Inside The Rangers

Texas Rangers 'Average' Offseason Grade Still Makes Them Competitive

The Texas Rangers took a targeted approach to the offseason, even as one respected site only gave their offseason an average grade.

Nick Ziegler

Sep 29, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.
Sep 29, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
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With Spring training underway for the Texas Rangers, the team will be looking forward to a bounce-back season in 2025.

It was a busy offseason for the Rangers this winter. With a lot of free agents, it has resulted in a good amount of turnover for the franchise.

As Texas tried to navigate staying under the luxury tax threshold, changes were inevitable.

However, even though they were conscious of the spending, they were able to bring in some new faces and also bring a few key ones back.

In the starting rotation, arguably the most important player to re-sign for the Rangers was Nathan Eovaldi. The right-hander signed a three-year deal, and he will be at the top of the rotation with Jacob deGrom.

For their lineup, while they traded Nathaniel Lowe to the Washington Nationals, they were able to sign Jake Burger and Joc Pederson, who both should be strong additions.

However, they did have a notable loss in the bullpen with All-Star closer, Kirby Yates, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Overall, it has been a busy winter of moves for Texas.

The Athletic recently gave the Rangers the grade of a ‘C’ for their busy offseason. They highlighted that this winter was more about maintaining than improving.

“After making huge splashes in recent offseasons, this winter was more about maintaining enough depth to resume contending if their big names come through with big years," the site wrote.

The grade of a ‘C’ seems a bit low for Texas was able to accomplish this offseason. Their batting order is shaping up to be one of the best in baseball with two impact additions in Pederson and Burger.

However, the likely reason for the poor grade is due to the question marks in the bullpen. Losing Yates and likely David Robertson is a big blow to the unit. Now, the Rangers will be relying on a bunch of veteran relief pitchers to step up and perform.

The argument can be made that they improved this winter due to the lineup upgrades, but even if this winter was a wash in terms of upgrades, they will have a lot of young players who are still developing and a lot of starting pitchers back from injury.

Overall, with staying under the luxury tax being a goal, this was a strong offseason for the Rangers.

The bullpen will have some opportunities to work itself out during the year, but that seems to be the most logical place that they might make an upgrade or two during the season.

If Texas can stay healthy, there is no reason why they can't be a true contender in 2025 once again.

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Nick Ziegler
NICK ZIEGLER

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