As spring training gets closer to its start date, it may be possible to find team-friendly one-year bargains. I think many owners are reluctant to sign players this offseason because of the looming lockout that will likely come after the 2026 World Series. Maybe this will benefit the Rangers.
Here are the good, bad and ugly of the Rangers offseason so far.
The good:
On paper, the Rangers got better offensively with addition by subtraction. Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien and Jonah Heim are gone from the team. Offensively, all three players formed a black hole in the lineup. All three players have declined rapidly over the past two seasons. Marcus and Adolis have been at the top of the lineup for most of the last two years.
The Rangers let Adolis and Jonah walk. Semien was traded for Brandon Nimmo. Losing Adolis’ glove may hurt, but hopefully gaining Nimmo’s bat will make up for it.
Losing Semien’s glove will also hurt, but if the rumors of a rift in the clubhouse involving Semien and Seager are to be believed, then maybe this team will look like they’re having fun on the field. Like it happened when Marcus Semien left the lineup with a broken foot.
Danny Jansen was signed by the Rangers, as a replacement for Heim. Both Heim (2.01) and Kyle Higashioka (2.03) moved to 2B at the bottom of the MLB in pop time. Jansen is slightly better at 2:00. In 2025, he had a .720 OPS and a .321 OBP with 14 HRS. Heim’s OPS for 2025 was .603, his OBP was .271. After the All Star break, Heim’s OPS was .592. In September, Heim posted a .163 AVG and a .513 OPS. Not ideal, especially if you were still in the playoff hunt.
The bad:
Marcus Semien’s defense and his reliability to be on the field every day are gone. He was the anchor for the infield. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think the Rangers are going to fill second base with a huge free agent signing.
In a perfect world, Josh Smith plays second base, and everything is fine. The problem with that thought process is that Josh Jung and Corey Seager are unlikely to stay healthy.
The last thing the Rangers need is a situation where they platoon players at 2B, SS and 3B. There has to be some stability somewhere in the infield. You might not even have that at first base. Jake Burger initially had his own problems staying on the field. Last season he played only 91 games at 1B.
Sam Haggerty, Cody Freeman, Ezequiel Duran and possibly Michael Helman are all possibilities at 2B and elsewhere on the field.
The ugly:
The Rangers opted not to resign Merrill Kelly after giving up Kohl Drake and Mitch Bratt to get him. Drake and Bratt are both close to being MLB starting pitchers. Both pitchers likely have the potential to become 2nd or 3rd starters in a rotation.
I respect the Rangers for trading for a playoff run, but if you’re going to make that trade, at least try to resign the guy you got in the return. He wasn’t perfect in Kelly’s eight games, but pitchers often aren’t that late in the season.
Kelly’s failure to resign will leave a bigger hole in the rotation. Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom and Jack Leiter will be the top of the rotation. Patrick Corbin is still unsigned, as is Tyler Mahle. I didn’t expect to come back either.
The Rangers hope Kumar Rocker takes a big step forward this spring. Ultimately, Kumar only pitched in 21 minor league games and 17 MLB games. His college teammate, Jack Leiter, had 58 minor league starts before things started clicking for him in 2025.
Jacob Latz could be both an option and a starter, after all, in 8 starts he posted a 2.72 ERA. He also had 25 appearances out of the bullpen, with a 2.93 ERA. Which brings us to our next problem.
The bullpen is something many had hoped the Rangers would actually spend money on. So far they haven’t done that. Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb and Phil Maton are all gone. That’s a lot of innings to fill. Trade deadline acquisition Danny Coulombe is one of the best relief pitchers on the market and given what you’ve seen so far with the Rangers, there’s no reason to think they’re going to cut him.
That leaves Robert Garcia, Cole Winn and Chris Martin to build around. The Rangers signed former All Star, Alexis Diaz. In 2025, Alexis appeared in 18 games for the Reds, Dodgers and Braves. He had an ERA of 8.15. The Rangers also signed Tyler Alexander. Alexander has a career ERA of 4.63. In 2025, Alexander posted a 4.98 ERA in 52 games (5 starts).
The offseason isn’t complete yet, but the clock is ticking. Hopefully the Rangers get good value from the time they have left.
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