The Texas Rangers are the reigning, defending, undisputed champions of the world, and they are poised to make another deep postseason run–if they can win enough games during the regular season. Last year the Rangers had a ton of talent that was overshadowed during the regular season by a pretty shoddy bullpen that held a 4.77 ERA, 24th in baseball.
Last year Texas finished with a 90-72 record, which was actually six games worse than their Pythagorean record, thanks to the bullpen. This year’s team is fairly similar to the one that just won the title, but that may have more to do with the financial uncertainty the club was facing for much of the offseason. It took until February for a deal to be worked out for the team’s broadcast rights, which gave the Rangers (and a number of other teams) the excuse to not spend money like they usually would.
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This team has a lot of questions heading into the 2024 season, mostly revolving around how healthy the roster will be and when some of their stars will be ready to play ball. The Rangers may be a fascinating team to follow because if they can hang around just long enough during the regular season, they could end up being the team to beat in October once again.
Rangers additions and subtractions
Texas didn’t make a lot of big moves this winter. The two big additions the club has brought in are Tyler Mahle, who will miss the first half of the season, and veteran reliever David Robertson. Mahle is recovering from Tommy John, but has been solid when he’s been on the mound in recent seasons, and Robertson, 38, is a proven veteran with a career 2.90 ERA.
Texas has also brought in Kirby Yates to throw out of the ‘pen, and underrated vet Austin Pruitt as a depth option. He held a 2.98 ERA in Oakland’s bullpen over 48 1/3 innings last season.
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The Rangers will also be without Jordan Montgomery, Mitch Garver, Austin Hedges, Martín Pérez, Aroldis Chapman, Will Smith and Chris Stratton this year. Those seven players combined for 7.4 WAR in their time with the Rangers in 2023 and provided the club with depth.
When we compare the additions to the subtractions, the Rangers, by WAR, have gotten worse by a decent amount. The players that have left accumulated a total of 6.3 WAR, while the guys that have been brought in are projected for just 1.2. That’s a total of -5.1. That’s one of the worst off-seasons we’ve had this winter, with just the Toronto Blue Jays (5.8), San Diego Padres (-10.9), and Minnesota Twins (-12) finishing worse. There shouldn’t be panic in the heart of Texas, but there should be a little concern.
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Rangers 2024 outlook
The Rangers will be beginning the season in just a few days without Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, and Tyler Mahle in their rotation, and the plan for this season is to hang close until those guys get back, then just obliterate the league. It’s a decent plan with the amount of talent on the roster even without those three, but how it ends up playing out will be interesting to watch.
Over at FanGraphs, the Rangers are projected for an 82-80 season, while Baseball Prospectus has them at 85.2-76.8. Neither outlet has them making the postseason with every team but the Red Sox in the AL East projected for a better record. FG also has the Mariners coming out ahead of Texas this year.
Last year Corey Seager battled injuries, but when he was healthy he hit like Shohei Ohtani. Marcus Semien may have been a better all-around player than him. This club has tons of bats and some pretty good arms, but sometimes after rolling through the postseason there is a little bit of a hangover effect, too. Throw in the fact that they’ll be without three of their five starters for half of the year, and the projections could end up being correct.
The way that they go about changing people’s minds will be by getting solid production from Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford. Carter, 21, came up at the end of the regular season and just mashed, batting .306 with five homers and three stolen bases in 23 games. He continued hitting in the postseason.
Langford, 22, has yet to debut in the big leagues, but has shown that he can hit with the best of them in his brief minor-league tenure. He was the fourth overall selection in last year’s Draft. Carter and Langford are the top two prospects in the Rangers’ system, and they’ll be relied upon early in 2024.
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All of the questions surrounding this team revolve around whether or not they can remain in the hunt in the early going. If they make it to the postseason with a fairly healthy roster, then they have a pretty decent shot at being the first repeat champs since the Yankees from 1998-2000.
Rangers player to watch in 2024
One way for Rangers fans to breathe a little easier in the first half of the season would be for one of their starting pitchers to take a leap forward. After absolutely shoving out of the bullpen in the World Series, Jon Gray could be that guy.
Gray has been a better-than-league-average starter the past two seasons, most recently putting up a 4.12 ERA in 157 1/3 innings. In a recent spring start against the Cincinnati Reds, the righty went five scoreless innings, gave up three hits, struck out three, and didn’t walk anyone.
The Texas twirler is one of the forgotten free agent signings the team has made in recent years, but the Rangers signed him for four years and $56 million. This season he has the opportunity to put himself back in the forefront of the club, and the rotation, by helping to get them through the first half of the season without three pretty key pitchers. He doesn’t have to be deGrom or Scherzer in order to make an impact. He just has to go out and keep his team in the game when he’s on the mound. The Texas offense has enough firepower to take care of the rest.