Texas breaks out brooms, advances to ALCS for 1st time since ’11
ALCS #ALCS
ARLINGTON — Corey Seager admits he’s a pretty meticulous guy. So when it came to free agency in the winter of 2021, he knew exactly what he wanted.
Rangers general manager Chris Young came to him with a plan, a vision and a timeline, starting with the franchise shortstop he would eventually sign to a 10-year, $325 million deal.
“When I won in L.A., it was a long time since they’d won,” Seager said. “I saw what that did for a fan base. When I heard they’d never won, it was extremely exciting for me to be part of something and to be able to be on the ground for and build that.”
That plan is coming to fruition. Thanks to a solo home run from Seager to put the Rangers ahead early and seven innings of one-run ball from starter Nathan Eovaldi, Texas cruised to a 7-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night to complete a sweep of the Orioles in the American League Division Series.
The Rangers now move one step closer to the ultimate goal of a World Series as they advanced to the ALCS for the first time since 2011.
Texas supplemented the big-name free-agent signings of Seager, Eovaldi, Marcus Semien and Jacob deGrom with homegrown talent — Josh Jung, Evan Carter and Leody Taveras — and the savvy trade acquisitions of Mitch Garver, Jonah Heim and Nathaniel Lowe to put the organization on this trajectory.
That plan Young laid out for Seager two winters ago looks right on track.
“They’ve pretty much met everything that they told me,” Seager said with a smile.