Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young calls himself a hyper-competitive individual. Lately, that competitive nature hasn't led the Rangers back to the postseason.
Since Young helped pilot Texas to the 2023 World Series title as general manager, Texas has been an average baseball team. The Rangers finished at .500 in 2025 and finished one game under .500 this season. The conclusion to this season was especially painful because all the Rangers had to do was win two more games to claim the AL West. Instead, there arch-rivals, the Houston Astros, won the division with a .500 record.
You could hear the pain in Young’s voice during his end-of-season press conference. He knew he let a chance slip.
This offseason is the most important yet for Young. Here’s why.
The Most Important Offseason of Chris Young's Career
When Young took over as general manager of the Rangers after owner Ray Davis fired president of baseball operations Jon Daniels in 2022, he took over a team that had just signed shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien to huge free-agent contracts.
The organization felt there was an opening to contend and young made one of the boldest moves that offseason by signing pitcher Jacob deGrom to a five-year contract. While deGrom missed most of the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery, Young masterfully pulled several strings to acquire talent, including pitchers Aroldis Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer.
A low-level free agent signing, Travis Jankowski, gave the Rangers veteran experience in the outfield. The emergence of Evan Carter as a rookie helped fuel the Rangers in the postseason.
Texas won its first world championship that year. Young admitted a couple of weeks ago that it made him feel like putting together a championship team was easy. He might have been joking when he said that. But if he wasn't, he knows how much of a challenge it is. And it's even more challenging as the Rangers enter this offseason.
The Rangers enter this offseason at a crossroads. They have more than $100 million committed to four players and don’t have much financial flexibility unless they trade one or more of those players and all have no-trade clauses.
Young is trying to transition the Rangers from a team that values slugging and home runs to one that values on-base and versatility at the plate. But the organizational depth isn't there. Young said the Rangers traded from their minor league system the past four seasons because they felt they were a Major League contender. Now that cupboard is somewhat bare.
Young also said the Rangers suffered from a lack of competition in spring training that spilled over into a lack of depth during the regular season when players like Seager and outfielder Wyatt Langford came up hurt.
It all feels like the Rangers lack direction. Or at least they haven't turned the corner toward the direction that Young wants to go. That, combined with what is likely to be a protracted labor stoppage in December, means that he faces several challenges.
He must navigate the financial constraints that he'll likely work under. He must find Major League depth that can compete with underperforming players and perhaps push them out of jobs. He must keep developing minor league talent that can help the franchise as soon as 2028 when three veteran pitchers become free agents. And he must do all of that in an offseason where he won't be able to contact players once the work stoppage begins.
Is this an important offseason for the Texas Rangers? You bet it is. And Young will be working under significant constraints. If he can get it done, the Rangers should be a much better team in 2027. If he can't, it's fair for Davis and the ownership group to question whether young simply caught lightning in a bottle in 2023.
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