3 free agents Rangers must sign this offseason to take advantage of weak AL West

Following Chris Young's postseason comments and the looming lockout, it is a tough ask to forecast who the Texas Rangers could go after in free agency this winter. Of course, Young expressed the desire to get "younger and more athletic", but we still don't have a strong sense of how he plans to move on from some of the older players. We also don't know what Ray Davis and the ownership group will allow Young to spend.

The AL West looks like it will be up for grabs for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, we've put together a list of three players who will be unrestricted free agents headed into 2027. Two of them are financially realistic options, and one "pie in the sky" guy who would cost a lot of money but would be a massive upgrade next season and could lead to a deep playoff run.

Lane Thomas - CF

It's going to be hard to get younger or more athletic than the 24-year-old Evan Carter in center field. Nevertheless, Thomas, a proven commodity who has played with four different teams over the past two seasons, is only 30. He is coming off a decent year, slashing .224/.318/.383 with 11 homers and 40 RBI over 326 at-bats. He plays an acceptable center field and would provide more offense than Carter.

You may look at Thomas' numbers and ask, "Why would you go after a guy with a career .723 OPS and 102 OPS+. Well, the alternative is another season of Carter, who is rocking a career slash of .215 /.307/.368 and an OPS of just .675. Carter finally stayed healthy for an entire season and delivered one of the worst statistical seasons of all qualified MLB batters.

On top of that, Thomas is lethal against lefties. He posted an .803 OPS against southpaws in 2026 and owns an .848 mark against them for his career. Texas reportedly was looking for a platoon partner for Carter at the trade deadline, and now they could find one in free agency with Thomas.

Thomas is coming off a season in which he was paid $5.25 million and could be had at a reasonable price this winter.

Adrian Morejon - RP

Morejon is another realistic bullpen option. He is a solid left-hander who has spent his entire career with the San Diego Padres. He was someone that we believed that Young should be looking at for a trade deadline deal, but ended up staying put. Now he is a UFA and is up for grabs once again.

Last season, the middle -inning left-hander role was fumbled by several guys like Jalen Beeks, Tyler Alexander, and rookie Robby Ahlstrom. Beeks and Alexander are UFAs themselves, and Ahlstrom was inconsistent in his first big-league gambit. Getting Morejon, who is coming off an excellent 9-3 season in relief with a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 86 innings, would be a coup. He's also a big strikeout guy with 107 Ks.

Most importantly (at least to Ray Davis), he can be had relatively cheaply. He made $5.25 million and is still young at 27. He and Robert Garcia would be a nice one-two lefty punch out of the bullpen.

Shota Imanaga - SP

This is our "pie in the sky" option, who will likely be the prize free agent for whoever lands the Cubs' left-hander's services for the 2027 season. Imanaga is a front-of-the-rotation type of arm that could potentially replace a guy like Nathan Eovaldi should the team move on from him this winter.

Now 33, he is several years younger than both Evo and Jacob deGrom, and is coming off a solid season, pitching 174 innings with an 11-10 record, 3.77 ERA, and 1.09 WHIP. He also struck out exactly one hitter per inning. He was an All-Star in his rookie season in Chicago and still has several more good years ahead.

Should Davis and Young decide that either Evo or deGrom's best years are behind them, Imanaga would be an option that you could have at around the same $25 million/year figure. Yes, we know, too rich for Davis' blood.

It may not take a massive overhaul to take advantage of the AL West if it has another down year, but we'd like to see some fundamental changes that at least indicate ownership is committed to putting a winning product on the field following three disappointing seasons.

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