The Texas Rangers have been tightening their belts this offseason, moving on from several big-name stars in an effort to reduce payroll. Along with non-tendering Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim, they also saved some money by trading Marcus Semien to the New York Mets for Brandon Nimmo.
One contract they can’t get rid of, however, belongs to Joc Pederson, who recently made The Athletic’s list of worst contracts in baseball. Pederson, who’s owed $21.25 million next year and has an $18.5 million mutual option for 2027, ranks fifth on the list.
For all of their financial maneuvering this winter, the Rangers are likely stuck with Pederson next year, who’s essentially untradeable after his disastrous 2025 campaign.
Joc Pederson Already a Costly Mistake for Texas
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When the Rangers signed Pederson to a two-year, $37 million contract last offseason, it seemed like a reasonable deal for a reliable veteran at the time. Although he was entering his age-33 season, he’d just posted a career-best .908 OPS for the Arizona Diamondbacks and seemed to have plenty of juice left in his bat.
Unfortunately, that quickly proved not to be the case. Pederson’s production cratered in Texas, resulting in the worst season of his career. He endured a franchise-record streak of 41 hitless at-bats early in the year and never fully recovered, finishing with nine home runs, 26 RBI, -0.3 WAR and a meager .614 OPS — nearly 200 points below his career average.
Pederson gets paid to hit, but he was one of the worst batters in baseball last season. He’s been inconsistent and streaky throughout his career, so he could bounce back, but it’s hard to bet on that when he’s going to be 34 next year.
He played just 25 innings in the field last year and doesn’t run well, so he needs to hit to have any kind of value. Otherwise, he’s going to be a very expensive bench bat.
Can Pederson Rebound From Nightmare Season?
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One silver lining for the Rangers is that Pederson was terribly unlucky last year. He had horrendous luck on balls in play with a .203 BABiP, which dragged his numbers down and caused him to underperform his peripherals. His home run/fly ball ratio was also easily the lowest of his career.
FanGraphs‘ projection models are bullish on him bouncing back next season, so he could still have some value for Texas in 2026. There’s nothing too alarming in his batted ball metrics or Statcast data from last season, so a rebound is certainly within the realm of possibility.
If he does improve, that would give the Rangers’ lineup a serious boost. They can’t afford to have him be a black hole again.
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