ORLANDO, Fla. – The Boston Red Sox may make a splash on the trade market before MLB Winter Meetings wind down Wednesday evening, but sounds like it won’t be for Corey Seager.

The Red Sox were one of several teams to reach out to the Rangers about their star shortstop, amidst reports the Texas club is looking to shed payroll. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves have also expressed interest in Seager.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote Wednesday, the Rangers “haven’t explicitly said he’s unavailable” but “haven’t engaged in deeper discussions” and “are not motivated to move Seager.”

A report from DLLS Sports stated Boston’s “the inquiry was quickly shot down.”

Teams are casting wide nets this offseason, including the Red Sox, who have also spoken to the Arizona Diamondbacks about Ketel Marte and the Houston Astros about Isaac Paredes.

Seager was a more unexpected target, a league source told the Herald, because of the length and cost of his contract. He has six years remaining on the 10-year, $325 million contract he signed with the Rangers on Dec. 1, 2021, hours before the team owners implemented a lockout of the players that ultimately lasted 99 days while the two sides tensely negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Marte is signed to a six-year, $105 million contract through 2030 with a ’31 player option. Paredes is only in his second year of arbitration eligibility and won’t be a free agent until 2028.

Despite being limited by various injuries, Seager has hit .278 with a .872 OPS, and averaged 134 hits, 26.5 doubles and 29.3 home runs per year over his four seasons in Texas. The 11-year MLB veteran was an All-Star in each of his first three Rangers seasons, and won a Silver Slugger and was the AL MVP runner-up in ’23.

Amidst Boston’s search for a middle-of-the-order power bat, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow noted this week that “contact ability… is another are that we feel like we need to improve, kind of the identity of the offense.”

Seager, with his consistently above-average plate discipline would certainly fit the bill; he has a 17.2 strikeout percentage (SO%) and 10.0 walk percentage (BB%) over his Rangers tenure and ranked in the 93rd MLB percentile in BB% this year.

The Red Sox will have to source lineup improvements elsewhere, though.