Fastball

Texas Rangers' Turnaround Makes Baseball History as Team Wins Championship

By capturing their first World Series title on Wednesday, the Texas Rangers accomplished baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Texas Rangers' Turnaround Makes Baseball History as Team Wins Championship
Texas Rangers' Turnaround Makes Baseball History as Team Wins Championship /
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The Texas Rangers captured the organization's first-ever World Series title on Wednesday by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0. 

With the World Series victory, the Rangers also made baseball history.

Per ESPN Stats & Info:

The Rangers lost 102 games in 2021, making them the 3rd team to win a World Series within 2 years of a 100-loss season (1969 Mets & 1914 Braves).

The Rangers finished 68-94 (.420) last season. That's the worst record in a season before winning the World Series in MLB history.

It's a stunning turnaround for Texas, who completed the turnaround thanks to their willingness to go out and spend money and be aggressive. Heading into 2022, the team handed out a $300-plus million deal to Corey Seager, who just won World Series MVP. They also handed out $175 million to Marcus Semien, who homered in Games 4 and 5 of the Series.

Before 2023, they spent nearly $200 million on Jacob deGrom, and even though he was hurt most of the year, the team had also handed out big money free agent deals to Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray in recent years. They also signed Andrew Heaney and traded around the deadline for Aroldis Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer.

All that contributed to the Rangers winning 90 games and finishing second in the American League West. They earned a wild card berth in these playoffs and eliminated the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros before beating the Diamondbacks in the Fall Classic.

Now, it's onto the offseason!

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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