The season that could have been turned into a season of yuck.
Anyone who watched most of the Rangers’ games this year saw a team that never really jelled as a unit. It affected every phase of the game—offense, defense and pitching. Nothing seemed to come together long enough to produce consistent wins. And yet, because the rest of the division was so bad, the Rangers somehow remained in the playoff conversation going into the final series.
Sigh.
That may be the most frustrating part of the entire season. There was enough talent on this roster to expect considerably more. So what went wrong, and more importantly, what should the Rangers do now?
Start With the Pitching Coach
For me, one of the biggest decisions of last offseason was allowing Mike Maddox to leave. The Rangers had just finished with the best ERA in baseball. Then, one year later, the pitching staff was among the worst in the league.
Obviously, one coaching change cannot explain an entire pitching staff going from one extreme to the other. Injuries, performance, roster turnover and player development all matter. But the timing is impossible to ignore. Maddox has a long history of getting the most out of pitchers, preparing them for opposing hitters and working with young pitchers. He also understands the less glamorous part of pitching: managing workloads, recognizing when a pitcher is running out of gas and finding ways to keep arms effective over a long season.
That matters.
I would make bringing Maddox back a priority. The Rangers don’t need another philosophical experiment. They need proven pitching expertise and a system that gives their pitchers the best possible chance to succeed.
Injuries Were a Problem. I am giving Skip Shumaker a pass as a first year coach, but under careful watch. I am also giving Chris Young another chance to redeem himself, but to be honest since 2023 this team has underperformed so his leash is short.
But They Can’t Be the Entire Explanation.
Chris Young and the manager have understandably pointed to injuries when explaining the season.
There is truth in that.
Langford, Jung, Seager and others struggled to stay healthy. The pitching staff dealt with its own revolving door of injuries and fatigue. When your lineup and pitching staff are constantly changing, developing chemistry becomes almost impossible. But injuries were not exactly a surprise.
Going into the season, there were legitimate questions about whether some of these players could stay healthy for 162 games. When several of those concerns became reality, the Rangers didn’t have enough depth to absorb the losses.
That’s an organizational problem.
There is also a difference between an injury and how an organization manages an injured player. Sometimes missing a start or taking a few extra days is better than allowing a pitcher to push through something that eventually becomes a much bigger problem. Sometimes a position player needs to spend another week getting healthy rather than returning at 80 percent and struggling for a month. That requires communication between the player, medical staff, coaches and manager. And it requires everyone to be honest. The Rangers did a lot of that this season with days off, and while it is mostly a good idea to rest some guys for a playoff push, at what point does a player have to show some actual grit, or did they and we just don’t know it. Playing hurt can be a double edge sword, on one hand they play through things, on the other we may only see 70% of their capability. A team with depth can absorb the loss of production but not if it is a third of the lineup.
Outside looking in, it appears there was too much rest and there simply isn’t enough organizational depth in the player pool to overcome it. Had this team won just 1-more game a month they easily win the division, but because they were so banged up they would have ended their season just as the Astros did and be swept right out of the playoffs.
Preparation Is Another Question
One of the things that bothered me most this season was how many games started with the Rangers looking completely unprepared. There were games when the entire team seemed lost from the first pitch.
Maybe they were not executing the plan. Maybe the plan wasn’t good enough. Maybe they didn’t have one. Who really knows?
Every team has scouting reports. Every team studies opposing pitchers and hitters. Every series should come with a plan for how to attack the opposition. When the same problems repeatedly appear, it is fair to question preparation. That doesn’t mean the players don’t care. I don’t know what happens inside that clubhouse, and neither does anyone watching from the outside. But when a team consistently looks unprepared, the responsibility eventually reaches the coaching staff and the players. Both need ownership to fix it.
Payroll Isn’t the Problem by Itself
I also don’t buy the idea that payroll is the primary reason the Rangers struggled. Every competitive team has expensive players.
Look at San Diego. Look at other teams around baseball. They have a similar payroll model as the Rangers and seem to be doing just fine. The question isn’t simply how much money you’re spending. It’s whether you’re spending it on the right combination of players, depth and pitching. The Rangers have significant money committed to veteran players, including Brandon Nimmo, Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.
Those contracts deserve scrutiny, particularly when injuries and availability become recurring issues. But what are the Rangers realistically going to get back in a trade for those contracts, should they decide to move on from them?
Probably not enough to justify simply giving them away. So I would keep them and change how I use them. If deGrom and Eovaldi are healthy, manage their workloads carefully. Don’t assume they have to give you 160 innings. Maybe the goal is 20 quality starts and 130 quality innings, with those innings strategically used in important games.
That’s not giving up. That’s managing the reality of the roster.
The Rangers Have Another Problem: They Don’t Know What They Have
This may be the biggest issue of all.
The Rangers have players with obvious talent who haven’t been able to stay on the field long enough for the organization to determine exactly what they are. That’s a dangerous place to be. You can’t build a roster around potential forever. At some point, you have to know whether the player is actually going to be available and productive.
Seager, Jung, Carter and Langford all have talent. But talent that isn’t available doesn’t help you win baseball games. Hope is not a roster-building strategy.
The Rangers need to determine which players are part of the next good team and which players are simply occupying roster spots because everyone is waiting for them to become what they were expected to be.
So What Would I Do?
First, bring back Mike Maddox.
Second, bring in the best medical, training and conditioning people the organization can find. If there is a way to improve the health and availability of this roster, find it.
Third, stop building the roster around what everyone hopes will happen.
Build it around what you know.
Starting Pitching
I would keep deGrom and Eovaldi. I would also keep Gore, Bradford, Leiter and Rocker and see what Maddox can do with them. I would make a serious effort to bring back Cal Quantrill.
Quantrill was one of the bright spots of the pitching staff, and the Rangers need reliable innings. They cannot afford to enter another season assuming every young pitcher is suddenly going to become a frontline starter.
• Build depth.
• Protect arms.
• Use the veterans intelligently.
The Bullpen
This is another area where the Rangers need more quality arms. Keep the pitchers who have demonstrated that they can handle meaningful innings, but add legitimate high-leverage options. The bullpen cannot be an afterthought, especially when you have starters who may only pitch 20-games, when players of old used to regularly get 30+ starts and 200 innings. Those days are gone forever for any number of reasons, but the primary one is that pitchers break easier now.
If the Rangers expect to contend, they need several pitchers they trust when the game is on the line—not just a collection of arms hoping someone figures it out.
Catcher
This is, in my opinion, one of the biggest needs on the roster. The Rangers need a catcher who can handle the pitching staff, stay on the field and contribute offensively. If they can find that player in free agency or through a trade, spend the money.
Center Field
The other major need is center field. The Rangers need someone who can actually play the position at a high level and contribute offensively. Again, this is where I would spend. Don’t sign a player simply because there is an empty spot on the roster. Identify the weakness and acquire someone who genuinely improves it. I like Evan Carter, pretty decent defense, weak arm and cannot hit consistently. Find a player that can play defense and hit the ball 25% of the time.
The Infield
This is where things get interesting.
Burger showed enough to warrant another opportunity, and I would look at ways to use him at first base and DH. I like Nicky Lopez. He is the type of player who can give you competitive at-bats, make contact and provide defensive versatility. Justin Foscue also deserves a legitimate opportunity. He hasn’t had enough at-bats for the organization to make a definitive judgment.
Zeke Duran’s versatility is valuable as well. His arm strength gives the Rangers options at several positions. That flexibility becomes particularly important if the Rangers finally stop assuming that every position needs to be filled by a traditional one-position player. I love the versatility with Duran, but he needs to continue to play every day.
Who Is Safe?
For me, Burger, Duran, Nimmo, Lopez, Foscue and Osuna deserve another look.
After that, I would listen to offers on almost everybody. That doesn’t mean I would automatically trade or release everyone. It means nobody should be considered untouchable simply because the organization once projected them to be a star.
Langford, Jung, Carter and others need to be evaluated honestly. Can they stay healthy? Can they produce consistently? Can they help the Rangers win?
If the answer is uncertain, then the Rangers should at least listen to what other teams would offer.
Sometimes the best trade isn’t the one that brings back the biggest name. It is the one that turns an uncertain asset into a player who fills a clear need.
The Rangers Need to Change the Question
The biggest philosophical change I would make is this:
Stop asking, “How do we fill the roster?”
Start asking, “What does this team need to win?”
Those are completely different questions.
If catcher is the biggest weakness, fix catcher.
If center field is the biggest weakness, fix center field.
If the bullpen cannot protect leads, fix the bullpen.
If the pitching staff needs better development and workload management, fix the coaching.
Don’t sign another player simply because there is money available or because the roster has an empty spot.
Build around the weaknesses. Yes, there is a budget but spend it on need with an eye towards winning games not filling holes.
Where Did the Fight Go?
This is the part I can’t answer from my armchair.
I don’t know whether there was apathy in the clubhouse. I don’t know whether players lost confidence in the coaching staff. I don’t know whether injuries prevented the team from ever developing chemistry. Maybe it was some combination of all three.
But I do know what it looked like from the outside. There were not enough come-from-behind wins. There were too many stretches where the team seemed to disappear. And there were too many games when the Rangers appeared to have no answer after falling behind.
Contrast that with the Rangers’ championship season. That team had plenty of adversity, but it also had an identity. They believed they were going to win. That is not something you can put on a spreadsheet. You can’t simply buy it. You have to build it.
Don’t Confuse Talent With a Team
The Rangers have talented players. That really isn’t the question.
The question is whether they have enough healthy, available and complementary players to form a good baseball team. A roster full of talented individuals isn’t necessarily a good team. The Rangers were somewhere around the middle of the pack offensively and near the bottom in pitching. That combination isn’t going to produce a winning formula.
Something has to change. Maybe it is coaching. Maybe it is player development. Maybe it is medical and conditioning. Maybe it is roster construction. Most likely, it is all of those things.
And Then There Is Baseball’s Bigger Problem
Unfortunately, there may not be much time to figure it all out. If another labor stoppage or lockout becomes reality, baseball could be facing another disruption just as the Rangers are trying to determine what comes next. That would be unfortunate for everyone. I am actually in favor of a salary cap—but only if it comes with meaningful revenue sharing.
I am also in favor of a salary floor. Tanking is real, and players shouldn’t be punished because an owner or management group decides that losing is acceptable. Baseball has watched the NBA, NFL and NHL build systems designed to maintain competitive balance while also creating an entertainment product that keeps fans invested.
There is no reason baseball cannot do the same.
Owners have a choice. Do they want competitive teams and a great entertainment product? Or do they want another way to maximize the value of their investment?
Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.
My Bottom Line
If I were sitting in Chris Young’s chair, my offseason would start with a simple premise:
Stop hoping. Start knowing.
• Bring back Maddox.
• Upgrade the medical and conditioning operation.
• Protect the veteran pitchers.
• Develop the young arms.
• Add a legitimate catcher.
• Upgrade center field.
• Strengthen the bullpen.
Give the younger position players a defined opportunity—but establish a deadline for determining whether they are actually part of the future. And be willing to trade anyone who doesn’t fit the plan.
The Rangers don’t need to tear everything down. They also shouldn’t pretend everything is fine. They need to figure out what they actually have, identify what they need, and then spend their money and trade assets accordingly.
The 2023 championship wasn’t an accident. That team had talent, but it also had belief, toughness, depth and an identity. The Rangers need to find that again.
Because hope is not a plan.
And after watching this season, I think Rangers fans have earned something better than hope.
