Tag: Million

Corey Seager, Rangers agree to 10-year, $325 million contract as star shortstop leaves Dodgers

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Corey Seager, Rangers agree to 10-year, 5 million contract as star shortstop leaves Dodgers

Free agent shortstop Corey Seager has agreed to sign with the Texas Rangers, CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden confirmed Monday. Seager, who had spent his entire career with the Dodgers, will be inking a 10-year contract worth $325 million.

Seager is the second massive commitment to a middle infielder the Rangers have made in the last two days. On Sunday, they agreed to terms with Marcus Semien on a seven-year deal worth $175 million. Seager and Semien will, evidently, form Texas’ double-play combination for most of the rest of the decade.

The Rangers have also signed starting pitcher Jon Gray and outfielder Kole Calhoun in recent days as they attempt to overhaul a roster that finished 60-102 last season. The Rangers haven’t made the postseason since 2016. They’ve finished last in three of the last four years, including each of the past two.

Seager, 27, entered the offseason ranked as CBS Sports’ second best free agent. Here’s what we wrote at the time:

Seager can really hit. He had the fourth-highest OPS+ among non-first-base infielders over the past two seasons, trailing only Fernando Tatis Jr., Trea Turner, and José Ramírez. He also ranked in the 80th percentile or better in 2021 in two important categories: 1) percentage of batted balls that had exit velocities above 95 mph, and 2) percentage of batted balls with a launch angle between 10 and 30 degrees. That he was able to post such numbers despite a trigger-happy approach (his swing rate was almost identical to Yermín Mercedes’) is a testament to his feel for contact. If there are areas for reservation with Seager, they concern his past back woes and his long-term defensive position. He tends to struggle coming in on balls, and it’s possible he’ll have to slide to the hot corner sooner

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Marucci Sports Tightens Its Grip On Baseball, Buying Lizard Skins For Almost $50 Million

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Marucci Sports Tightens Its Grip On Baseball, Buying Lizard Skins For Almost Million

Baseball equipment company Marucci Sports today announced the acquisition of Lizard Skins, a manufacturer of grip tape used in baseball, hockey and other sports, as part of a bid to expand its position in the industry and test the waters in new markets. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, according to people familiar with the matter, the deal is worth nearly $50 million.

Since being founded by former major leaguer Kurt Ainsworth and a pair of partners in 2004, Marucci Sports has grown into a baseball-bat powerhouse. More than 25% of MLB players used Marucci bats on opening day this year, according to Bat Digest, the single highest share of any brand. Another 15% used Victus, a subsidiary of Marucci that the company acquired in 2017. That type of dominance is part of what led investment holding company Compass Diversified to purchase Marucci for $200 million in April 2020. Albert Pujols, Buster Posey, David Ortiz and several other active and retired MLB stars previously invested in Marucci, although the company would not disclose who is still actively involved. (Both brands are also featured as equip-able apparel in Sony Interactive’s MLB The Show video game franchise.)

But the major leagues are just a small fraction of Marucci’s business; Ainsworth says MLB accounts for “probably less than 2% overall sales.” Marucci posted a profit of $28 million on $99 million in revenue for the trailing 12 months ending on June 30. In addition to producing wood and aluminum bats from T-ball all the way to the pros, Marucci makes uniforms, batting gloves, bags and “pretty much everything right

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