Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers this morning announced that the club has agreed to terms with free agent second baseman Marcus Semien on a seven-year contract covering the 2022 through 2028 seasons.
"Marcus’ reputation around the game is impeccable. He’s a leader in every clubhouse he steps into, respected for the way he goes about his work and how he treats others," said Rangers President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels. "There are few players in the game who garner the level of respect that he does from teammates and opponents alike. We’re thrilled to add a player of his caliber to the organization."
"We feel that Marcus is an excellent fit for the Rangers organization from a talent, culture, and leadership standpoint," commented Rangers Executive Vice President and General Manager Chris Young. "Beyond his ability as a player, Marcus is an outstanding person who leads by example both on and off the field."
The 31-year-old Semien played for Toronto last season on a one-year contract, batting .265/.334/.538/.873 with 45 home runs, 102 RBI, 115 runs scored, and 39 doubles while being selected to the American League All-Star team for the first time in his career. He finished third in American League Most Valuable Player Award voting behind unanimous winner Shohei Ohtani and teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Semien’s 45 home runs were the most ever in a season by player appearing primarily at second base. He was one of only two players to appear in 162 games in the regular season in 2021, posting an MLB-high 86 extra-base hits while ranking among Major League leaders in total bases (2nd, 351), home runs (4th, 45), runs (5th, 115), and doubles (7th, 39).
Semien was selected as the American League Gold Glove Award winner at second base in 2021, ranking tied for second in MLB with 11 defensive runs saved at the position. He led all A.L. qualifiers with an .816 zone rating at second base for the year. He had been an A.L. Gold Glove Award finalist at shortstop in both 2018 and 2019 with Oakland.
Semien has finished in the top three in American League MVP Award voting twice in the last three seasons (2019 and 2021), a span in which he led the Majors in both fWAR (15.4) and bWAR (15.9) while batting .268/.346/.509/.854 with 85 home runs and 217 RBI over 377 games. He registered 460 points in MVP balloting from 2019-21, the fourth-highest total among all Major League players the past three seasons to only Freddie Freeman (543), Mike Trout (527), and Juan Soto (491). His .611 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position since 2019 is the fourth-highest figure in the Majors (minimum 200 PA’s).
The Bay Area native appeared in the postseason for three straight years with Oakland from 2018-20, batting a combined .371 (13-35) with 2 home runs, 4 RBI, 5 walks and 4 strikeouts in 9 games, compiling a 1.021 OPS. He has played 10 career games at Globe Life Field over the park’s first two seasons, batting .390 (16-41) with 4 home runs and 9 RBI. He has also appeared in 536 of his team’s 546 games (98.2%) over the past four seasons (2018-21), the fourth-highest total for any MLB player in that span.
Originally selected by the Chicago White Sox in the sixth round of the 2011 MLB Draft, Semien has a career .256 average with 160 home runs and 482 RBI over 1020 games with Chicago-AL (2013-14), Oakland (2015-20) and Toronto (2021).
Following the signing of Semien, the Rangers now have 37 players on the club’s Major League roster.