As Texas Rangers try to create chemistry, Corey Seager addresses Marcus Semien spat rumors

Manager Skip Schumaker spent time Sunday talking to the Texas Rangers about building chemistry. After an offseason marked by a rumored spat between Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, chemistry is a spring focal point.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Skip Schumaker laid it out back in October at his introductory news conference after being hired as Texas Rangers manager: One of his top priorities is to create a winning clubhouse culture.

Naturally, amid a managerial change and some late-season comments that raised eyebrows and notable final road-trip absences, chemistry became a front-burner issue. When Marcus Semien was traded, the burner was turned up. When national media began to report on a rift between Semien and Corey Seager, the dial was turned to high.

On Sunday, before the first full-squad workout of spring training, Schumaker’s message to the team was heavy on chemistry/culture. Teams that have the right harmony have an edge. On Monday, chemistry was back at the forefront with the media as Seager addressed the Semien issue.

Did his answer clear everything up? Probably not. Does it matter anymore? Definitely not. Seager does seem to be on board with helping Schumaker fulfill his desire to create the right kind of team culture.

“You want to be an open book, kind of as a veteran, and be approachable and everything else,” Seager said. “And I always wanted to do that, and I kind of have. So, you help where you can, and you pick your spots. But other than that, you’re trying to be one of the guys and keep this thing in the right direction.”

Seager said that he and Semien had a mutual respect for each other and worked well on the field when both were healthy. They also have different pregame routines, with Semien getting work on the field while Seager works in the cages.

Both were available after games, win or lose, though Semien did the majority of the speaking with media. Some of that reponsibility fell to him because Seager missed so much time the past three seasons.

Seager downplayed the issue Monday.

“I think that’s things that are in-house that people don’t know about,” Seager said. “That’s just all speculation. Me and Marcus had a fine relationship. We both respect each other, we were both professional and we knew how to go about our business and try and accomplish a goal. And we did that ’23.”

Corey Seager was asked at #Rangers camp about his relationship with Marcus Semien and said this: pic.twitter.com/f0fnahsDN4

— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilsonTXR) February 16, 2026

Winning helped create a winning culture in 2023, when the Rangers won the World Series. Winning always helps, and maybe the poor offensive season and injuries of 2025 lead to the perception that the Rangers’ culture wasn’t good.

Schumaker has his thoughts on what it takes. He said the team must have more competitors than complainers and that players need to show up every day expecting to have fun. Winning is fun and helps with culture, but it isn’t the first component of having a good clubhouse.

“I think no matter you what role you have on a team and your position on a team, if you’re not having fun coming to work every day, this thing ain’t going to work,” Schumaker said. “I think that it starts and ends with having fun coming to work every day, doing the best you can, and then figuring it out what went right, what went wrong at the end of the day and trying to fix it.”

Seager said the speech lifted the team heading into the first day of the grind.

“He gave a really good speech yesterday on expectations of how he sees this thing rolling, and it got a lot of people fired up and headed the right way,” Seager said. “Now it’s all about maintaining that, but it’s just ways to be able to help and keep things moving the right direction and not steering off the path and just staying the course. That’s going to be a big thing for us, just stay in the right direction, keep going.”

Newcomer Brandon Nimmo wants to be a team leader, which will develop as he and his teammates get acquainted. Like Schumaker, good chemistry separates contenders from also-rans.

“It’s always been an intangible that isn’t measured, but it’s super, super important to teams winning,” Nimmo said. “You got to find the 1 percent way of being better than everybody else, of working as a cohesive unit and getting the most out of your team. I think the goal is to try and win on the edges and find where can we better than others. And I think that’s really a big part of it.”

Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com