After a disappointing follow-up season to their first-ever World Series championship, the Rangers were the busiest team in the AL West over the offseason. Did they do enough to put themselves in the driver’s seat of the division?
Major League Signings
- Nathan Eovaldi, SP: Three years, $75MM
- Joc Pederson, DH: Two years, $37MM (Pederson can opt out after 2025. Rangers can override his opt-out by exercising their end of an $18.5MM mutual option for 2027.)
- Kyle Higashioka, C: Two years, $13.5MM (includes $1MM buyout on $7MM mutual option for 2027)
- Chris Martin, RP: One year, $5.5MM
- Hoby Milner, RP: One year, $2.5MM
- Luke Jackson, RP: One year, $1.5MM
- Jacob Webb, RP: One year, $1.25MM (Rangers can retain Webb in 2026 through arbitration)
- Shawn Armstrong, RP: One year, $1.125M
- Patrick Corbin, SP: One-year, $1.1MM
- Kevin Pillar, OF: One-year, $1MM (Rangers selected Pillar's minors contract ahead of Opening Day)
- Luis Curvelo, RP: Major league deal (Curvelo will earn a prorated portion of the league minimum $760K while in the majors and $90K while in the minors, per the AP.)
2025 spending: $56.225MM (not including Curvelo)
Total spending: $139.475MM (not including Curvelo)
Option Decisions
- Nathan Eovaldi, SP: Declined $20MM player option for 2025 (later re-signed)
- David Robertson, RP: Declined $7MM mutual option for 2025 in favor of $1.5MM buyout
- Andrew Chafin, RP: Rangers declined $6.5MM club option, paid Chafin $500K buyout
Trades & Claims
- Acquired 1B/3B Jake Burger from Marlins for minor league INF Max Acosta, minor league INF Echedry Vargas, and minor league SP Brayan Mendoza
- Traded 1B Nathaniel Lowe to Nationals for RP Robert Garcia
- Traded RP Grant Anderson to Brewers for minor league SP Mason Molina
- Traded RP Owen White to Reds for cash considerations
- Traded RP Matt Festa to Cubs for cash considerations (Festa was later DFA’d by Cubs and re-signed with Rangers on a minor league deal)
Notable Minor League Signings
- Joe Barlow, Tucker Barnhart, Caleb Boushley, David Buchanan, JT Chargois, Sam Haggerty, Codi Heuer, Adrian Houser, Patrick Murphy, Michael Plassmeyer, Hunter Strickland, Alan Trejo, Chad Wallach, Festa, Pillar
Notable Losses
- Nathaniel Lowe, Max Scherzer, Kirby Yates, David Robertson (still unsigned), Andrew Heaney, José Leclerc, Carson Kelly, José Ureña, Travis Jankowski, Matt Duffy, Sandro Fabian (released to sign in NPB), Sam Huff, Carson Coleman (Rule 5 draft pick returned to Yankees), Anderson, White, Acosta, Vargas, Mendoza
While the Rangers significantly increased payroll during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 offseasons, they weren’t nearly as active the winter after their World Series victory, despite the extra cash their success surely brought in. The reason? Declining television revenue and an unknown future for their TV broadcasts. Texas was one of many teams affected when the company then known as Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The Rangers negotiated a new agreement with DSG for 2024, but it was only a one-year deal, and it paid them significantly less than they had received under their previous contract.
The Rangers did not re-up with DSG (now called Main Street Sports Group) for 2025, nor did they follow the path of teams like the Guardians and Twins, who will have their TV broadcasts distributed by MLB this season. Instead, the Rangers announced the brand new Rangers Sports Network in late January. RSN will partner with several TV providers to distribute games. Presumably, the team decided this would be a more lucrative option than signing away their exclusive TV rights to another broadcast company or MLB. Still, the whole ordeal meant the Rangers were facing quite a bit of financial uncertainty for the second consecutive winter. For the first time in four years, they did not increase their payroll. Indeed, the team made it a goal to drop below the luxury tax threshold in 2025. According to the estimates from RosterResource, those efforts were successful. The Rangers' payroll sits about $4MM lower than where it was at the end of last season, while their CBT payroll is $14.5MM lower – and $4.7MM below the first tax threshold.
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The Rangers need David Robertson NOW! Sign him today!
Nice mix of signings and trades to get payroll under control, put forth a competitive product, and maintain some youth. It will come down to their pitching and whether it stays healthy.
Core Needs Analysis:
Starting Pitching:
The Rangers’ starting rotation has high potential, but injury concerns are a significant factor.
Grade: C+
Bullpen:
The bullpen has had a lot of changes, and it is unknown how well the new pieces will work together.
Grade: C
Offensive Production:
The Rangers have a potent offense when healthy, but consistency is key.
Grade: B
Team Depth:
The Rangers have made moves to improve the teams depth.
Grade: B
Overall Offseason Grade:
B-
Rationale:
The Rangers addressed some key areas of need, particularly in offensive depth and bullpen adjustments.
However, the lingering concerns about their starting pitching, especially the health of key pitchers, prevent a higher grade.
The trade of Nathaniel Lowe, while adding Jake Burger, creates some question marks.
The team did not make any major moves that would be considered a home run.
The team made solid, but not spectacular moves.
A realistic win prediction would be in the range of: 84-90 wins.
I love the Lowe move. I like Nathaniel, solid hitter, but Burger has some scary pop and now he is kind of lurking behind Pederson. This is a good team and is basically the same group that led all categories in the AL 2023, only subbing Pederson + Burger for Lowe + Garver and add Wyatt Langford. Texas will hit this year no doubt about it.
I think people are underselling the bullpen moves I really like our own young bullpen guys in Garcia, Church and Teodo. I think they didn’t spend a ton on the bullpen because they expect those guys to develop and be the in house backend. It’s time to see what we have in Church.
If you can dream on Leiter and Rocker, Texas will be tough this year. I think we will pretty easily be the best offensive team in the West, certainly the deepest.