3 regrets the Texas Rangers should already have about the 2023-24 offseason

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Normally when a team is fresh off a World Series win like the Texas Rangers are, it is cause for celebration and optimism. Not only did the Rangers finally get over the hump and bring home a title, but this Rangers team sets up really well to be successful over at least the next several years.

Unfortunately, the Rangers have been weirdly quiet this offseason so far. Some of that is just a function of them being incredibly aggressive the last couple of offseasons, but it is still strange to see Texas essentially being non-factors so far this offseason. This seems like a time where the Rangers would want to use all that playoff revenue and renewed interest in the team to press their advantage and that just hasn't been the case this offseason.

Could the Rangers change the narrative and still make a splash this offseason? Absolutely, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been some missed opportunities that the team could end up regretting. Here are a few of the highlights.

Letting Jordan Montgomery explore deals elsewhere is a blunder

Of all the trades made at the trade deadline last year, none had the level of impact that Texas' move to trade for Jordan Montgomery did. This isn't a slight on Chris Stratton who also did well after the trade (and who has since signed with the Royals, but Montgomery stabilized the Rangers' rotation after injuries had decimated Texas' starting staff.

The problem is that the Rangers' starting rotation situation remains very questionable. Max Scherzer just had surgery on his back and is only getting older and no one really knows what Jacob deGrom is going to look like coming back from his second Tommy John surgery. The end result is a Texas rotation that looks very questionable and does not look at all like a group that could make another deep postseason run.

Things should have not gotten to this point. Montgomery was clearly a huge reason why the Rangers won the World Series and the team should have looked to lock him up for the long-term. It takes two to tango and the allure of big-time free agent dollars may have just been too much for Jordan to pass up, but letting Monty hit the open market could come back to bite the Rangers in a big way in 2024.

The Rangers tightening up payroll after a World Series win just feels bad

The conventional wisdom after winning the World Series is that winning teams will have MORE money in their pockets. Given how aggressive the Rangers have been in recent years, it stands to reason that more money and a contending team would normally mean a payroll increase to keep this train rolling.

Sadly, the situation is more complicated than that. The extra playoff revenue for Texas had to be nice, but the Rangers are one of the teams currently in limbo with their television rights given the struggles of the parent company that owns them. Right now, the Rangers just don't know how much they will be making from TV revenue or even who will be broadcasting their games as Diamond Sports' bankruptcy is playing out right in front of our eyes.

As much as fans will be upset that yet another very deep-pocketed owner appears to be tightening up their purse strings, teams do still have to make money and television revenue is a big deal. Sure, there are owners like Steve Cohen that don't mind setting their money on fire to fund vanity projects, but it is hard to get too irate with the Rangers when there is a chance they could end up losing over $100 million of revenue next year through no fault of their own.

That said, the idea that the Rangers could stand pat or even trim payroll next season just feels bad. Texas finally wins a World Series and the best news Rangers fans have gotten is that the team signed Tyler Mahle (who is also out with an arm injury until at least midseason) and Texas remains interested in the ghost of Clayton Kershaw who isn't coming back anytime soon.

In short, the team has clearly defined needs this offseason, is coming off a World Series win, and still seemingly doesn't have the resources to do much about it. That just stinks.

Texas should be more involved in Josh Hader's market

While the rotation gets most of the attention, the Rangers' bullpen needs a lot of work. Will Smith and Chris Stratton have already left and signed with the Royals and the rest of the guys remaining on Texas' bullpen depth chart outside of Jose Leclerc don't exactly move the needle. In a vacuum, Texas should be targeting the best reliever on the market, Josh Hader.

Hader would instantly provide a huge boost to Texas' relief corps. Over the last seven seasons, Hader has established himself as one of the best relievers in baseball and is coming off a 2023 season where he posted a 1.28 ERA with the Padres and struck out 85 batters in 56.1 innings of work. Outside of a weirdly down 2022 season, Hader has been the quintessential lockdown reliever since he made it to the majors in 2017.

However, as the offseason has gone on, there has been little to no indication that Texas has been interested at all beyond idle speculation. Hader is probably going to require $20+ million a year which is a lot for any reliever and Texas' payroll situation probably isn't helping, but the Rangers' bullpen is not in a good spot going forward and they need to get a plan together to address it and soon.

Even if Hader isn't their jam, Texas needs to do more for their rotation. The Kirby Yates signing isn't uninteresting as he had his moments with the Braves, so there has been some progress here. That said, it is going to take more than just Yates to cover for just their free agent losses, let alone putting together a bullpen that is actually going to be better than last year's underachieving group.

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Letting Jordan Montgomery explore deals elsewhere is a blunder

The Rangers tightening up payroll after a World Series win just feels bad

Texas should be more involved in Josh Hader's market

More Texas Rangers News from Nolan Writin'

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