Rangers believe Corey Seager is key to trade deadline plans, but that misses the point

The Texas Rangers haven't come out of the All-Star break as hot as they were going into it, but on the heels of what might be Kumar Rocker's best start of the season and a stellar offensive performance across the board in the 10-0 drubbing of the Chicago White Sox, they have yet again moved back over .500 and into first place in the AL West.

For most of this recent run, we've operated under the idea that the Rangers will be buyers at the trade deadline. The Athletics have fallen out of the division race, and the Houston Astros' disintegrating pitching staff could lead to their demise sooner rather than later, too. That would lead one to believe that if the Rangers can separate themselves from the Seattle Mariners, the road to the division crown would be clear.

The club might see things differently, though. Per Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports, how Texas approaches the trade deadline has everything to do with Corey Seager and his health.

General manager Chris Young stated the obvious when he said the club needs to continue to string wins together and maintain its place in the standings, though his idea that the team hasn't been able to play its best baseball without Seager is dubious. It appears that Texas believes that it truly needs Seager healthy and productive to determine its true needs and the level of aggression with which to attack them come August 3.

Corey Seager shouldn't have much bearing on the Rangers' trade deadline plans

The trade deadline is less than two weeks away, so does that mean that Seager's return to the lineup is imminent? Not really. The star shortstop has done some light baseball activities such as running and fielding drills, with hitting off a pitching machine being the furthest he's gotten. There's hope he could take live batting practice soon, but ultimately he'll need to complete some sort of rehab assignment before he's truly ready.

Based on his comments, Seager isn't anywhere close to certain as to when that'll be.

“I have no idea,” Seager said, per Wilson. “I would love to be able to give you that answer.”

Not ideal. Meanwhile, the Rangers' greatest need is another high-leverage right-handed reliever, and a starting pitcher to solidify the back end of the rotation amid the uncertainty regarding Jack Leiter's timetable, and the inconsistencies presented by Rocker, MacKenzie Gore, and Cal Quantrill would also be ideal. Seager returning doesn't solve those needs.

What he could provide is the boost that the lineup could use, but even then, it's an indirect solution. In a perfect world, the bat that Texas would target would be a right-handed-hitting outfielder, so as a left-handed-hitting shortstop, Seager isn't a direct answer. Instead, the theory is that his return would free up Ezequiel Duran to play more outfield. One can quibble with that logic, though it does make some sense.

The bigger takeaway here is that Seager has been a non-factor all year. He's played in 51 contests between his three IL stints, meaning he's been available for roughly half of the Rangers' 101 games played thus far.

When he has been on the field, he's hit just .182/.292/.374. He's contributed very little to the team's winning when he's been healthy, and Texas has played some of its best baseball of late without him.

If the Rangers solve their needs independent of Seager's progress and performance, they'll be in a good spot. Then, if he comes back healthy and returns to his superstar form, they'll get a massive boost that changes the complexion of the team. That said, a healthy and productive Seager should be the cherry on top and not the whole enchilada.

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