This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series. The full index of Offseason In Review posts can be found here.



Facing a number of high-profile defections and about as many big holes, the Rangers faced a tough task this winter. Their acquisitions are just talented enough to work out well for them, but they’ll need some luck to approach their 95-win total from 2016.

Major League Signings

Trades And Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Josh Hamilton, James Loney (since released), Travis Snider, Will Middlebrooks, Allen Webster, Anthony Bass, Bobby LaFromboise

Extensions

Rougned Odor , 2B: six years, $49.5MM, including $3MM buyout on $13.5MM option for 2023

, 2B: six years, $49.5MM, including $3MM buyout on $13.5MM option for 2023 Robinson Chirinos, C: one year (2018), $2.35MM, including $100K buyout on $2.375MM option for 2019

Contract Options

Jonathan Lucroy , C: $5.25MM or a $250K buyout (exercised)

, C: $5.25MM or a $250K buyout (exercised) Derek Holland, SP: $11MM or a $1.5MM buyout (declined)

Notable Losses

Ian Desmond, Carlos Beltran, Mitch Moreland, Colby Lewis, Holland

Needs Addressed

Heading into the winter, the Rangers faced a number of potential high-profile defections, including those of Ian Desmond, Carlos Gomez and Carlos Beltran, and a limited amount of cash with which to address them — the Rangers’ budget was somewhat restricted by high-dollar, low-value contracts such as those of Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo, as well as expensive deals for Cole Hamels, Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Yu Darvish.

In particular, the Rangers needed to replace key players in their outfield, upgrade their rotation and find a solution at first base and/or DH. In their rotation, the Rangers sensibly declined longtime starter Derek Holland’s $11MM option, paying him a $1.5MM buyout after a season in which he posted a 4.95 ERA, 5.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 while struggling with shoulder trouble. They also parted ways with another longtime starter, 37-year-old Colby Lewis, whose 3.71 ERA in 2016 masked lousy peripherals. Lewis remains a free agent.

The free-agent market for starting pitchers was poor, giving the Rangers limited opportunities to find another solid starter to complement Hamels, Darvish and Martin Perez. Instead, they gambled on two interesting former Padres arms, Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. Both are relatively young pitchers with tantalizing stuff, but they also both come with major question marks.

Cashner received $10MM and will enter the Rangers’ rotation as soon as he’s ready, likely sometime late this month. The 30-year-old brings mid-90s heat and a hard slider, but he’s never gotten the sorts of strikeout rates you’d associate with that repertoire, and he’s coming off a season in which he posted a 5.25 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 while fading down the stretch. It will be up to the Rangers to figure out why. Cashner has used his changeup less and less frequently over the years, and the pitch has been less effective when he’s thrown it; reestablishing that pitch might be a key to reviving his career. As Fangraphs’ Eno Sarris points out, Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy might be able to help Cashner with his quality pitch framing. In any case, Cashner’s an interesting gamble, although $10MM seems like a lot to pay given his recent performances. He’ll also begin the season on the DL due to biceps tendinitis.

The Rangers also added Tyson Ross, whose main problem is health. The 29-year-old had back-to-back excellent seasons in San Diego in 2014 and 2015, but pitched only one outing in 2016 due to shoulder trouble, and finally had offseason surgery to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome. The Padres non-tendered him in December, and the Rangers lured him away from the Cubs with a $6MM deal. He isn’t ready yet, but he’s progressed to throwing bullpens and simulated games, and could be ready to join the Rangers early in May. It remains to be seen whether the Rangers will be getting the pitcher who struck out a batter an inning and posted ground-ball rates in the 60% range in 2014 and 2015. Ross can help them if he’s even half that good, but it’s difficult at this point to project with any certainty that he will be.

The Rangers thus began the season with a rotation that features neither of the key starting pitchers they acquired. Darvish, Hamels, Perez and A.J. Griffin (who struggled to a 5.07 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 2016 after missing two full seasons to injury) will comprise the initial rotation, with Cashner perhaps joining in mid-April when the team needs a fifth starter. The Rangers initially signed Dillon Gee to a minor-league deal, and then, after he opted out, re-signed him to a big-league contract and optioned him to Triple-A; he represents an alternative if Cashner isn’t ready to go. Given the considerable question marks surrounding Cashner, Ross, Griffin and Gee (and, if we want to get really pessimistic, Perez, who posted a very shaky 4.7 K/9 last season), the Rangers’ rotation still looks iffy, although it’s also easy to see the upside if Cashner and Ross pan out.

In the outfield, the Rangers lost Desmond to the Rockies, who agreed to pay him $70MM over five years. The Rangers, meanwhile, received the No. 29 pick in this year’s draft as compensation. The Rangers had interest in Desmond, but were wise not to match the Rockies’ offer — Desmond’s resurgence in 2016 was fueled by a career-best .350 BABIP, and he’s already 31.

Instead, the Rangers retained another outfielder, re-signing Carlos Gomez to a short-term deal to man center field. Gomez’s career seemed to be falling apart when the Astros released him last August, but he caught on with the Rangers down the stretch and batted .284/.362/.543, numbers worthy of his brilliant 2013-2014 run with Milwaukee. That sort of production probably won’t continue, but for a mere $11.5MM, the Rangers can get a good deal even if Gomez’s offense tails off. His hitting is hard to predict, and his 30.0% strikeout rate for the 2016 season is a bad sign, but he has defensive and baserunning value going for him, plus a bit of home-run power. All things considered, he seems good for about two wins above replacement, which would rather easily make him worth the value of his contract.

For first base and DH, the Rangers turned to another familiar face, that of Mike Napoli. The Rangers faced the loss not only of Beltran, but also longtime first baseman Mitch Moreland, whose production faded in 2016. Minor-league über-slugger Joey Gallo looked like an obvious candidate to take over at first, but the Rangers made clear at the beginning of the offseason that they felt the 23-year-old Gallo, who whiffed in a ghastly 34.6% of his plate appearances at Triple-A last year, ought to start 2017 in the minors. (Gallo began the season in the Majors anyway, taking over at third for Beltre, who is nursing a calf injury.)

Napoli is coming off a 34-homer season in Cleveland. The 35-year-old has always fared well in Texas — he had two of the best years of his career there in 2011 and 2012, and also was productive after the Red Sox dealt him to the Rangers in August 2015. It’s not a given his third stint with the team will go as well, given his age and his seemingly limited ability to hit for average. He batted just .248 in 2014, .227 in 2015 and .239 in 2016, and if his ability to make contact declines at all, he might have trouble hitting enough homers to compensate. As with the Gomez deal, though, it’s hard to argue with the limited commitment the Rangers made, coughing up only $11MM guaranteed and getting a 2018 team option in the deal as well.

The Rangers also exercised Lucroy’s $5.25MM 2017 option (probably the easiest move they made this winter), and extended backup Robinson Chirinos. Chirinos’ extension bought out his 2018 season, which would have been his last season of arbitration eligibility, for just $2.35MM, likely less than he would have gotten had he been even modestly productive in 2017. The Rangers also received a cheap option for 2019, giving them a couple years of flexibility as they prepare for Lucroy’s possible departure to free agency next winter. Chirinos had never been paid more than $1.55MM in a season prior to the extension, and, at age 32, might never have gotten another shot at a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract. His new deal thus provides him with a bit of financial security.