As a massive winter storm becomes a problem across the state of Texas, the Texas Rangers are trying to bring some heat to their starting rotation. The acquisition of Mackenzie Gore in a five-for-one trade brings an All-Star Southpaw to what was the best pitching staff in the Major Leagues last season. Of course, injuries can happen at any point; even the Rangers are aware of that, and acquiring a pitcher like this should make anyone excited, but I’ll tell you why it’s not worth celebrating for the future of the organization.
Not Addressing The Problem
While pitching is at an all-time premium, and coming off their success from last season, free agency has been lackluster for the organization, bringing in acquisitions on the offensive side. After trading away their everyday man, Marcus Semien, to the New York Mets for Brandon Nimmo, Rangers fans thought this was the start of a complete overhaul of the offensive lineup. However, since that acquisition, only adding a subpar catcher to act as a backup to last season’s backup catcher isn’t sparking confidence.
Lacking In What We Do Have
In the movie Moneyball, the organization tried to recreate their best player in the aggregate; you can’t say the same thing about the Texas Rangers organization here. While Jonah Heim and ALCS hero Adolis Garcia provided offensive power back in 2023, both of their offensive numbers significantly dropped since then, leading to both leaving the organization in the off-season. Nothing against the current slew of young talent that is currently on the roster, but it doesn’t have big names or proven names that provide offensive prowess. While their numbers had dropped, the Rangers failed to make the big splash to accommodate the loss.
Not A Big Splash
As alluded to in the previous paragraph, with names like Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette, Pete Alonso, and J.T. Realmuto available in Free Agency, you’d expect an organization looking for offensive firepower; instead, these names signed lucrative contracts with their new respective teams. While you don’t want to spend all of your money on one player, attention to a bigger issue should have taken a higher precedent. Even on the trade market, which is why we’re in this predicament, there were better options that would’ve provided more quality offensive output than a starting pitcher who went 5-15 in the previous season.
Trading The Farm
The Rangers are claiming they are in a “win now” mindset, and, based on their spending history, ownership decided to cut costly players from their payroll. Meaning, the plan is to win with what they have right now. By trading five players for one player who has a sub-.500 record over his four years at the big league level don’t scream “ready to win,” and it doesn’t set up the franchise well for the future. An organization that at one time had the top farm system in the Majors, it’s sad to see the future talent be taken away for a short-term, not-so-proven, fix.
End Of My Texas Rangers Offensive Problem Rant
The offensive problem for the organization is the main issue that hasn’t been resolved. Sure, a starter from another team is making his way over to the Rangers; however, he’s not a proven acquisition and not what was really needed for the team to overcome their shortcomings from last season in their hopes of reaching the postseason again since 2023, which was their first World Series championship in franchise history. Let’s hope that the new direction for the organization can properly rely on the work of the starting rotation and subsequent bullpen, and hope the offense can keep up.
