Free agents from AL West rivals the Texas Rangers could steal this winter

Free agents the Texas Rangers could steal from their AL West rivals

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners made the playoffs in 2022, their first appearance since 2001. That’s a copious amount of suffering, and the drought is now over.

Seattle has tons of talent on their roster, and should remain in the conversation for the playoffs next year and in years to come. They also dominated the Rangers in their season series in 2022, so Texas could stand to benefit from having players that beat them… join them.

The one name I’m eyeing? Outfielder Mitch Haniger.

Though injury prone, Haniger is the kind of outfielder the Rangers need right now: someone who can produce, because the Rangers got almost no production from their outfielders in 2022 besides Adolis Garcia and the occasional bursts from Leody Taveras, Eli White and Bubba Thompson.

Haniger shouldn’t be too expensive coming off a down 2022 in which he had just 11 homers and a .737 OPS, but he had 39 long balls in 2021 and 26 in 2018, so the talent is there. And a change of scenery could be perfect for Haniger, who is being overshadowed by Julio Rodriguez in the Mariners’ outfield.

Free agents the Texas Rangers could steal from their AL West rivals

Los Angeles Angels

For a team that employs two of the most transcendent talents in baseball, you’d expect the Angels to do a lot more winning than they have in recent years. Wasting prime Mike Trout and a unicorn in Shohei Ohtani while now occupying baseball’s longest playoff drought? The Angels are a bona fide laughingstock. But even they have a player that could help the Texas Rangers.

That would be right-hander Michael Lorenzen.

On the surface, his 4.24 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 97.2 innings pitched/18 starts isn’t that impressive, but he had stretches where he was absolute money for the Angels in 2022. Lorenzen has plus stuff, including a heater that can reach the upper 90s in MPH, and new Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy knows a thing or two about how to get the most out of his pitchers.

Lorenzen is 30, so he should theoretically be hitting his prime as a pitcher. Not to mention, Texas has had recent success with veteran pitchers, turning them into quality starters. There’s no reason Lorenzen couldn’t be that for the Rangers in 2023, at a very affordable price tag.

Free agents the Texas Rangers could steal from their AL West rivals

Oakland Athletics

Ok let’s be honest: there isn’t much the 60-win Oakland Athletics can offer to the Rangers in free agency. A team that’s in full rebuilding mode is naturally going to be devoid of talent.

But, there’s at least one name that could intrigue Texas this winter from the AL West cellar dwellers: outfielder Chad Pinder.

Pinder smashed 12 long balls while posting a .648 OPS in 361 at-bats for the Athletics in 2022. Not great at all, but when I tell you that the state of the Rangers’ outfield is dire, I mean even someone like Chad Pinder could be of help.

Pinder isn’t spectacular by any means, and if Chris Young and company have to resort to him, that’ll be because they whiffed on just about every other alternative, and I find that to be incredibly unlikely. But at least Pinder was worth positive WAR in 2022, unlike… Kole Calhoun or Brad Miller. Is that too much to ask?