The top 5 offseason stories for the Texas Rangers

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The football season is finally over as the Kansas City Chiefs repeated as Super Bowl champions with a thrilling overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers. Now, we can get ready for the upcoming 2024 baseball season. For those who shifted their attention to football after the Texas Rangers won the World Series it has been an offseason full of news for the Texas Rangers but not in the same way the previous two offseasons were. Texas was less active in the free agent or trade market this past offseason. Chris Young used this offseason to shore up some problem areas without making massive changes to the roster's core. Before we can look ahead to spring training and eventually the regular season let's look back at the top five stories of the offseason.

5. The players the Texas Rangers lost after the World Series

It happens after every championship that players will leave not for greener pastures but for fatter wallets. Texas saw a few players walk after the season in free agency. Aroldis Chapman signed a 1-year 10.5 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Will Smith signed a 1-year $5 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. Mitch Garver signed a 2-year $24 million contract with the Seattle Mariners. Chris Stratton signed a 1-year $3.5 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. Austin Hedges signed a 1-year $4 million contract with the Cleveland Guardians.

Texas lost some veterans in the bullpen in Chapman, Smith, and Stratton. They lost their DH in Mitch Garver. They lost their backup catcher in Austin Hedges. It is still to be determined about Jordan Montgomery. He is still on the free agent market and it is unknown if he will be returning to the Rangers.

Texas will replace some of these guys with internal options, especially at DH with Wyatt Langford and Justin Foscue both being in camp competing for that spot. Texas also did sign David Robertson and Kirby Yates to replace Chapman and Smith. Andrew Knizner was signed to compete with Sam Huff for the backup catchers' role. Several non-roster players such as Jared Walsh, Diego Castillo, and Shane Greene are in camp to compete for spots as well.

Overall there was not a splash signing like a Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, or Corey Seager, but it was still a productive offseason. Texas did improve the depth and quality of the bullpen. The lineup will still be among the best in the league, and the top four of the rotation should still be pretty good. The depth of the rotation is not where it needs to be, but that will change throughout the season as injured pitchers start to come back.

4. Offseason Injury News for the Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers played a total of 179 games in the 2023 season. It was not a surprise when the season ended and the parade was celebrated that players would have minor and major injuries to recover from. Jonah Heim was thought to need wrist surgery once the season ended, but he avoided that with rest. Other players were not so lucky.

Max Scherzer was hoping to avoid back surgery on the injury he suffered in the World Series. He tried to rest the back in hopes that it would heal on its own. Midway through December it was determined Scherzer would need surgery. The procedure was successful and Scherzer will now be out till probably around midseason. He did announce at Fanfest that he has passed the six-week checkpoint and will be starting workouts soon. He was not the only one who had to undergo surgery.

Corey Seager unbeknownst to fans and media alike was dealing with a sports hernia injury throughout the World Series. It would have been hard to tell from how he played as he won the World Series MVP for the second time in his career. He was prescribed an offseason of rest to heal from that injury. In January as spring training was drawing closer he decided to undergo sports hernia surgery. Chris Young announced that he will likely miss about half of spring training. The hope is that there will still be enough time for Seager to be ready for Opening Day.

Other players like newly-signed Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom are recovering from Tommy John surgeries and will not be back till midseason or later. Other than those players Texas enters spring training relatively healthy. The lineup outside of Seager will enter camp fully healthy. The top four of the rotation should all be healthy. It is one thing to enter camp healthy it is another thing to make it to Opening Day healthy.

#3- Adolis Garcia near-arbitration case

The Texas Rangers are different than some MLB franchises in that they try to avoid arbitration cases. They have not been in an arbitration hearing room since 2000 when they couldn't agree with Lee Stevens. That streak nearly came to an end this offseason with Adolis Garcia. They offered the first-year arbitration player Garcia $5 million and his representation countered with $6.9 million. It was the widest gap between player and team in this arbitration cycle.

Arbitration cases started on January 29th and there was still no agreement. Deadlines make deals and Garcia's arbitration case was scheduled for February 8th. Texas and Garcia finally agreed that morning before entering the hearing room on a 2-year $14 million contract that avoids arbitration in 2024 and 2025. Texas can avoid a hearing and Garcia gets his money. It was a win-win for both sides.

The focus can now shift to on-field matters and that is where Garcia shines. The right-fielder continues to improve every year. In 2023 Garcia set a career-high in home runs with 39 and RBIs with 107, and his OBP at .328, and walks with 65. Now that the off-field business is settled he can focus on trying to become one of the best right-fielders in the game as he enters his age 31 season.

#2 Adrian Beltre is elected to the Hall-of-Fame

This was not a surprise as it was expected Adrian Beltre would be elected his first time on the ballot, but it still a significant accomplishment. Beltre was elected with 95.1% of the vote. It was announced in the weeks after that he will be going in as a Texas Ranger. He will join such third-base greats as Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and Scott Rolen in the Hall of Fame.

Beltre was elected because of his outstanding defense throughout a long 21-year career that saw hime play at third base all the way through. He finished with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs, five Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, and two top-3 MVP finishes. He was an outstanding player that loved playing the game and showed how much fun the game could be. He was a back-up plan for Texas when they failed to sign Cliff Lee after the 2010 season. He became the best free agent signing in Texas Rangers' history until Corey Seager signed his deal in 2021.

Beltre will officially be inducted into the Hall in July in Cooperstown. He will go in alongside manager Jim Leyland, catcher Joe Mauer, and first baseman Todd Helton. The ceremony will take place on July 21st a week after the Texas Rangers host the All-Star game for the first time since 1995. It will continue what should be a great year for Texas Rangers' fans.

#1- The Texas Rangers and Bally Sports situation

This was the story that consumed the entire offseason and in a way explained most moves that Texas made or chose not to make. Diamond Sports is the parent company of the Bally Sports regional sports networks that carry Texas Rangers' games. They have been in bankruptcy since early 2023. There have been several hearings throughout this offseason to help settle some issues such as which teams Diamond Sports would air in 2024. Texas was thought to be safe coming off a World Series, but it was quickly determined that Diamond wanted to drop the Texas Rangers as soon as this coming season.

MLB and Texas Rangers' lawyers were working behind the scenes with Diamond Sports on an agreement for Bally Sports to air the Texas Rangers in 2024. That was a long negotiation process that started around Christmas time and did not end until last week. There were twists and turns along the way. It included Amazon coming to the rescue of Diamond Sports with an agreement to take on the streaming rights of the teams Diamond owned the streaming rights. Amazon also is bailing out Diamond Sports and allowing Bally Sports to remain financially stable beyond 2024.

In the end it was not disclosed how much of a reduction the Texas Rangers had to accept from Diamond Sports, but the deal got done. The bankruptcy judge accepted the terms on February 9th and hopefully the creditors of Diamond Sports will accept it this week. Texas will get their money and we will see if Texas now can sign Jordan Montgomery with this infusion of cash. The expectation is that he will sign somewhere this week so that he can be in camp on time.

It may not be the offseason that Texas had hoped for, but they did address needs, solidified their strengths, and kept a core member of this franchise happy. Now comes the hard part as they report to camp and try to become the first MLB repeat champion since the New York Yankees in 2000. Texas will be trying to do what the Kansas City Chiefs accomplished last night in Las Vegas. It was a bumpy ride for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, but in the end, they got it done. We will see if Texas can do the same in 2024.

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