Winter Meetings: 3 reasons behind the Texas Rangers slow news offseason

Bally Sports bankruptcy is causing issues for the Texas Rangers

We have written about this before, but I want to emphasize it again. The fact that Bally Sports may drop the Texas Rangers is no doubt reshaping how the Texas Rangers are attacking this offseason. Texas gets $111 million annually from Bally Sports. If Bally Sports drops Texas because they cannot afford to pay that then it drops to $0 from Bally Sports. They would have to negotiate a media rights deal over the next three months or be broadcast by MLB and paid by MLB a lower amount than what Bally would have paid them.

Chris Young had a call with the media last week to preview the upcoming Winter Meetings and he acknowledged the difficulties that not knowing about their media rights was having. He said,

"There’s an impact on the organization; there’s uncertainty about what the rights fees are and will be going forward . We obviously have a responsibility to be financially prudent"

Chris Young

This could end up being a win in the long-run, but right now it is impacting what Texas can do this offseason. They already have been reported as being out on Shohei Ohtani(ESPN Plus subscription required) by Jeff Passan. They want to bring back Jordan Montgomery, but the cost might be too much for Texas. If they cannot afford Montgomery then it stands to reason they would likely be out on Josh Hader as well.

Texas will be on TV in some fashion in 2024. Fans do not need to worry about that. The uncertainty about who will be broadcasting them will likely stop them from being able to properly fill the holes on this roster. Texas will likely be playing with those guys who have something to prove and will be willing to sign for less. It will be guys like Frankie Montas and Michael Wacha in the rotation. It will be players like Hector Neris or Andrew Chaffin in the bullpen.