Dodgers: Andrew Friedman’s comments on Corey Seager raise one big question

Will Corey Seager be the Dodgers’ long-term shortstop?

Corey Seager‘s future with the Los Angeles Dodgers is among the more complicated storylines in Major League Baseball. The slugging shortstop just won both NLCS and World Series MVP and is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility, meaning he will be a free agent after 2021.

As a client of super agent Scott Boras, it’s unlikely Seager inks an extension with the Dodgers unless a potential deal blows everyone away. So, as of now, LA fans can expect Seager to become a free agent when next season ends. Though that doesn’t mean he won’t return, it definitely doesn’t guarantee anything for the Dodgers.

And president Andrew Friedman’s latest comments on the matter further echoed that. It seems as if the organization knows just as much as we do, which makes things a bit murky.

“What can you say about your desire to retain Corey Seager long-term and the possibility of working out a deal?” Pedro Moura of The Athletic asked Friedman.“Corey has been a big part of what we’ve accomplished in the last five years,” Friedman responded. “Our hope is he’s a big part of our future. But, obviously, he’s focused on having as good of a 2021 season as he can, as are we. We’ll figure that out when the time is right.”

Does this mean the Dodgers offered him an extension and he declined? If the team has a desire to keep him long term and Friedman deferred to the fact that Seager is “focused on having a good 2021,” it certainly seems like a greater conversation/chunk of information is being omitted from his answer.

The reason we can make this assumption is because of the history Boras clients have waiting until free agency to negotiate contracts. One would assume Seager might want to cash in right now because of his scorching hot performance in 2020, but don’t forget it was only a 60-game sample size and he’s played in just 212 games since the start of 2018.

If you’re the Dodgers, though it’s a bit concerning that Seager isn’t locked up yet, this could be advantageous. Right now it seems they don’t have to pay a premium for a good performance across 70 games (including the postseason) and could stand to see his price tag decrease if he doesn’t out-perform fellow soon-to-be free agent shortstops in Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa and Javier Baez in 2021.

If you want to look at the bright side, the only way the Dodgers could “lose” in this scenario is if Seager blows all of his peers of the water next season.

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