The Rangers Did Something The Guardians Would Not Do

The Rangers committed to a path when the Guardians seemingly dug theirs each step of the way.

It’s 2011, and the Texas Rangers just lost 6-2 in Game 7 of the World Series. Having just been there the previous year and losing the series 4-1, the pain had to have been insurmountable, as they eclipsed the 50-year mark in franchise history without winning the title.

The following season, they made it back to the Wild Card round but lost in the then-one-game format. After winning 91 games and missing the playoffs in 2013, they lost in the ALDS in 2015 and 2016.

After the 2016 season, their win total dropped down from where they’d been at 95 wins, and the front office called the dogs off from that point forward. From there, they didn’t touch the postseason again until this year.

The Rangers' records for the next seven seasons were: 78-84, 67-95, 78-84, 22-38 (COVID-19 shortened season), 60-102, 68-94, and 90-72 (World Series Champions).

Timing and Execution 

Texas went out and invested long-term in big-time free agents Marcus Semien and Corey Seager at the end of 2021. The Rangers then solidified their starting rotation during the offseason and at this year’s trade deadline. With the likes of Jon Gray, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jordan Montgomery, and Max Scherzer — whom they acquired via trade to step in for Jacob deGrom — they pieced it together to make it through the very end.

And, as fate would have it, the Rangers met the mighty 84-78 Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series and handled them without much drama. They ended the series 4-1, finally capturing that elusive Commissioner's Trophy in the Fall Classic.

The team that lost in the ALDS in 1996, 1998, and 1999, and didn’t make it back to the postseason until making it to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, picked a path, stuck to the course, and made their run when they were ready.

They tore it down and waited to put their money into player development, free agent signings, and growing the home talent that they had selected.

Now, when looking at the Cleveland Guardians, it’s hard not to draw parallels where allowed, and feel that deep, painful ache once again knowing the club just surpassed its 75-year mark without a title.

Sep 24, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona looks on from the dugout during the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports / © Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports

Guardians Over the Years

The Guardians' history is longer, and littered with more postseason appearances, pennants, and World Series titles than the Rangers hold — except the Guardians received their last Commissioner’s Trophy in 1948.

Not to go back into the archives and bring up the teams of the ‘90s (again), but it’ll be more impactful to look at the alignment of the window between the two clubs, where one stayed relevant and the other tore it down.

In 2013, the 91-72 Rangers had just missed the Wild Card game, in which Cleveland and Tampa Bay had just beaten them out in the standings and met head-to-head.

The Rays moved on, and Cleveland felt good about making it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2007 — and in the inaugural season of Terry Francona as skipper.

The team floundered a bit in 2014 and 2015 without touching the playoffs, but returned in 2016 (losing in the World Series, of course), and lost in the ALDS in each of the following two years.

During that time, the club did what many would do. They turned to free agency and the trade deadlines each season to try to piece together what could be a super competitive and winning roster while keeping the core intact. 

But, what they didn’t do, and wouldn’t do, was strip down nearly to the studs. Why would they? The talent was right in front of them, and they had the manager they wanted to lead the club. But is hindsight 20/20?

With shortstop Francisco Lindor emerging onto the scene, along with José Ramírez finding his own, the timing seemed to be now. The rotation was highly regarded, and the bullpen had the team on lockdown when utilized to its fullest potential, with the Andrew Miller-Cody Allen backend from 2016-2018.

In 2019, the 93-win team that didn’t make the postseason really closed out the last iteration of that team, with many players from the World Series team already no longer on the roster. And, unbeknownst to us all, the 2020 season would be a 60-game sprint. And despite sneaking into the Wild Card round, the team was bested by the Yankees — and Lindor would be traded.

When the young 2022 Guardians shocked the world by not only winning the AL Central, but taking the New York Yankees the distance in the ALDS, it seemed that the front office had forged its path. 2021's 80-82 team looked like anything but trying to make it to the postseason, so this was quite the unexpected turnaround and a promising sign of things to come.

Oct 18, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; The Cleveland Guardians watch their team play against the New York Yankees during the eighth inning in game five of the ALDS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / © Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The 2023 season, though, is where things got a little sticky. The offseason free agent signings did not go well, and the Guardians got off to a lackluster start. Being in the division race at the trade deadline, the team then off-loaded one of those free agent signings in Josh Bell, shortstop Amed Rosario, and starting pitcher Aaron Civale — who had just come back from injury and was pitching with a decimated, rookie rotation.

Around the time the news broke that there were rumblings of Francona stepping aside, the front office threw a Hail Mary and claimed some more arms off waivers and tried to mend the starting rotation and bullpen that were suffering from fatigue and missing staples from the rubber.

But, once again, maybe hindsight is 20/20, and perhaps they did too little too late in the season. Or maybe they simply just struck bad luck. But the part that’s going to leave the sting this go-around is how many times the club made it to the postseason in previous years or were on the doorstep, but could not finish the job.

It’s hard to wonder what it would’ve been like had the front office decided at any point over the last decade to wait, fully develop, retool, and then go all in all at once. Instead, every season came with new acquisitions to add to the core, and then that core aged out or ended up leaving under their own power or otherwise. 

Over the last decade, the club hasn't surpassed an Opening Day payroll rank above 16th since 2018. And, while payroll isn't the entire equation, the Rangers came in ranked 9th in payroll on Opening Day this season.

With each successful club during this stretch that had the makeup of a team that would make noise in the postseason brought more optimism. But the pairings of some homegrown talent and rental players, or signing a household name with those past their prime, never quite aligned with the timing and execution of each season. 

With some of Cleveland's recent offseason contract extension signings, the biggest being Ramírez, you can see the makings of where the front office wants to lock in this next iteration of a new core. 

Nine of the 17 Guardians that made their MLB debut in 2022 are on the 40-man roster. But how they continue to develop their homegrown talent when some of their released players went on to flourish elsewhere this season, was put on the radar this year.

It makes you wonder if the Guardians operated a little differently, would their fortunes be different? Or, you might be sitting there saying, "How is any of this is different?" and thinking Cleveland did nearly all they could within a similar blueprint, but had different results.

Regardless, it's hard not to peek over the fence and see how someone else’s garden flourished before yours when you felt like you had put in the same amount of work for just as long, or longer. 

And, even harder to wonder how much more water and nurturing it’ll take for yours to win the prize.