Rangers look to 'remedy some of the issues' from disappointing 2024

ARLINGTON -- Chris Young would rather not be talking to the media on Tuesday morning. At least not like this.

As the 2023 World Series champion Rangers’ season came to an end, their general manager addressed the media at Globe Life Field on Tuesday morning to wrap up an admittedly disappointed ‘24 season.

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“Overall, obviously disappointed with the fact that we are here today and not competing in the playoffs,” Young said. “We certainly didn't expect that coming into the season, but understand for a number of reasons what contributed to the season we had. I think more than anything, as an organization, we're excited to move on and remedy some of the issues we had this year.”

The Rangers entered 2024 with much of the same roster that won the first World Series in franchise history the previous fall. But Texas fell to .500 by May 20 and dug itself into a hole the club was never able to get out of.

There are a number of things that led to the season the Rangers ultimately had, but Young emphasized that critical injuries and the underperformance of key players are front and center.

The Rangers had the best offense in the American League in 2023 -- slashing .263/.337/.452 and riding that to the World Series. This year, Texas slashed .238/.305/.380 as a number of its core position players struggled with injuries (Josh Jung, Evan Carter) or regression (Adolis García, Jonah Heim), like Young said.

Corey Seager was exactly who he’s always been, despite a slow start, and finished the season leading the Rangers in bWAR (4.9), fWAR (4.5) and homers (30), while playing just 123 games. Marcus Semien also had a down year, but Josh Smith -- filling in for Jung most of the season -- is the only Ranger who showed real offensive improvement from 2023 to '24.

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“As I look at our identity in 2023, we were an elite offensive unit,” Young said. “I think there's an explanation for that regression. The biggest remedy, in my opinion, is improving the guys that we currently have. We need Adolis to bounce back. We need Jonah Heim to bounce back. We need Leody Tavares to take the next step in his development. We need a healthy Josh Jung and a healthy Evan Carter.

“If you put that together, that's a significant upgrade. That's a bigger upgrade right there than we can get anywhere else in the industry. Our internal focus is going to be a heavy priority for us in terms of getting the best out of those players.”

Young emphasized multiple times that this group of players performed on the high stage just a year ago. He believes greatly that those guys can do it again next season, too.

One thing is clear for Young though: “We’re going to pursue pitching.” Pitching depth has been a staple of Young’s tenure atop the baseball operations department. That won’t change this offseason.

Even with losing over 300 innings between Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney entering free agency, the Rangers enter 2025 with a rotation headed by a healthy Jacob deGrom, fresh off a return from Tommy John surgery, along with Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford and a pair of rookies in Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter.

The more obvious need is bullpen help. Young noted they would have to get creative in backfilling the holes left by Kirby Yates, David Robertson and José Leclerc, all of whom will be free agents this offseason.

“We can't have enough pitching,” Young said. “That's the theme. As far as Evo and Andrew go, those are priorities for us. 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.”

When asked about what all of this means for the Rangers’ payroll going into 2025, Young had less certainty, though it appears the club is more focused on internal process than external addition.

“I'll meet with [majority owner Ray Davis] and ownership in the coming weeks, and we'll outline where we are, what the expectation is, what the forecast is,” Young said. “Obviously, there is a level of uncertainty with the [Regional Sports Network] situation. There was last year, but there are no excuses. There are teams that are winning with less.

“Our ownership group has done a tremendous job of providing us an incredible amount of resources. That's why we won the World Series, and this year didn't go our way. That said, we expect to build a very good roster with whatever resources we have.”