Rangers offseason shopping list will once again be dominated by pitching

With the Texas Rangers officially eliminated from the playoff chase after yet another ugly loss on Tuesday night, it's officially time to start looking at who the team should add on this offseason.

Most fans might say that the team needs to soup up its offense, and they wouldn't be totally wrong. However, with the return of Corey Seager, Evan Carter, and Marcus Semien and the hope they'll all be healthy all season, the offense could take a big step up without massive offseason additions. Meanwhile, the pitching staff will absolutely need to see some additions simply because there are going to be holes in the rotation and the bullpen due to free agency.

Texas Rangers will need pitching in the offseason

At the moment, the Texas Rangers rotation consists of 35-year-old Patrick Corbin, 36-year-old Merrill Kelly, 37-year-old Jacob deGrom, swingman Jacob Latz—who is only starting because 35-year-old Nathan Eovaldi is done for the year—and one young arm in 25-year-old Jack Leiter. Add in Tyler Mahle, who just returned.

Corbin, Kelly, and Mahle are all free agents this winter. The team will also have six relievers looking for new contracts. While guys like Kumar Rocker would love to be waiting in the wings, even if they do trust him enough to give him a rotation spot at some point next year, they'd be foolish to count on him.

Of course, any additions to the pitching staff that POBO Chris Young makes still have to jibe with a payroll that has been among the highest in baseball for several years.

It's a safe bet that he'll have to choose to between juicing up the Texas Rangers' offense and their pitching staff. Especially after spending a bundle for two straight teams that missed the playoffs. It's fun to dream on who they might add, but the club will walk a tightrope this offseason.