3 pending free agents the Texas Rangers need to let walk, 2 they need to keep

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You will struggle to find any team that has been more aggressive in reshaping their roster at every available opportunity than the Texas Rangers. Before the 2022 season, the Rangers surprised many and signed both Corey Seager and Marcus Semien while putting the league on notice that they were trying to go for it. However, when they signed Jacob deGrom before this season and traded for both Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery at the deadline, it became clear that this is a club that is going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

The last month hasn't been particularly fun as Texas saw their division lead slip away, but this still looks like a team that is going contend for the foreseeable future. As much money as they have committed over the last couple of years, Texas has a surprising amount of room to work with payroll-wise in 2024 and beyond. Most of their young players are only hitting their first year of arbitration which should keep their costs down which certainly helps the cause there. Assuming the Rangers don't hang on to too many of their pending free agents, the Rangers should be able to be players once again at the top of the free agent market this coming offseason.

Here are 3 pending free agents the Texas Rangers need to let walk, 2 they need to keep

Given that the Rangers have pushed their chips in and are firmly in their window of contention, every roster spot is going to count and Texas will need to be selective as to who to keep and who to let go. Their impending free agent class certainly has some guys that they need to move on from, but a couple of their trade deadline acquisitions who are also set to hit the free agent market warrant some strong consideration to keep in the fold for 2024 and beyond.

Let's take a look at some of the Rangers' pending free agents that they need to let walk and a couple that they should try to hang on to.

Martin Perez had a good run, but it is time for the Rangers to move on

The Rangers surprised many outside observers when they gave Martin Perez the qualifying offer after the 2022 season. Perez was certifiably awesome last season, but it was also the only season in his decade-long career that he had been remotely that good and his peripherals suggested a certain amount of luck being involved. Unsurprisingly, Perez happily signed that offer as almost $20 million for one season of work is hard to pass up.

Unfortunately, Perez has reverted back to being the guy that Rangers' fans had come to expect him to be. He currently sports a near 5 ERA in 122.2 innings of work and he has seen a noticeable dip in his strikeout rate this year. If you take a look at his Statcast profile, very little about how he has pitched this season gives one cause for optimism as his peripherals range from meh to bad. Perez had a good run and it is hard to blame Texas for trying to have him run it back one more time after last season, but they should move from him at this point.

Texas should not keep Jake Odorizzi around

To the surprise of exactly no one, Jake Odorizzi should be among the first guys that Texas decides to move on from after the 2023 season. Odorizzi pretty famously flamed out with the Braves last season and the Rangers acquired Odorizzi last offseason in the hope that he would provide more value than the guy they gave up in Kolby Allard.

Unfortunately, that isn't how things turned out as Odorizzi has not thrown a pitch for the Rangers in 2023 after having a procedure on his pitching shoulder before the season started. When he is right, Odorizzi is a serviceable starting pitcher. However, between his decline in recent years and the trouble with his shoulder, Texas is better served to let him try to catch on elsewhere.

The Rangers can do better than Travis Jankowski

Travis Jankowski has not been a bad player for the Rangers in 2023. In 90 games this season, Jankowski is slashing .272/.362/.345 with five Outs Above Average in the outfield. On a rebuilding team or a team transitioning towards contention. Jankowski is the perfect kind of guy that can serve as a bridge to the future that will be productive enough and not cost an arm and a leg.

The problem, of course, is that the Rangers are neither rebuilding or transitioning. This is a team to built now and left field has stood out as being decidedly not productive offensively in a lineup that is loaded with production. If Jankowski was an absolutely elite defender, it is possible that the Rangers could justify keeping him around. However, elite defenders don't play left field and the Rangers should let Jankowski walk and try to upgrade the position going into 2024.

Keeping Jordan Montgomery around should be the Rangers top priority

After the Rangers went wild in the first half, they made it clear that they were going to remain aggressive in pursuing a deep playoff run when Texas traded for Jordan Montgomery (and Chris Stratton) in a deal with the Cardinals at the trade deadline. Montgomery was very clearly one of the best rental starting pitchers available on the trade market and the Rangers were not going to let the opportunity pass them by given the injuries in their starting rotation this season.

In short, Montgomery has been everything the Rangers wanted him to be. In five starts so far with the team, Montgomery has thrown 31.1 innings and has posted a 2.30 ERA. While Montgomery doesn't have overpowering stuff, he really knows how to get the most out of what he has and throws a ton of strikes. This is exactly the kind of pitcher the Rangers need going forward: a reliable arm that will throw meaningful innings, limit baserunners, and give the team a chance to win every time he takes the mound. He probably won't be particularly cheap as he is going to be one of the best starting pitchers available in free agency this offseason, but the Rangers should absolutely try to keep him.

Texas should try to hang on to Chris Stratton in 2024

The other part of the Rangers' return in the trade deadline deal with the Cardinals was reliever Chris Stratton. While other Cardinals relievers got more attention at the deadline because of their pure stuff like flamethrower Jordan Hicks, Stratton may have been the best one for the Rangers to target. He generally keeps his walks down, misses a fair number of bats, and his fastball has been uniquely hard for opposing batters to square up this season despite him not throwing particularly hard.

While his overall production with St. Louis was only okay, Stratton has blossomed with the Rangers. In 11 appearances so far for Texas, he has posted a 2.00 ERA with 13 strikeouts and just two walks in 18 innings of work. Is Stratton a guy that should be closing games for Texas? Probably not. However, he is a really reliable setup man who shouldn't break the bank to bring back for 2024 and beyond. For a Rangers team that may look to spend big elsewhere, Stratton is exactly the kind of guy the Rangers should look to help fill out their bullpen.

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