As the Texas Rangers sit at home and watch the World Series, the organization is plotting a potential return to the playoffs next season.
On one hand, the Rangers appear wel- positioned. They only lost the American League West by one game to the Houston Astros. But, the Rangers played in the worst division in baseball and the Astros won the title with a .500 record. The Rangers were so close, yet so far away.
A variety of things need to fall into place for Texas to contend next year. For instance, their offense must get better. They need players like Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford to get healthy and get back to being productive players. If they do, that will help immeasurably.
But in this piece, we explore the most glaring deficiencies on the roster.
A Consistent Leadoff Hitter
The Rangers started this season with Brandon Nimmo as their leadoff hitter. In mid-May, the Rangers inserted Joc Pederson as their leadoff hitter against right-handed pitching. As the season continued Pederson remained in that role, but the Rangers rolled through several right-handed hitters to lead off against left-handed pitching, including Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue.
The splits for the leadoff position were good. It slashed .267/.347/.510 with 39 home runs and 90 RBI. The position scored 99 runs, drew 73 walks and struck out 155 times. One of the biggest issues was that the leadoff spot had the best OPS on the team (.857). The preference would be that OPS go with a hitter behind the leadoff spot.
The Rangers need a consistent table setter who is less power-dependent such as Pederson, who will be a free agent. He should be able to play every day, have a high on-base percentage and be able to get around the bases without help. The job probably falls to Duran on opening day. But the Rangers would be wise to find a consistent table-setter in free agency.
Better Fourth and Fifth Starters
The Rangers could mitigate this by getting better performances out of Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. That would be the preference, as it’s unlikely owner Ray Davis will let president of baseball operations Chris Young spend much money. But Young can’t count on that.
That means he must troll the market to find cheap free agent pitching. That won't be easy because everybody will be looking for it. It's possible that he may have an arm or two at Triple-A Round Rock that can help. But the Rangers need more backstop behind Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. Mackenzie Gore needs to improve too. But he's a much more known quantity than Leiter and Rocker at this point in his career.
There are internal options, such as Cody Bradford. But finding a way to keep Jordan Montgomery on a cheap deal and then finding one other veteran free agent who can eat innings and provide effective stuff would help. Getting Cal Quantrill back would be ideal. But the free-agent-to-be is likely to have a robust market.
MLB Quality Depth from Day 1
Young discussed this during his end of season press conference. He was unhappy with the depth he cultivated in spring training. None of the players he brought in made the 26-man roster and most of them were gone by the time he needed them. He was fortunate to sign Nicky Lopez and Elias Diaz to help in the infield and a catcher, respectively.
But this time around Young wants Major League level depth that can start and compete for jobs. This is part of the reason why the Brewers and the Rays are so good. They've cultivated that depth and they have it behind their younger players. They've managed to find ways to keep those vets happy while the younger players start.
The Rangers are going to have to strike that balance too. They'll need it in the lineup, and they'll need it in the bullpen, where the Rangers are vulnerable because they have several free agents that will have a better market this offseason than they had a year ago.
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