ARLINGTON -- Since winning the World Series in 2023, the Rangers have floated between trying their hardest to contend and falling short of the ultimate goal, leaving a number of decisions to be made this winter.
Should they trade their high-salary stars to replenish the farm system? Or should they continue making moves to keep themselves close to contention? Thursday was as much of a decision as president of baseball operations Chris Young could have made.
For the second time this offseason, Young and the Rangers’ front office completed a blockbuster trade, this time to bolster the rotation.
On Thursday the Rangers acquired left-handed starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore from the Nationals, in return sending a haul of prospects to D.C., including shortstop Gavin Fien (the Rangers’ No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline), right-hander Alejandro Rosario (No. 6), infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald (No. 12), outfielder Yeremy Cabrera (No. 16) and first baseman Abimelec Ortiz (No. 18).
Why push in so many chips right now? Because the team believes it can win it all. This year.
“Obviously, these are talented [prospects], and they have bright futures, but we're in a moment in time where we have a team we believe is capable of winning a championship,” general manager Ross Fenstermaker said. “When you add a player of MacKenzie Gore’s status, it's not that you look past what you're giving up, but you're excited about what you're bringing in and what that does to the clubhouse, what this does for our fanbase, what this does for excitement around the club. It puts us in a position where we can compete with anybody in the AL for a pennant and, ultimately, a [World Series] championship.”
Beyond the potential ace they acquired and the bevy of prospects they traded away, it’s worth noting also who they did not have to surrender in the deal.
For one, the Rangers didn’t give up their top hitting prospect -- Sebastian Walcott, the crown jewel of the system -- nor the top pitching prospect, Jose Corniell, who could be described as the most-MLB ready on the farm.
Of the prospects dealt, one won’t pitch until 2027 at the earliest (Rosario), three haven’t reached Double-A yet, with ETAs closer to 2029 (Fien, Fitz-Gerald, Cabrera) and one quite simply did not have an everyday place with the big league club entering ‘26 (Ortiz).
“This is what you have to do to win, and we are willing to do that,” Young said. “There may be a moment in time where you want to have a stronger farm system. But it’s the strength of the system that is allowing us to make these moves. This is the moment of the cycle we're in right now. This is why you have a system that allows you to do these types of moves.”
And maybe more important, this once again affirms that the front office intends to keep competing for the American League West title, the AL pennant and another World Series title. It’s easy to forget amid the Dodgers’ recent run that the last team other than the Dodgers to win a championship were these Texas Rangers.
And they still have Corey Seager in his prime, at 31 years old. They have a young stud in Wyatt Langford. They have a 37-year-old Jacob deGrom on the final two years of his deal, but he’s healthy now and coming off a 30-start season in which he posted a 2.97 ERA. His co-ace, Nathan Eovaldi, will turn 36 before Opening Day and finished 2025 on the IL with a shoulder strain, but he is also healthy and coming off a stellar season in which he went 11-3 with a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts. Both are signed through the 2027 season, so the time to push all in is now.
Other pieces are still in place for quality baseball, especially if guys on the offensive end -- such as Josh Jung, Evan Carter and Jake Burger -- can play to their ceiling.
It’s easy to envision a run in the AL.
The AL West has been relatively weak, but competitive, over the last few years as the perennial powerhouse that was the Astros in the back half of the 2010s and into the 2020s has taken a step back. The AL Central is, well, the AL Central. No team has made big additions.
The AL East has a number of playoff-caliber teams, with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Orioles, but all of the big acquisitions have been over in the National League: The Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker, the Mets signed Bo Bichette, the Cubs signed Alex Bregman. Josh Naylor re-upped with the Mariners and Cody Bellinger did the same with the Yankees, but they had those guys last year.
So that’s not to say anything is easy -- the Rangers falling short of the postseason the last two years is evidence enough of that. But that’s why Young is intent on continuing to add Major League talent.
To put it simply, this is the Rangers’ window, and this trade is a “win now” move.
“We feel like this team is built to win,” Young said. “The reality is, we've got a very tough division. We've got to make these moves to keep up. Our goal is to go compete for the division championship, make the playoffs and then, at that point, have a chance to make a run. We feel like these are the types of moves that allow you to do that. As far as our projections go, we feel any time you add a player of [Gore’s] caliber, it catapults your team to another threshold. We feel like we reached that through this trade.”