The Dodgers lost Corey Seager to a monster free-agent deal with the Rangers and one of the deciding factors as to why he left LA has come to light.
On Monday, the Texas Rangers signed former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Corey Seager to a massive 10-year/$325 million contract. The front office and fans alike are sort of reeling and scratching their heads as to why/how they could lose out on Seager to the Rangers with Los Angeles being the second-largest market in the sport.
He was drafted by the Dodgers in 2012 and never played for anyone else. He must have liked his time there, he never missed the playoffs and won a World Series in 2020. And, certainly, it could not have been a money issue…
Or could it?
The Texas-sized reason Corey Seager chose Rangers over Dodgers
The Dodgers offered Seager the qualifying one-year, $18.4 million offer, which was declined. In the spring of 2021, it is reported that Seager turned down an eight-year, $250 million extension to stay in Los Angeles. Beyond that, it looks like the Dodgers were at least at the table, but in the end, could not compete with what the Rangers had to offer.
First, no deferrals on the contract ensures Seager will be paid. He’ll be paid quickly, too, with $140 million coming to him in the first four years. But the big kicker as to why he took the Rangers deal might not have anything to do with baseball — state income tax.
Now I’m not an accountant, I’m not political, and I do not know why things are things. But in the state of California, for someone who would make what Seager is now making, there is an income tax of 13.3 percent, the highest in the country.
When you’re talking about Seager’s pay, that’s talking millions of dollars going back to the state. But in the state of Texas, that number is a big fat goose-egg, 0 percent. That is something the Dodgers simply could not offer.
It’s very possible that the numbers on the table were very similar between the Dodgers and Rangers. But in the end, thanks to Texas, they were probably tens of millions apart.