Texas Rangers’ Ross Fenstermaker and Chris Young make sad $18 million roster decision originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Texas Rangers have started to undo their 2023 World Series roster. Ross Fenstermaker and Chris Young cut $18 million worth of clutch players and pivotal production from that team before Friday’s deadline to tender contracts for players under team control but not yet offered a deal.

Advertisement

CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa stressed the drama of the change, which includes the losses of OF Adolis García, C Jonah Heim, and RHP Josh Sborz. RHP Jacob Webb was also made a free agent. The Rangers did sign OF Sam Haggerty, though.

“García, the 2023 ALCS MVP and a key member of the Rangers’ World Series team, was among those non-tendered. He hit .227/.271/.294 with 19 home runs in 2025 — García has a .278 on-base percentage in his last 1,200 plate appearances — and while he plays solid defense, that’s not enough offense for a corner outfield spot. García was projected to make $12 million or so through arbitration in what would have been his final year of team control next season. The Rangers also non-tendered catcher Jonah Heim and righty Josh Sborz, meaning they non-tendered the ALCS MVP, the starting catcher, and the reliever who got the final out of the World Series clincher from their 2023 title team,” Axisa wrote.

Texas is in the market for pitching, with the impending losses of Patrick Corbin, Tyler Mahle, and Jon Gray. One wonders if their search doesn’t go well, whether or not the front office can pull off a Jacob DeGrom trade and continue tearing it down.

Soon to be three years removed from a championship, the Rangers have failed to register a winning record and return to the postseason since. In an increasingly competitive AL West that’s seen the emergence of the Seattle Mariners next to the Houston Astros, Texas is increasingly becoming irrelevant.

Advertisement

They can try to spend their way out of it, but it’s never a good start to have a bare bullpen and rotation. SS Corey Seager’s likely departure via trade takes away one of the lineup’s most potent bats.

It’d be a tough pill to swallow to engage in a rebuild, but that title is beginning to look like a historic anomaly. One postseason appearance in nine years resulted in a run to a championship.

The Rangers don’t look like a team that’s going to stay at the top. They’ve already fallen, and it doesn’t look like they can get up.