Most of the predictions for Semien had a five or six year contract at about $ 25 million a year. The Rangers’ average annual value of the deal matches that forecast of $ 25 million a year, but by the seventh year the total value was carried well beyond the market. It was also an indication that the Rangers are actually serious about their expenses.

Others quickly noticed.

Calhoun, 34, would give them an above-average left-handed defensive outfielder who could hit with DJ Peters or any other right-handed player.

Gray, 30, would give them a veteran who can eat innings to stabilize a young rotation. A Shawnee, Oklahoma native who attended the University of Oklahoma pitched 149 innings in 2021. He has served at least as many innings since 2016.

And there are others who go beyond even another midfielder. While outfielder Starling Marte reportedly agreed to a four-year $ 78 million deal with the New York Mets on Friday, the eclectic Chris Taylor, Nicholas Castellanos and Michael Conforto were still very hot topics.

The first task, however, was to sort out the middle infield. If the Rangers Story signs, which was expected to hit a similar deal to Semien or Seager, Semien could stay in second place.

If the Rangers add another shortstop, it could push incumbent Isiah Kiner-Falefa into a utility role or perhaps make him attractive to a team looking for a defensive upgrade for a shorter-term engagement. The New York Yankees could fit into this profile. If they don’t add another shortstop, there could be discussions about how best to use Kiner-Falefa and Semien defensively.

It could also open up the possibility for the Rangers to have talks with other clubs to use Justin Foscue from the 2020 first-round selection as a potential trading chip to attract young, established talent. Oakland, for example, has reportedly expressed a willingness to listen to offers for first baseman Matt Olson.

Semien has a career .256 / .324 / .444 / .768 slash line with a career OPS + of 110, 10 percent higher than the league average. In 2019, he finished third with Oakland in the MVP vote after 0.892 OPS. But he fought in the pandemic-shortened year 2020 and only hit .223 / .305 / .374 / .679. Oakland chose not to make him a qualifying offer and instead signed a $ 18 million one-year deal with Toronto and agreed to move to the second base. He responded with a career-best year, playing in all 162 Toronto games, hitting 45 homers and an OPS of 0.873 (133 OPS +).

Toronto made him a post-season qualifying offer of $ 18.4 million, meaning the Rangers are ready to abandon their second draft pick to sign Semien under current CBA rules. Draft pick compensation rules could change if a new CBA is reached, but teams that sign players with qualifying offers before the deadline will expect to lose a pick.

The Rangers had no plans to give up a draft pick when the free agency began, but the market has moved faster than expected. It forced the Rangers to make a decision: either keep up or pull past again.

They decided to both slam quickly and leave other doors open.

High roles

The Rangers deal with Marcus Semien is said to be worth $ 175 million over seven years. It will make it the second largest free agent contract in team history. A look at the five largest:

player	Total Value (Millions)	years	agent	comment
Alex Rodriguez	$ 252	2001-2010	Scott Boras	Last three places before swapping for Yankees.
Marcus seeds	$ 175	2022-2028	Scott Boras	Offers Rangers upgrades and options for the middle infield.
Shin-Soo Choo	$ 130	2014-2020	Scott Boras	A.363 OBP over 7 seasons with Rangers.
Adrian Beltre	$ 96	2011-2016	Scott Boras	Best free agent deal in team history.
Chan Ho Park	$ 65	2002-2006	Scott Boras	Worst free agent deal in team history.

More Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News can be found here.

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