Inside The Rangers

Texas Rangers in Elite Company as One of the Most Well-Balanced Teams in MLB

The Texas Rangers are one of two teams in MLB that has each position group projected to finish in the top 10 in WAR this season.

Dylan Sanders

Aug 21, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (15) walks back to the dugout during the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Globe Life Field.
Aug 21, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (15) walks back to the dugout during the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Globe Life Field. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Texas Rangers are in search of a bounce back campaign and will have one of the league's most balanced rosters to do so.

MLB data account BrooksGate recently released a graphic breaking down each roster into four parts (infield plus catcher, outfield plus designated hitter, starting pitching and bullpen) to show the combined fWAR projections for each unit.

The Rangers were one of two teams to be in the top 10 for each group. The only other team was the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is nice company to keep. It makes sense as they are the last two World Series winning squads, even if there have been some tweaks to each of the rosters.

Texas' highest ranking unit was the outfield and designated hitter, which is projected to finish seventh in MLB with 12.7 combined WAR.

The only real change made here is the addition of Joc Pederson to the DH spot. That was a real weak spot in their lineup last season as it accounted for just. a.204/.263/.322 slash line.

Pederson is fresh off of a .275/.393/.515 slashing campaign and should at least provide a more steady presence than the platoon from a year ago.

Everyone else in the outfield is projected to have similar seasons.

Next highest for the Rangers was the infield plus catcher, which ranked eighth with a projected 17.8 WAR.

The biggest difference maker for this group would actually be Jonah Heim having a rebound season after a weak 2024.

Heim finished last year with just -0.1 fWAR and is projected to have 1.7 this campaign, which would still be behind where he was the two years prior.

He had just a .220/.267/.336 slash line on offense and was just average on defense, so there is plenty of room to improve.

Both the starting pitching and bullpen are projected to finish 10th in fWAR. The starters with 13.4 and the relievers with 3.4.

The biggest boost to the rotation would just be Jacob deGrom finally being able to put together a healthy season. Whenever he pitches, the results are still great. It's just the act of getting him on the mound that has proven difficult.

In contrast to the rotation using in-house players to fill gaps, the bullpen is almost entirely made of free agents and a trade acquisition.

Chris Martin and Robert Garcia account for most of the projected fWAR as they could both end up picking up a fair amount of saves this year.

Recommended Articles

Published
Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

Home/News