Texas Rangers Season Preview: New Ballpark Won't Fix Flawed Roster

Their pitching, led by Corey Kluber, won’t be half bad, but the offense needs one more impact bat.

Editor's note: Welcome to SI's MLB preview. Click here to view every team's outlook in 2020, including predictions, projections and, yes, a preview of the 2030 preview. Click here to read the Rangers fantasy preview.

The last time the Rangers inaugurated a stadium, they finished atop the AL West. Then again, that 1994 season ended in August because of a strike, with Texas holding a 52–62 record. Globe Life Park (née the Ballpark at Arlington) is no more, yielding at the tender age of 25 to the domed, air-conditioned Globe Life Field.

General manager Jon Daniels spent the winter trying to put another first-place team into the new yard, chasing third baseman Anthony Rendon fruitlessly but successfully acquiring ex-Indians ace Corey Kluber, veteran infielder Todd Frazier and starters Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. The new pitchers should help a lot. While lefthander Mike Minor (208 1⁄3 innings, 3.59 ERA) and righty Lance Lynn (208 1⁄3 innings, 3.67 ERA) were surprising stalwarts in 2019, no other pitcher made even 20 starts, and just two made 15. Rookie manager Chris Woodward had to use 19 starters, tied for the fifth-most in MLB history.

Last year’s team went 78–84, which overstates how good it was. The Rangers’ biggest issue: Since the start of the decade, they have struggled to turn touted prospects into reliable contributors. While slugger Joey Gallo (.986 OPS) became an All-Star, first baseman Ronald Guzmán, second baseman Rougned Odor, outfielder Nomar Mazara (sent to the White Sox in December) and righty Ariel Jurado have all fallen well short of expectations. (So has ex-top prospect Jurickson Profar, who, eight years after debuting at age 19, is now on his third team.)

A more stable rotation will make Woodward’s life easier, but the staff won’t get much help from a defense among MLB’s worst (28th in defensive efficiency in ’19), especially in the outfield. Even if the new park is friendlier to pitchers—and it almost has to be—this Texas team will give up many more runs than it can score. — Joe Sheehan

Projected Record: 76-86, 4th in AL West

After their starters ranked 12th in the AL in ERA in 2019, the Rangers overhauled their rotation. The pitching, led by Corey Kluber, won’t be half bad, but the offense needs one more impact bat.

Key Question: Does Great Pitching Compensate for Mediocre Hitting?

The Texas Anti-Angels boast the best rotation in the AL West, with a lineup worth the price of admission only because of Joey Gallo. The Rangers are opening up a new ballpark this spring. Let’s see if they keep hammerin’ once construction is complete. — Matt Martell

Watchability Ranking: Keep a Hand on the Remote

Joey Gallo is not the best player in baseball, but he may well be the freakiest, and if he stays healthy in 2020, he’s one of the most compelling to watch. Otherwise, in terms of fun, Texas has… a potentially very capable rotation, top to bottom? — Emma Baccellieri

Preview of the 2030 Preview

Joey Gallo, 1B/DH: Gallo always had his doubters—those who believed that his inability to make consistent contact would sink his whole profile, that the blueprints for Travis Hafner 2.0 should have been left on the cutting room floor. Now, Gallo is approaching those hallowed marks of 500 and 3,000. Problem is we’re talking 3,000 whiffs, not hits. O.K, so he won’t make the Hall of Fame—a .225 career batting average will have that effect—but he’s a first-ballot inductee to the Hall of Fun. — Craig Goldstein