Rangers’ brass has suggested on multiple occasions the club anticipates being active in free agency this winter, and it indeed seems ownership is prepared to support an offseason spending spree. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers could add $100MM+ to their payroll this offseason.
That kind of offseason would certainly be atypical for a club coming off back-to-back last place finishes in the AL West. Texas clearly has designs at pushing forward their contention window, though. The current roster probably has too many holes for the Rangers to compete for a playoff spot next season. But adding one or more marquee players on multi-year deals could make a 2023 window more realistic, and this offseason’s free agent class has plenty of potential prime-aged targets. That indeed seems to be the front office’s thought process in projecting an active offseason.
“I don’t think we expect to just come out and be World Series contenders next season,” general manager Chris Young told reporters (including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). “That said, we expect to take major steps from where we were this year and continue to build this so that by 2023, we’re in a very good position and competing for the division and have the opportunity to make the playoffs and potentially win a World Series.”
As the Rangers have stripped down the roster in recent seasons, the team’s spending has taken a corresponding nosedive. Texas has opened seasons with a payroll north of $165MM in the past, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, but Jason Martinez of Roster Resource currently projects their 2022 financial commitments around just $51MM (including arbitration projections). Last month, president of baseball operations Jon Daniels indicated the club would increase spending over the coming offseasons. Daniels was deliberately vague about precisely how much money the team might allocate in each winter, but it seems there’s a chance Texas makes multiple significant additions and pushes back near franchise-record levels of spending this winter alone.
The Rangers have very few players locked in anywhere on the roster, giving Daniels, Young and the rest of the front office ample avenues to explore. This year’s free agent class features a handful of franchise shortstops — including Dallas-area native Trevor Story — as well as a strong group of corner outfielders. One of the youngest players on the market is 27-year-old Japanese star Seiya Suzuki. Suzuki’s NPB team, the Hiroshima Carp, are expected to make him available via the posting process.
Executives with other clubs see the Rangers as one of the prime suitors to land Suzuki, hears Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Between the star outfielder’s youth and Texas’ payroll space, it’s a fairly easy connection to draw. Suzuki is coming off a massive .319/.436/.644 showing over 530 plate appearances, and some evaluators believe he can immediately step into MLB as an above-average everyday right fielder. If the Rangers’ scouting department shares that level of optimism, then a pursuit of Suzuki makes plenty of sense. MLBTR projects the right-handed hitter to land a five-year, $55MM contract that would come with an additional $10.125MM posting fee to be paid to the Carp.
Story and Suzuki are just two of numerous options for the Rangers, who seem likely to be connected to impact players all offseason. With Texas having perhaps as much payroll flexibility and desire to add talent as anyone, it could be a winter of big-ticket pursuits in Arlington.
I can’t wait to get excited about Rangers baseball again. I need a World Series win to heal the wound of 2011.
Lol
Now they just need to go back to the ballpark in Arlington. Much nicer looking stadium inside and out.
Maybe on outside but not on inside it is 100 times nicer than Choctaw stadium
Does adding $100M+ to the yearly payroll actually work? Asking for a friend….
Maybe not in 2022. But with the likes of Jung at 3B & Winn, Leiter, and White to the rotation. 2023 could look very promising.
Let’s calm down there bud
Having hope in unproven prospects is all a fan of a struggling team has. Don’t take that away from him.
It’s a fairly proven strategy. The Astros are literally reaping the benefits of their “unproven prospects” right now. Championships aren’t just won in free agency.
They said could, it’s not like they predicted a WS just left it open.
still cant figure out this team and the direction it wants to take
Nah for the first time in awhile they actually do have direction and pretty close to a top ten farm system next year. Tons of young arms around. Seems like as decent a time as any to add payroll.
Plus, the #3 pick. One more year before Leiter is ready.
I am looking forward to Leiter, but this year I want to see Cole Winn. Those two could be a nasty 1-2 punch in the future, with a bunch of options to fill the backend.
We gotta hit the breaks here. They’re still a ways away. Exciting potential for sure
Noone is pretending that they aren’t, just excited for the future after a few tough years.
They do now have a top 7 or 8 farm system plus another top 3 draft pick in 22 plus the division is going to be going south a little bit for most part.astros will fall back a little,angels will be nothing as usual and Oakland well with them slashing payroll will be worse than texas that leaves seattle.i guarantee you by end of 23 the rangers will be a better team than Seattle.
Which is why everyone of significance will be signing in Seattle and not Texas.
Money being equal.no state taxes in texas .more money better contract and plus dfw is alot nicer and easier for families to get to from most parts of United States than Seattle is by plane unless you kive in alaska.
No state taxes in Washington, either. Plus, Seattle is closer to Japan for a flight if you’re thinking Suzuki.
With so many contenders looking to spend its hard to imagine that without grossly overpaying they would land anyone, so this might be lip service. We tried to get XYZ player!
Will def have to overpay with the exception of Kershaw, seems he is ready to come home.
His wife has said that they want him to be closer to family to end his career
“His wife has said that they want him to be closer to family to end his career”
We keep seeing that posted here. What’s the source?
She has said that for years according to media here.
The direction is the same as every other current team that tanks to the tune of a $51MM payroll. Spend money every couple years, to show you they still care and drive interest, and then nurse off the saved money from payroll cuts, small-market excuses, and savings from cost-controlled players.
There’s a reason teams so desperately want a cap, and it’s not to make the game more exciting. It’s to do what big businesses do….make money.
Don’t want to tank a few more seasons like the Cubs and Astros did and horde top draft talent?
Well both those teams have championships as outcome. What does Texas get for being middle of the pack at peak?
I think that’s what he was getting at.
That strategy worked when there was only a couple teams doing it. Now half the league is trying to sell that snake oil to their fans.
Lordd99: Which is why those draft picks should go to winning teams, not losing, tanking teams. It’s the philosophy that’s messed up. As long as teams are rewarded for saving money and sticking up on cheap talent, they’re going to exploit it.
Then how are teams who are bad supposed to improve significantly? And would that not just reward teams who are perpetual contenders AND big spenders, like the Yankees and Dodgers, ensuring that smaller market teams can never open a competitive window because the top spenders are taking all the top draft picks and snagging all the top free agents? Maybe some measures should be taken to prevent tanking, but preventing bad teams from picking near the top of the draft is not how to do it.
One suggestion would be a system where if a team will pick within the top 10 of the draft for a third year in a row, then their pick drops by 15 slots, and for a fourth year in a row, they drop to last in the draft order, before resetting to allowing them to pick in the top 10 again after a few years at the back. This would allow teams who fall on hard times to recoup top talent for a few years while ensuring they don’t commit to long term tanking. It would also ensure a team who just whiffs on their draft talent isn’t screwed forever out of top picks. It’s a bit complicated, but I came up with it in a few minutes. Someone else could probably do better if they spent more time on an idea.
Generally speaking I agree. For starters, for a major sports league to not have a lottery of some sorts in the draft (NFL & MLB) is kinda humorous at this point. Let’s please not reward tanking from the top
That doesn’t stop fans from demanding tanking. I see it all the time from frustrated Pacers fans who think that they need a high draft pick, any high draft pick, because the team is too cheap to spend on major free agents to get them to the Finals.
@Yankee Clipper: I agree there needs to more balance and that some reward needs to built in for winning teams, and less reward for teams that consistently lose.
I would like to see draft pick positioning tied to a salary floor. It a team is unwilling to spend beyond a certain threshold – say at least $100m to guys who are on your 40 man roster (so no counting dead money), then their draft positioning should be forced out of the top 15. If there’s a consistent pattern of not hitting the floor (like 3 years in a row), then take away the first pick entirely. This wouldn’t change the behavior of bottom feeders like the Rangers, but it would open some fans’ eyes about their organization’s commitment to on field product.
Trashtros trash trophy is made of trash. They didn’t win from tanking they won from being pieces of Trashtros trash
Speaking of trash…
Feels a bit too soon.. maybe wait and see if the talent has developed yet instead of building off a 102 L squad. Just doesn’t make sense but I like the Rangers so wouldn’t mind being proven wrong
Speaking as a rangers fan, they’ll be “in” on all the big free agents, offer lowball contracts, (or offer no contract at all) and when they don’t sign anyone they’ll say “well, we tried.”
Lol
Bs the rangers have that new ballpark which visiting players seem to like plus a top 5 media market they will spend the money to be contenders the days of cheap offers is over
Give me 2-3 Chris Taylor types…
Much rather have players that can do a bit of everything offensively, play multiple defensive positions, at a fraction of the cost, and a shorter overall contract commitment, compared to a 30M/10Y type of guy (Correa/Seager/Story).
The rangers really have no outstanding players. Adolis Garcia got figured out after the second half, Kiner-Falefa has a good glove but is streaky. I don’t really see any potential in this rangers team. Nate Lowe is decent except he plays first base, almost every team has a better first basemen then him. The starting pitching and bullpen is non existant. Rangers won’t be a playoff team for atleast another 4-5 years
Yeah whatever .that team you follow is a train wreck that is so bad nobody wants the gm job.
That doesn’t change what he said
…but not a large enough increase to claim Wade Miley?
You do realize the Cubs had waiver precedence over the Rangers since Miley was claimed from the Reds, right?
Half, or more here have no clue how waiver claims work and just figure worst record period takes precedence. Complain without taking the time to look up the rule 1st. Typical.
You DO realize the season is over, right??
According to the MLB 2021 Rulebook:
“(B) If more than one Club makes a claim, assignment
shall be to the Club with the lowest winning percentage among
the claiming Clubs, without regard to the League of the
claiming Clubs”
The Rangers ABSOLUTELY had priority over the Cubs
@No Soup, I do know the waiver rules, and the Rangers did pick before the Cubs.
The Rangers remind me of the Phillies. They are a large market team that has ample resources and a willingness to apply those resources. However, like the Phillies, I’m not sure they are truly committed to the process of player development. It’s been a while since their system consistently turned out MLB quality players. The Rangers are more like a SWAC football booster club. They want to stand on the sidelines handing out $100 bills and hope that persuades the best players to go there. Ignore the nerds and their rules and processes, just get some big ol’ hosses to play ball and kick some a**!
You’re spot on. Absolutely surprising that people aren’t chastising Kipp Fagg and his track record with the Rangers draft. You could argue that he is the worst in baseball at his position. I’ve heard he’s a super nice guy, but he needs to be held accountable for his results, or lack thereof.
Bingo. Kipp Fagg is amongst the weakest scouting directors in MLB. The Rangers’ last competitive team was 2016 and since then there’s been no division finish higher than third and they’ve played about .400 baseball. That’s 5 years to begin accumulating talent. But fast forward 5 years and the company line is that there’s great organizational depth at the lower levels and everyone should be excited. The lack of talent development at the higher levels and the putrid 40 man roster is glossed over.
But, I don’t think player development is a huge priority for the Rangers. They are a top 5 market team and they have roughly $30m committed salaries for next season. Of that $30m, $20m is going to other teams to pay Elvis and Odor. The goal in Texas is to make ownership money, not win.
Eric Hosmer promises to hit 30 out, .289 BA and field gold-glove caliber play.
$100 million added to their payroll definitely makes them World Series contenders if done correctly. I doubt they’ll actually do it though.
I think the pragmatic approach for the Rangers would be to get two or three mid-level free agents this season and save some cash on hand to go after some top guys next offseason. From an outside perspective there’s just too much uncertainty with the roster to make a huge splash now. Getting something like Castellanos, Chris Taylor and Jon Gray for 45-50 million in annual payroll for the next three years and seeing if any of the guys coming up claim a long term role next season would be an excellent winter. Then go after a marquee free agent for 2023 and beyond as something more akin to a finishing piece to build a contending club instead of jumping the gun this offseason as a sign they’re becoming more serious about building a contender.
So they say…..
I hope the Rangers get better. I’d love for a real in state rivalry.
Bris Kryant (also known as Kris Bryant) will sign with the Rangers. Friends with all the Dude Perfect guys.
Your stolen stimulus dollars at work.
Waiting on Steve Nebraska
I worked for the rangers from 2007-2016. This almost sounds like a every year thing, they want to spend money but they don’t, have good teams and then destroy the rosters
I’m wet.
But hear me out, I know y’all are doubting this 100%, but… this is just different. Way different. This team team has added some of the best hitting minds to their staff in Ecker and Hyers just in the past few weeks along with adding Chris Young to the FO last year. Both Ecker and Hyers were highly touted as coaches that helped turn a great bit of their respective offenses around, and Chris Young was obviously a hot commodity at the time of signing him as well.
We’ve also added Bonifay at Farm Director (kind of insignificant), and we even added the dude who MADE Baseball Savant to our organization.
All I’m saying is that it’s a changing culture in Texas, for sure. I expect smart moves, and I expect a lot of moves. Apparently the FO just sees now as the perfect time to start loading up for their playoff run.
Had to scroll all the way to the bottom to get the one opinion I respect here. Rangers are an easy target for opposing fans, but they really have completely overhauled the organization. Has the farm system development been subpar over the years? Yes, so they’ve invested there. Has there seemed to be holes in our overall big league hitting strategy? Yep, so they’ve invested there, too. Almost everything people point out as a Rangers weakness has been addressed in the past 2-3 years. There is absolutely reason to have optimism and you outlined it perfectly. Let the haters hate, brighter days are ahead and I’m here for it.
you can actually see these things in the changing draft approach. I think a few years ago we definitely would have risked the high draft pick on one of the college SS, searching for the loud 5-tool player. This year they took a solid college arm and a guy with hit tool upside in Kavala. similar with the Jung choice, and the Foscue choice, definitely a different draft strategy lately.
Zavala haha. Gotta learn to spell it before he hits the majors.
You’re spot on. Years ago Daniels said they went into the draft looking to find the most athletic up-the-middle player. They looked for SS and 2B and then would try to move them to other positions. The results never panned out the way they were envisioning.
Its been 5 years since they started rebuilding. And they still roll out guys like Folty and Lyles for 20+ starts. This team’s ownership and front office is a culture of losing. Overspending on mid-level guys to boost the wins from 60 to 75 is a loser’s move.
It hasn’t been five years. We should have started five years ago though.
100%. Losing in 2011 completely devastated the entire organization. The next handful of years were chalked full of thinking they were 1 or 2 guys away from getting back and they ruined the farm system (that had not been particularly well-built to begin with) for trades like Matt Garza. The result was what we saw the past couple of seasons, a poor big league squad and understaffed farm system. I think the Chris Young hire was HUGE and it’s been a clear direction change ever since. I am excited for this club for the first time in a few years. It got dark for a bit.
The signings of Folty and Lyles (and you conveniently left out Gibson and Lynn) were never about winning. They were low-risk investments hoping a couple would pan out and be able to flip for prospects. Hitting on Lynn and Gibson (how about Ian Kennedy also) were very crucial to helping turn this ship around. So Folty and Lyles haven’t panned out the same, risk was still worth the potential reward.
At 60-102, I would definitively say that the ship is not turned around. There’s no evidence that this franchise is capable of developing contending big league talent. Jung is currently the only prospect that is close to the big league roster that looks potentially above average. Having the strategy of yearly dumpster diving hoping for a hidden gem to flip has also failed this franchise. I don’t consider Lynn, Gibson and Kennedy hits, either. They have been flipped for guys who were well below average and wouldn’t contribute on a 40 man roster of a truly competitive team.
Everyone has their own opinion. We shall see.
Increase payroll from $1 to $2 gets you the same result
Especially when the extra $1 is parceled out by an office of drones that have more knowledge and interest in the gross profit on a tray of nachos than they do baseball.
Lol you really go out of your way to hate the Rangers. Chris Young was one of the hottest commodities in baseball when the Rangers got him. Nothing happens overnight. I agree, they had little to be excited about for a good while. But, I do think there has been a culture change since around the time Young was brought on board. Maybe they’ll suck forever, maybe not.
Jung and Huff need to be up… T Story and a top line SP will bump the rangers to above.500
Huff is a disaster waiting to happen. At AA, he had a BB/K ratio of 16/77 in 190 PA. That’s a K% of 40% – at AA. He should be repeating AA or perhaps spending the first couple of months in AZ completely reworking his approach. But, since its the Rangers, they’ll throw him into big league action, see him get dominated and then blow up any hopes he has at a productive career by seesawing him through AAA and big leagues.
Contrast that with the Royals who saw similar concerns with C MJ Melendez. They sent him back for instruction, reworked his approach and saw him hit 41HR between AA and AAA with a near 400 OBA. It’s apples to oranges here though, as the Royals care about on field product and the Rangers do not.