This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON -- It’s been a relatively quiet offseason across the league so far, but especially for the Rangers, who have just made a few peripheral moves, including adding a trio of prospects to the 40-man roster to avoid the Rule 5 Draft.
With just under three weeks until MLB’s annual Winter Meetings, let’s answer some questions.
Obviously offense was a bit lacking this year. Have there been talks of a new approach they’re going to try or how they think they can break out of what happened last year? -- @CautiousRanger on X (formerly Twitter)
Will the Rangers rebound offensively after the downward turn from ‘23 to ‘24? -- @DinoLord05 on X
I grouped a couple of the offense-based questions together for obvious reasons. Looking to revamp the offense, the Rangers hired Justin Viele to replace former hitting coach Tim Hyers, who left to take the same position with his hometown Braves.
President of baseball operations Chris Young said at the GM Meetings that he felt like the club’s swing decisions and plate discipline were relatively good over the course of the year, but they are things that need to continue to be reinforced and valued going forward.
The bigger issues team-wide were being on time for the fastball and making in-game adjustments, both of which will be a point of emphasis for Viele and bench coach Donnie Ecker going into 2025.
“I think that we maybe got a little stubborn last year at times and really not doing some of the things that the opponent was giving us and taking what was being given to us,” Young explained. “I think there's always adjustments to make. The style that we had in 2023, the league adapted, and we came in with -- I think -- a similar mindset and approach. We were a little late to adjust, in my opinion.
“We're very confident in Justin and Donnie working together to be able to help make that correction with our group,” Young said.
As much as I don’t want it to happen, when do you think Bochy will retire? -- @HaydenHerring12 on X
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy’s contract goes through the 2025 season, but he’s shown no signs of wanting to hang it up once again. Associate manager Will Venable recently left to take the manager's position with the White Sox, perhaps signaling that Bochy could be extended even further.
“I’m still hungry to get back,” Bochy said at the end of the season. “I'm disappointed, just like all of us, in how this season went. But that's why I got back in the game. That's what drives me. I've talked to the coaches and we're working out how to get this thing back to where we want to be. That's getting back to the postseason and winning the championship.
“If that somehow starts to go away, believe me, I'll know it, but it's not there now. This is where I want to be. This is where I'm happy. It couldn't have worked out better. We've talked about my situation, believe me. Right now, I want to get this thing back to where we were last year, and that's back to the postseason.”
Who do you think would be an ideal FA fit that we could sign for the rotation? -- @mrdadum on X
It’s hard to tell what the Rangers' budget will be in terms of free agents this offseason, but the rotation definitely needs a starting pitcher to fill the innings left behind by Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. Obviously those two may be the best free agents for the club anyway.
Externally, it’s complicated. Guys like Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty may have priced themselves out of Texas' range this postseason. A guy like Shane Bieber feels like the recent M.O. of older players coming off an injury. John Means can fall into that category, as well.
Sean Manaea maybe could be the best fit. He posted a career-best 3.47 ERA in 181 2/3 innings with the Mets this season, and could slot in nicely around Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford and Tyler Mahle.
Will Nathaniel Lowe be on the Opening Day roster? -- @mulderbatflip on BlueSky
I would almost definitely say yes. Crazier things have happened obviously, but Lowe won a Silver Slugger in 2022 and a Gold Glove in ‘23. He’s part of the core that led the Rangers to their first World Series championship in franchise history. He lacked a bit of power this season, slashing .265/.361/.401 while posting the lowest OPS of his entire Texas tenure.
Despite what he’s set to make in arbitration this year -- a projected $9.9 million, per Cot’s Contracts -- it’s hard to imagine an internal upgrade on both sides and any external upgrade like Pete Alonso or Christian Walker would almost definitely cost much more than the Rangers would like to spend.
“Nate's overall body of work was really solid,” Young said. “He had a good year. When you look at the total body of work, he got hurt in Spring Training and missed about a month there at the beginning of the season, and I think it led to a little bit of a slow start. I think there's a lot to look forward to with Nate.”