Rangers fans received good news during the club’s FanFest this weekend, as future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer provided an update on his health following back surgery earlier this winter. As noted by Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today, Scherzer noted that he has yet to suffer any setbacks in his recovery in the six weeks since he went under the knife, and added that he expects to begin working out in about three weeks. While that timeline puts him on pace to begin workouts shortly after Spring Training begins next month, there’s still a lengthy rehab ahead for Scherzer, who GM Chris Young indicated when announcing the surgery last month would be sidelined into June or even July of the coming campaign.
An eight-time All Star and three-time Cy Young award winner, Scherzer’s return to the rotation over the summer is sure to provide a major boost to the club’s pitching corps. The veteran righty pitched to a 3.20 ERA and 3.41 FIP in 45 innings of work for the Rangers down the stretch before being sidelined in September due to the back issues that would ultimately require surgery. Scherzer managed to work his way back onto the mound for three short starts during the club’s championship run before ultimately being shut down for the season following three scoreless innings during Game 3 of the World Series against the Diamondbacks.
With Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and offseason signing Tyler Mahle all expected to open the 2024 season on the shelf, the Rangers have plenty of questions marks in the Opening Day rotation. The starting five in Texas currently projects to be Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford as things stand, without much healthy depth behind that quintet to protect against additional injury woes. The club’s clear rotation needs have paved the way for the club to be tied to a reunion with lefty Jordan Montgomery throughout the winter, though Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently cast doubt on the likelihood of the sides coming together on a deal when all is said and done. During a recent appearance on a the Foul Territory podcast, Grant noted that while he believes that both sides have interest in a reunion, he thinks that the club would rather rely on minor league pitching talents to step up and contribute at the big league level early in the season while Scherzer, deGrom, and Mahle rehab than offer Montgomery a hefty deal in the 5-6 year range.
While the Rangers have a trio of pitching prospects in Owen White, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker who were recently very well regarded, both Leiter and White had difficult 2023 campaigns while Rocker made just six professional starts before undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of last year and may not even reach the upper levels of the minors in 2024, much less the big leagues. Given those question marks, it’s hardly a surprise that the club has at least remained engaged with Montgomery. Speculatively speaking, the club could perhaps look to lower-tier alternatives remaining on the starting pitching market such as Mike Clevinger and Hyun Jin Ryu to bolster their depth in the event Montgomery signs elsewhere.
Moving from the rotation to the offense, Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press recently reported that the Rangers remain at odds with star outfielder Adolis Garcia regarding his 2024 salary with arbitration hearings just around the corner. The only Ranger who didn’t reach an agreement with the club prior to the deadline earlier this month, Garcia requested a salary of $6.9MM while the Rangers countered with $5MM. That $1.9MM gap is the widest among all players who failed to reach an agreement before the deadline. While many teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to salary arbitration, meaning that they do not continue negotiations after figures are exchanged, Young noted that the club has remained in contact with Garcia’s camp and that the club is “very encouraged” by the dialogue between the two sides.
For Garcia’s part, the 30-year-old slugger said he wasn’t sure if there was a chance of avoiding an arbitration hearing and added that he’s “just a little bit disappointed” about how the process has gone. Garcia enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2023, slashing .245/.328/.508 in 632 trips to the plate as he notched his second career All Star appearance. The slugger also earned a Gold Glove award for his work in right field and posted a .323/.382/.786 slash line in the postseason en route to MVP honors for the ALCS.
The headline should have deGrom’s name in it if it has Scherzer’s. Kennedi Landry, the beat reporter for the Rangers, mentioned both guys in her article.
The article had detailed information for Scherzer, it briefly mentioned deGrom adding nothing detailed or new.
Oops no room for Montgomery on the Rangers. I guess he’ll have to sign with the Yankees now! Lolololololol! (Wishful thinking)
The way our gm is going, it wouldn’t suprise me if they let monty go. So maybe he would sign back in NY
Calm down, pulitzer.
Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker for Dylan Cease? Rangers have a window of opportunity.
White Sox can do way better than that. Not sure what Leiter is anymore. He still hasn’t put up a sub-5.00 ERA as a pro, with way too many walks. For a polished college pitcher, that’s a terrible sign. And this is Rocker’s 2nd major arm injury already. I don’t think that package gets you much and nowhere near Cease.
Buyer beware Vanderbilt pitchers they get worked hard
Vanderbilt is to pitchers as Alabama is to running backs.
Last sentence is incorrect. Adolis won the ALCS MVP, Seager the WS MVP.
I’m struggling with this sentence…
“The starting five in Texas currently projects to be Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford as things, without much healthy depth behind that quintet to protect against additional injury woes.”
Sometimes, a missing period can be fairly concerning (depending upon one’s goals).
Place a period after Bradford. “…As things are, there is not much rotational depth…”
It’s meant to be “as things stand”
Not sure how you are “struggling”. There is a missing word, no question, but the meaning is very clear. Unless your point is simply to say “hey, look at me, I found a typo!”.
No, nothing like that. It was like 3 a.m. and a busy night at work and now I feel like a dummy. Thanks to Ezpkns for clarifying. Carry on lol.
I think it’s time for Boras to play the Mystery Team cards for Snell and Monty.
Then you KNOW it’s getting serious!
Hey, on the polio response, I was in a bit of a rush so please don’t take that as intentionally curt or snippy. You will always be one of my Yankee brothers.
@Clip You as well, man! Not at all, my friend. I respect your opinions. It’s funny to me how that thread quickly devolved into politics or an apples to oranges convo. I was enjoying it until the point of all the name-calling. It’s so simple-minded to resort to reducing someone else down to their politics.
Me too brother! Yeah, I like discussing different aspects and seeing different opinions because I do consider and ponder them.
But it inevitably results in me thinking, “why did I get into this?”
If they let joe mauer into the Hall of Fame, which is laughable, then it will be an outrage if they really actually do end up rejecting Beltre and Pujols from the Hall of Fame.
Beltre is in.
Beach Fan appears to be missing some chunks of short term memory.
@Beach Fan: The results were announced Tuesday. Try to keep up.
It’s good you changed it up and added a new name to your spiel, even tbough Beltre is already there like IronBalls said. Very entertaining. Are you the guy who used to slam Cabrera all the time, Marlinsfan or something like that? The M.O. looks familiar 😉
Not sure how letting Mauer in is such an outrage? He was hands down the best player at his position for years and a top player in MLB. Until the injuries he was a catcher that hit like an All Star 3rd baseman or corner OF. He was coveted by every other teams fans and probably could have signed for more as a free agent had he jumped to a big market team. To think Mauer doesn’t belong is to not understand how special he was until the injuries. The outrage surrounding Mauer is that he received induction yet Thurman Munson is still stuck staring into the Hall’s window wondering why he is out in the cold.
Unfortunately, Munson has been dead for more than 44 years and no longer wonders about anything.
Rely on minor league pitching??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME. wtf is wrong with CY…its like he forgot how he got the team to the WS last year. Damn this team is annoying. You dont have to be the dodgers, but come on… Make some impact signing and leave the scrubs alone man…
I can see how you’re frustrated but you gotta remember, the rangers had two HUGE off seasons in a row. Not to mention a big trade deadline last year. I don’t doubt if not for the Bally situation the rangers would be more active but it’s not like they haven’t improved the team. Monty is a big piece but we got to the deadline in good shape without him and around the same time this year we’ll get back deGrom, Scherzer and the newcomer Mahle. We’ll have more or less the same lineup to boot. It’s not as bad as it seems.
I mean I see that, but the way I see it your starting rotation for the first half right now is nate, and then 4 guys who will either do great or horrible. I guess gray is a bit more consistent, but then the back three you just pray it’s a good day.
They won last year because we got extremely lucky. How many times will you go undefeated on the road. The biggest hole was bullpen and you weren’t aggressive enough to get the one Major impact arm on the market. Not only that but he went to the one team we consistently struggle to beat
Garver left as your dh, which OK, isnt like the sky is falling, but they haven’t replaced him at all. Unless you’re going to call up Langford to be the full time DH after only a few months in the minors
It’s just hard for me to see how (unless they have a crazy easy first half schedule) they won’t be so out of it by the second half that it won’t even matter when/if the rest of the starters show up. I would have felt better if max had the damn surgery directly after the WS. I mean he knew he was hurt, why wait if you thought surgery could be needed.
Teams don’t win the World Series because they get extremely lucky. You don’t seem to like Chris Young, even though he brought the Rangers their first World Series Championship. I bet you are a Jon Daniels guy.
@Guyerbassist: Every team that wins a championship gets lucky that year.
But “they won last year because we got extremely lucky?”
How did you getting lucky affect them winning?
It’s Ray Davis and Bally that are in the way of a Monty reunion. I’m sure CY would love to bring him back.
your team isn’t annoying, the Texas Rangers are the World Series Champions! This is no time to complain!
That’s all Guyer does. He’s best off ignored.
I’m still holding out hope that Montgomery is brought back. But even if he’s not, I think this team will stay in contention to the all-star break without him.
To act like the sky is falling when most of the 2023 roster is brought back intact is not only silly, it’s annoying.
You have faith in the rag tag starters? They were in contention at the deadline last year but they knew they needed more so they went and got it. What they got then is what put them over the top, and now without Monty, who is left from last deadline.
Stratton is gone, Chapman gone (although he was an expirence lol), max hurt, Monty not signed yet. They knew the rotation wasn’t good enough as it was at the start, and it’s the same rotation they started with last year.
Is the sky falling, no. But I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily great either.
No one is suggesting the season-opening rotation is great. But it doesn’t have to be. It just has to keep the team in the race until the reinforcements arrive.
And Eovaldi, Gray, Heaney and Dunning are a solid top four for what’s essentially a stopgap rotation.
Like every other Rangers fan on the planet, I hope we bring Monty back. But if we don’t, we have four guys who proved last year they can keep us in games. We would just need a innings-eater in the fifth spot to keep the bullpen from getting overworked.
If the Rangers need another arm to get them by until their trio of injured players come back they should give the Tigers a call.
They have Manning or Olson who could be shipped over for the right price. Manning is more fragile but they both have #3 starter upside, with BP experience and can eat innings.
I would love to dump off Duran and/or Owen White, but certainly not Jack Leiter. Detroit has many interesting bullpen arms I would love.
I’m a Rocker fan and think he is bound for the bullpen as a high leverage arm. I would love for the Tigers to grab him. I like Duran. He could play 3B this year and kick Javy to the bench next year when Jace Jung comes up. There is no obvious replacement right now at SS in the Tigers system. The Tigers have enough starting pitching, but White is interesting enough. I like Foscue’s bat (the bat certainly fits Harris’ player profile) but someone said his arm and defense are lacking and the Tigers have enough bat first types vying for IF spots. Dustin Harris is interesting too with all those steals. Some combination of those players might get a deal done.
Seems like Texas and Detroit could match up for a trade.
“Rocker fan” -Kumar or John?
John was entertaining. Kumar’s the one like.
Leiters stock is plummeting the last couple years. I think the trade looks like Leiter, Carter, foscue for cease. That’s steep, but that what the ChiSox are asking.
Carter is worth more than Cease alone. If they demand offers like that, good luck with rebuilding. Lol
Carter isn’t going anywhere. He was a World Series starter. He’s not a prospect anymore, by the Rangers’ standards.
we all know that “Daddy” Leiter is furious that the ballclub is allowing his poor son to be hit so hard and look so bad!
DeGrom Texas Moron will be excited!
El gerente la rego con agarrar a Tyler Mahle, por un pitcher sano, ahora que se la rifen; porque los Astros y los marineros ya estan bien armados
These days those two do their best work in rehab they seem to enjoy it there no pressure at all.