Texas Rangers ranked 28th in MLB.com’s preseason power rankings

The Texas Rangers aren’t feeling the early love from MLB.com in its first edition of the 2021 power rankings.

Ok, we get it. The Texas Rangers aren’t going to be great in 2021, but no need to shove it in our faces, MLB.com.

They did anyway in releasing their first power rankings of 2021 on Saturday.

And don’t fret, there will be plenty more outlets who rank the Texas Rangers this low in their versions of these rankings.

Brace yourselves. It’s going to be quite the turbulent ride.

The 28th-ranked Texas Rangers managed to place ahead of just two teams in all of baseball on this list, the Baltimore Orioles (29th) and the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates (30th).

Like the Rangers, those squads are also stuck in the middle of their own rebuilds.

Was this Texas Rangers ranking justified?

As much as we would love to call out MLB.com for disrespecting Texas here, they’re simply reinforcing the painful reality that will be baseball in Arlington for the next several years.

While the team has been active this winter under Jon Daniels and new GM Chris Young, the moves they’ve made have certainly kept the future at the forefront.

Trading away your best starting pitcher in Lance Lynn and trading one of your better relievers in Rafael Montero aren’t moves that scream immediate contention.

On the contrary, the signings of David Dahl and Kohei Arihara make the Rangers appear at least slightly more palatable on paper, as does the trade for Nate Lowe.

But outside of Joey Gallo and Jose Leclerc, the organization is mostly devoid of tradeable assets, indicating a dearth of quality options at the big league level.

This is what happens during a rebuild, though, and the Texas Rangers are most definitely living through one.

After failing to post a winning season in 2020, the franchise’s last winning campaign still remains 2016 (not coincidentally, their last playoff appearance).

So the point being, this rebuild was sorely needed, even if it means the next couple of years could be lean.

If there’s any silver lining to these rankings, however, it would be that only one AL West team made the top-10, the division rival Oakland A’s.

The in-state rival Houston Astros placed 13th on the list, with the LA Angels placing 19th and the Seattle Mariners rounding out the AL West representation with a bottom-10 finish as well (21st, to be specific).

In another silver lining from these rankings, the Rangers aren’t the worst team in the AL! That unfortunate distinction would appear to belong to the Baltimore Orioles.

Things could be worse, we guess.

Even with all that in mind, it’s still tough to comprehend just how bad Texas might be in 2021. These first power rankings only confirm those thoughts.

At least the team is scheduled to pick second in the 2021 MLB draft scheduled for Mid-July!