The Texas Rangers are competitive again, and that’s a good thing

Unless you’re a team with unlimited spending power like the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers, it can be rather hard to avoid the inevitable spell of non-competition that comes with Major League Baseball. Having not recorded a winning record since 2016, the Texas Rangers are no stranger to this reality themselves.

At least compared to the rest of the MLB, the Rangers had themselves a rather productive past decade. They won the American League Pennant in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011, they made the postseason three more times after that, and they finished with a winning record six times over the past eleven seasons.

While they were obviously unable to secure that ever coveted Commissioner’s Trophy, the Rangers were still viewed as one of the better American League organizations from 2010 to 2016.

However, winning in baseball typically comes with a price, and the Rangers have been busy paying that toll off over the past couple seasons. Hurdling into a rebuild following their postseason exit at the hands of Toronto in 2016, the Rangers have recorded four straight losing seasons in a row. Outside of the creation of a new home ballpark, there hasn’t been a whole lot to look forward to in regards to Texas baseball over the past year or so.

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However, just over a fifth of the way through the 2021 season, it’s starting to look like the tide may be turning for the Rangers – and that is undoubtedly a good thing.

Dear Texas Rangers, just keep on winning!

36 games into the year and the Texas Rangers are currently sat at 18-18, just three games out of first place in the American League West. While it’s still extremely early into the season, the Rangers have proven time and time again that they have the “juice” on their roster to contend on any given night. Adolis Garcia has been a national sensation thus far, Joey Gallo is still effectively driving in home runs, the pitching staff has pleasantly outperformed expectations, and some of the complimentary pieces added this past offseason have fit into the team’s culture beautifully.

While watching the Rangers put in competitive outings almost every night has been a joy for most Rangers fans, there’s still a portion of the fanbase who seems annoyed(?) at such developments, annoyed that the team likely won’t be in contention for yet another high draft pick in next year’s class.

As much as I love me some highly-rated prospects, at the end of the day the goal is to win games in the big leagues, not just accumulate top-tier draft selections. The Rangers already own the #2 overall pick in this year’s upcoming MLB Draft, establishing a winning culture should absolutely be the current goal.

A productive 2021 campaign could see high-profile free agents attracted to Texas in the offseason, it helps further player development, and ultimately speaking it keeps people talking about the team.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say the Rangers current rebuilding process is “over,” but it definitely appears they’re heading in the right direction. Forget about future draft position and/or draft picks, continuing to win baseball games should definitively be on everyone’s mind at the moment.