DALLAS -- Chris Young is nothing if not consistent.
As MLB’s annual Winter Meetings kicked off on Monday, the Rangers’ president of baseball operations emphasized once again that shoring up both the bullpen and the rotation will continue to be points of emphasis.
“We've said this all along, some of the best additions are going to be internal, getting the best out of our own guys and getting back to being an elite offense,” Young said on Monday. “That's a key priority for us. We love the talent of the group we have. We want to see them perform to the level we believe that they can, the way we did two years ago. ... So we need to shore up the pitching. Obviously, there are holes in the bullpen, too. It's a focal point for us, and we're engaged in the starting pitching market.”
The Rangers lost eight pitchers to free agency this offseason, equaling to more than 700 innings among them all: three starters (RHP Nathan Eovaldi, RHP Max Scherzer, LHP Andrew Heaney), four relievers (RHP Kirby Yates, RHP David Robertson, LHP Andrew Chafin, RHP José Leclerc) and swingman right-hander José Ureña.
They begin the Winter Meetings looking for ways to replace those innings, including continued negotiations with Eovaldi. Young added that the Rangers are actively engaged on both trades and free agency deals when looking at ways to upgrade the roster.
“It's been a productive day,” Young said. “[We’ve had] a lot of great conversations, both internally and externally with agents and clubs, I think laying the groundwork for things that could or could not materialize, but nonetheless, it always starts with conversations, and it's been a busy day.”
General manager Ross Fenstermaker said ahead of the Winter Meetings that the club is definitely involved with a lot of the high-end starting pitchers on the market. That appears to still be the case, though it’s looking more expensive by the day.
The starting pitching market specifically has moved slowly but surely with a pair of deals before the Meetings. The Angels signed left-hander Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year, $63 million deal. The A’s signed Luis Severino to a two-year, $67 million deal with a player option for 2027. Whether the Rangers re-sign Eovaldi or Heaney, or venture further into the free-agent waters, it’ll cost them.
“There are a lot of teams that need pitching, and there are some very good options on the market,” Young said. “Where the market goes is to be determined, but I think I anticipate it will accelerate. Good starting pitching is expensive. It's just the reality of it. It never goes down. It's consistent, I think, with what we expected. It's just the state of starting pitching today.”
On the other hand, one notable free agent won’t command that kind of price. Japanese 23-year-old Roki Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball on Monday, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
Foreign-born players are subject to international bonus pool money restrictions unless they are at least 25 years of age and have played as a professional in a foreign league recognized by Major League Baseball for a minimum of six seasons. Sasaki falls into that category now, as Shohei Ohtani did in 2017. Whichever MLB team signs Sasaki would have him under control for six years of service time before he’d be eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Clubs can begin negotiating with Sasaki and his camp on Tuesday, opening a 45-day window before he signs.
Considering money is not a factor, the Rangers will have to put their best foot forward in order to bring Sasaki to Texas. Young declined to speak in specifics on individual free agents, while noting that the club hopes to meet with Sasaki. And Young’s pitch doesn’t change from player to player.
“The reality is, our goal is to win championships,” Young said. “Every player plays this game to win. The good ones play the game to win, and we feel like we've created an opportunity to realize that we've done it two years ago. We feel like we have the core roster in place to be able to compete again, and it's our job to finish off this roster and complete it.
“We want players who are interested in winning championships as well. It's a partnership. That's the underlying theme of everything, every message we have, independent of who the player is. We feel like we have that opportunity to compete for championships.”