How might Rangers' Opening Day roster look?

ARLINGTON -- The 2025 Texas Rangers have a revamped offense, a completely rebuilt bullpen and a healthy Jacob deGrom.

Things will look a little different from 2024, and definitely from the World Series winning team from ¡®23, but the front office believes it¡¯s put the club back in a position to compete in the American League West and get back to the postseason.

Here is a position-by-position breakdown of the Rangers¡¯ potential Opening Day roster.

Catcher (2): Jonah Heim, Kyle Higashioka
Heim, who was an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner in 2023, struggled in ¡¯24 with a .603 OPS and declining defensive statistics. One worry was regarding the backstop¡¯s workload, which is where the addition of Higashioka comes in. Heim and Higashioka figure to split playing time behind the plate, though Heim will almost definitely start on Opening Day and get the edge in starts early in the season unless performance on either end dictates otherwise.

First base (1): Jake Burger
With Nathaniel Lowe shipped off to the Nationals in December, Burger assumes the role of starting first baseman. Burger had 29 homers and 76 RBIs for the Marlins in 2024, while splitting time between the two corner-infield spots. He¡¯s less experienced at first base than at the hot corner, but manager Bruce Bochy and president of baseball operations Chris Young have both emphasized that his work ethic and confidence will put him in a perfect position to complement the rest of the infield while at first base.

Second base (1): Marcus Semien
Not the biggest shock in the world, but the Rangers¡¯ iron man will be at second base for the foreseeable future. It's his fourth season with Texas and Semien has been consistent as ever.

Shortstop (1): Corey Seager
Seager, the Rangers¡¯ franchise superstar, played just 123 games in 2024, but when healthy, he¡¯s one of the best players in baseball.

Third base (1): Josh Jung
Jung has been bitten by the injury bug throughout the entirety of his professional career, and while it¡¯s not always something that¡¯s been within his control, the Rangers need him to be healthy to be a competitive baseball team.

Outfield (4): Adolis García, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, Leody Taveras
Garc¨ªa will almost definitely hold down right field as he looks for a bounce-back season, and Langford will do the same in left as he tries to avoid the sophomore slump. The question mark lies in center, where Carter and Taveras -- the Rangers¡¯ starter for the last three seasons -- will compete throughout camp.

DH (1): Joc Pederson
The Rangers have gotten dreadful production out of the designated hitter spot over the last few seasons, and Pederson perfectly fills a void in the lineup going into 2025. He¡¯s coming off of an electric year in Arizona, where he slashed .275/.393/.515 with 23 homers. He¡¯ll bring some much-needed power to the lineup this season as well.

Bench/Utility (2): Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran
Smith won a Silver Slugger Award as a utility man in 2024, when he logged career highs in all three slash categories (.258/.337/.394), OPS (.731), home runs (13), RBIs (62), walks (46), runs (67), hits (135) and doubles (30). Duran has been a versatile infielder, with the ability to play the outfield when necessary.

Starting rotation (5): Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Tyler Mahle
Rookie pitchers and former college teammates at Vanderbilt Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter will likely be waiting in the wings as depth options, but when everybody¡¯s healthy, the four veterans and third-year pitcher Bradford are likely to hold down the bulk of rotation innings.

Bullpen (7): Dane Dunning, Jacob Webb, Chris Martin, Luis Curvelo, Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Robert Garcia
The Rangers fully rebuilt the bullpen after a plethora of losses in free agency, and the front office did an admirable job. That being said, there¡¯s no telling who of this group will come out being the closer, though it could be Martin -- the most experienced reliever of the bunch -- or even Webb, who pitched a handful of high-leverage innings in Baltimore.