Justin Turner blasts Rangers' rival after poor offseason, Texas ready to capitalize

Earlier this week former Seattle Mariners infielder Justin Turner had some tough words for his former team sharing that despite his desire to be back in Seattle he opted to sign a one-year deal with the Cubs instead.

His thoughts hit close to home for a lot Mariners' fans, who have been frustrated with their lack of offseason additions after getting within spitting distance from the playoffs last season.

"The fact that they missed the playoffs by one game, and didn't go out and add an impact bat when you have the best pitching staff in baseball just doesn't make any sense to me," he told USA Today Sports. "Honestly, as much as I wanted to be back there," Turner said, “if I was the only piece they brought back in, I would be saying the same thing: What the hell are we doing? Are you trying?"

At one point this winter, Seattle was linked to some of the biggest offensive weapons on the free agent market including Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman and Christian Walker. The Mariners were also rumored to be all over the trade market but could not finish any major addition. Instead the best their front office did was add Donovan Solano and Jorge Polanco on one-year contracts.

The Mariners just missed out on the 2024 AL West title by three games to the Houston Astros and were only one game shy of an AL Wild Card berth. Any other team would've seen those results and made it a priority to improve their bottom five offense. Seattle decided not to do that.

In a harsh reality that is Major League Baseball, Seattle's loss is the Texas Rangers' gains.

What does this mean for the Texas Rangers chances to win the AL West?

Entering 2025, the expectations on the Rangers are about as high as any season in previous years. For the past decade the AL West has been a one horse race for the most part, led by Houston. Now that the playing field is evening out, the Rangers have the potential to grab the reigns back.

Texas is currently favored to win the division, leading the pack with 85 wins while Houston and Seattle are not far behind with 84, according to Fangraphs. With the competition being viewed this close, the Mariners disastrous offseason proved extremely beneficial for the Rangers.

Last year, it only took the Astros 88 wins to capture the AL West title but finished the season above .500 against teams in their division. That means a difference maker in first, second or even third place this season really coming down to if the Rangers can win the games against their division foes.

While the Mariners lineup can still improve with Cal Raleigh and Rodriguez taking that next step as well as players like Randy Arozarena and Mitch Garver returning to form, it still seems as of right now to not be enough to win the division.

In the meantime, Rangers fans have the pleasure of watching a division rivals fanbase simmer while their team is the favorite to win the division and return to the playoffs.