This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry¡¯s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- After winning the first World Series title in franchise history in 2023, the Rangers fell short in 2024, when they finished with a 78-84 record and failed to make the postseason.

President of baseball operations Chris Young and the front office are working to make sure it doesn¡¯t come to that again for the Rangers. Texas began the offseason by re-signing Nathan Eovaldi and trading for slugger Jake Burger, before beginning to rebuild the bullpen with the additions of right-handers Jacob Webb and Shawn Armstrong, and lefties Hoby Milner and Robert Garcia, and later completing a two-year deal with Joc Pederson.

There¡¯s still a lot to figure out, but the Rangers were happy with where they were going into the new year.

¡°I think we have clear needs for the club,¡± general manager Ross Fenstermaker said at the Winter Meetings. ¡°We've addressed several of them so far. We're going to continue to address more. We also have a lot of clarity on other areas through these conversations, whether it be with agents or other clubs, what's out there and what we might be able to access in order to further upgrade the club. We feel like we did a lot of good things so far, but we've got plenty more work this offseason to finish.¡±

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Here¡¯s a quick look ahead to 2025:

One (realistic) free-agent target who would still be a perfect fit: RHP Roki Sasaki
Young said the Rangers are no longer actively pursuing starting pitching after re-signing Eovaldi. But that being said, the club is always looking to build depth, and Sasaki would be the No. 1 target there. Young emphasized that every team should be in on Sasaki and the Rangers are no different; they met with Sasaki last month. In a rotation picture including Jacob deGrom, Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and more, the Japanese superstar could slot right in the middle and be an anchor of the rotation for years to come.

One player poised to have a breakout season: OF Wyatt Langford
Langford did more than enough in his rookie season to be recognized within the Rangers organization, and nobody in Texas doubts his ability to produce on the biggest stage. He finished seventh in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2024, and the 23-year-old is perfectly set up for a breakthrough on the national stage. During his rookie season, Langford got off to a slow start, slashing .222/.288/.286 with just one home run through the end of May (34 games). But from June 1 through the end of the season (a span of 100 games), he slashed .263/.337/.458 with 15 home runs. It wasn¡¯t quite enough to get Langford back into the AL Rookie of the Year race, but things ended on a high note for him. He can only get better next year.

One prospect to watch in 2025: RHP Kumar Rocker
Rocker -- who made three big league starts in September -- will almost certainly be competing for a spot in the Opening Day rotation this spring. The Rangers¡¯ 2022 first-round pick missed most of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023, but when he¡¯s been on the mound, he's been electric. Rocker breezed through every level of the Minors with relative ease before he made his MLB debut on Sept. 12. Not only is he a prospect to watch, but he could also be among the AL Rookie of the Year favorites if he continues trending in the right direction.

One prediction for the new year: Jacob deGrom will win the AL Cy Young Award
It¡¯s not that bold of a prediction. After all, when healthy, everybody knows who Jacob deGrom is and can be. But while the Rangers¡¯ ace is perhaps the best pitcher of his generation, he¡¯s been hindered by injuries throughout the 2020s. He hasn¡¯t eclipsed 100 innings since his NL Cy Young Award-winning 2019 season. But fresh off of his recovery from Tommy John surgery, deGrom looked like himself in 10 2/3 September innings in 2024 (1.69 ERA). If he¡¯s anywhere close to the deGrom we all know, he could very well return to the forefront of the Cy Young race.