The Rangers went from being at the pinnacle of MLB to missing the playoffs in just one season, largely due to an inconsistent offense. Key players like Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim struggled at the plate, while injuries to Corey Seager, Josh Jung, and Evan Carter also hampered the team. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News noted that the Rangers particularly struggled against four-seam fastballs.
Despite this, Chris Young, the president of baseball operations, expressed optimism during his end-of-season news conference about the hitters already in the organization.
“The biggest remedy, in my opinion, is improving the guys we currently have,” Young said (via Grant).
The recently extended leader of Rangers baseball operations emphasized that improving the lineup from within is a “heavy priority” for the upcoming season.
Regarding outside additions, the focus will primarily be on bolstering the pitching staff. MLB.com’s Kennedi Landri reports that Chris Young specifically expressed interest in retaining impending free agents Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. Eovaldi activated a $20M player option this season after reaching a total of 300 innings pitched between 2023 and 2024, but he is widely expected to decline it and explore free agency—unless his current team offers an extension. Heaney opted into his player option after the 2023 season and contributed with 31 solid starts in the rotation this year.
“As far as Evo and Andrew go, those are priorities for us,” said Young. “We love those guys. They helped us win a World Series. We would love to bring those guys back, and we’re going to explore every way we can to make that happen.”
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