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

The Texas Rangers will be looking far and wide for roster upgrades this winter, but perhaps they don’t have to stray too far from their own division to find those additions.

Chris Young and company know their AL West rivals quite well, considering they play each of the other four teams 19 times a year. The Houston Astros just won the 2022 World Series, and who better to poach from than the new champions of baseball? The Seattle Mariners just made the playoffs for the first time in two decades as well, so their roster could be privy for plundering.  Even the bottom-feeding Angels and Athletics have talent that the Rangers could stand to poach.

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

Let’s examine which free agents the Texas Rangers could steal from their AL West rivals, starting with the…

Houston Astros

They just captured their second World Series title in six seasons (although 2017 probably shouldn’t count…) and are the gold standard for building a consistent winner.

Houston has a number of names that could be useful to the Rangers in 2023. Among them? Justin Verlander, reliever Rafael Montero and outfielder Michael Brantley.

All three of those players could shore up major Texas weaknesses, specifically Verlander in the rotation, Montero in the bullpen and Brantley the outfield. Verlander and Brantley would be new Rangers, while Montero was with the club in 2019-2020.

Of these three names, Justin Verlander would probably make the most sense to pursue because of a glaring need for elite level starting pitching, but a reunion with Montero, given how good he was for the Astros, would greatly bolster a middle-of-the-pack Rangers bullpen while also weakening the champs.

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

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?