Corey Seager load management plan has fans up in arms but there's a silver lining

No matter how you slice it, Corey Seager is becoming a hot-button issue for the Texas Rangers as he continues to stagger through the 2026 season. There are arguments to be made for and against the all-star shortstop and potential Hall of Famer. who is delivering a career-worst slash of .184/.287/.367.

Skip Schumaker outlined the plan for Seager for the foreseeable future, telling the Dallas Morning News, "I hate to use the term spring training, but I would say it’s probably going to be a little bit like that to make sure he feels good after the game, to make sure he feels good the next day,” Schumaker said. “It could be two on, one off. It could be one on, one off, that type of thing early on. I think we’ll probably do that until the off day at home — maybe three in a row until the off day — and then see what it looks like post off day.”

As it has become clear that the Rangers and Schumaker will now be managing his workload for the foreseeable future, it has the fans up in arms. But is there an argument that sitting a slumping Seager occasionally could actually improve the team?

Sitting Seager regularly isn't an ideal use of resources, but the Rangers can make do

Corey Seager makes approximately $200,000 a game. That's right - a GAME! Your average fan is going to see that and think to themselves, "That's a helluva lot more than I make in a year!" You really want to eat 200 large while Seager rides the pine because he is struggling and injury-prone? That's a bunch of bull! Let him play his way out of the slump, and hopefully he'll become a contributor. At the very least, he'll boost his trade value.

If you're gonna sit him and allow him to seriously hamstring the organization financially, then you should be actively looking to make him available at the trade deadline. You obviously wouldn't prefer to sell low on Seager, but imagine what could be done by the tight-fisted Ray Davis and Chris Young if they were to somehow free up some of that $165 million remaining salary. Imagine what they could bring in in the way of another solid hitter, pitcher, or a package of top prospects

The Rangers have played .500 baseball with him contributing a 0.8 bWAR through 80 games. It has allowed depth guys like Ezequiel Duran to break out as an all-star-worthy middle infielder, and Nicky Lopez has been awesome taking Duran's infield utility spot. There is plenty of depth on this team to fill a Seager-sized void. You can ignore what Justin Foscue has done against left-handers this year, either. In his first real, extended opportunity in the bigs, he has hammered southpaws, hitting .438 with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs.

The argument for keeping is that it would allow Schumaker to play the matchups to his advantage even more. Duran would get the occasional start at SS against lefties while playing second when Seager plays against righties.

With how Duran, Lopez, and Foscue are playing right now, the lineup is more potent when you're mixing and matching the strong suits of several players versus watching Seager go up to the dish and continue to slump -- particularly against left-handed pitching.

Is that enough of a silver lining to ostensibly platoon your $325 million man to allow Schu to optimize what is working better in the first half of 2026? That's the argument that will be had amongst Ranger fans as they have already had their patience tested with Seager and his desire, or lack of desire, to be the face of this franchise and every day shortstop.

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