Texas’ disappointing 2024 and 2025 campaigns happened with largely the same cast of players that won it all in 2023.
Hard as it is to watch the Rangers these days, give them a once-over this week. If it helps, try squinting.
Take a long, last, loving look at what appears to the end of an era.
A moment of silence, please.
Thank you.
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Even if the Rangers win five games this week against their chief rivals for the post-up position to the final wild card, it’ll be hard for them to sustain any momentum. We know this because their record tells us so. Since winning six in a row, thus persuading Chris Young to buy at the deadline, the Rangers have posted exactly one winning streak.
A measly pair of back-to-back wins, at that.
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Another reason it ain’t happening?
We remember what a playoff team looks like.
The team that can’t keep its head above .500 is largely the same one that won the franchise’s only World Series two years ago. The resemblance is in names, only.
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Once this season doubles down on the disappointment of the one that preceded it, Adolis García, Jonah Heim and Jon Gray will join the exodus of players and pitchers whose fingerprints are all over the Commissioner’s Trophy. The group includes Nathaniel Lowe, Leody Taveras, Mitch Garver, Dane Dunning and Jordan Montgomery.
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Now, the players/pitchers in the paragraph above might not seem like much of a loss to you, considering what’s transpired since, but they represent eight of the Rangers’ top dozen WARs in ’23.
The other four: Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Nathan Eovaldi and Josh Jung, which is pretty good company.
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Nearly two full seasons of results tell us the Rangers won it all in ’23 because of an unseasonably hot October, a little luck and several career years. Nothing wrong with any of that. No need to apologize for flying a flag at the Globe. Few teams win it all in any sport without a dose of good fortune.
Just the same, it’s been long enough since to realize the Rangers’ offense didn’t come back from the parade lap.
Not returning next year, either.
Not without a change in philosophy/personnel/results.
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Chris Young built the last three iterations of the Rangers to slug, but it’s no longer a good model. Maybe the Globe, once park neutral, has evolved to pitcher friendly. Hard to see how, but I suppose it’s possible. The Mets once accused the Astros of fiddling with the Astrodome’s thermostat to benefit the home team. Maybe there’s some internal subterfuge going on. Or someone got their wires crossed.
Maybe the air conditioning is blowing in when the Rangers are up.
Bruce Bochy could probably afford to wait on a big bang with the addition of Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso or – pardon, haters – Alex Bregman. I could endorse any. Ray Davis’ money has mostly been well-spent on big-ticket items. I just don’t see Young talking him into another nine-figure deal.
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Besides, maybe it’s not the best way to go. Cheaper options are available. What about adding Josh Naylor, who hits and doesn’t strike out much? Ditto for Luis Arraez, a former three-time batting champ. What if Young could talk Cedric Mullins, whose reverse splits would team up nicely with Evan Carter, into a center field platoon?
If the Padres don’t exercise their club option, how about Ramon Laureano to replace Adolis in right field?
Instead of dropping a bank on one player, maybe the Rangers would be better off to spread around the $40 million or so they’ll no longer pay Adolis, Gray, Heim, Tyler Mahle and Chris Martin. History suggests it works. Tom Grieve decided after the 1988 season that he needed more guys who made contact, so he added Julio Franco and Rafael Palmeiro, back when the latter was considered a batting title contender instead of a home run threat.
Bottom line: The Rangers’ slash line improved from .252/.320/.368/.689 in ’88 to .263/.326/.394/.721.
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Even more important, the Rangers went from 70 wins in 1988 to 83 in ’89.
Believing the Rangers will rebound across the board next year would be a mistake. Young said so himself this spring after adding Joc Pederson and Jake Burger. Easy enough to question those decisions now. Pederson, in particular, has been historically bad. His swing-and-miss alone makes you wince. Looks like he’s waving a cape at a bull.
Just the same, if Pederson and Burger had posted results anywhere close to what they managed last year, the Rangers wouldn’t be teasing us now.
With Semien on the down side of his career, Jung’s regression and Carter’s iffy back, reinforcements are needed. They’re not coming up from the farm. Not anytime soon.
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As it is, the only guy in the lineup who scares anyone is Corey Seager. Next would be Wyatt Langford despite a sophomore slump.
Their third-most reliable hitter?
Josh Smith, who, on any other reputable Ranger team of the last quarter-century or so would have had a hard time cracking the lineup.
Remember when the Rangers made hitting look so easy, it seemed as if they rolled out of bed and ended up on second base? Those were the days, my friend. Only seems like it was longer than two years ago. God bless that team. Godspeed, too.
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Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
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