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 hard to repeat in this game.

No club has done it since the Yankees won three straight at the turn of the century. Even likely future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy -- who now has four titles to his name after leading the Rangers last season -- has never gone back-to-back.

Texas’ quest to become the first club to repeat since the 1998-2000 Yankees begins on Thursday. Though the Rangers’ rotation is relatively thin, the bullpen is revamped and the offense is as powerful as ever. Texas has as good a shot as anybody at competing this season.

Here’s a look at the Rangers’ 2024 season:

What needs to go right? Rotation needs to make it to the Trade Deadline

The Rangers have a trio of veteran pitchers expected to make their return this summer: Max Scherzer in June, Tyler Mahle in July and Jacob deGrom in August. But the rotation -- now headed by Nathan Eovaldi, with Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen and Cody Bradford falling behind him -- has to make it until then for those veterans’ returns to matter. The rotation has a relative lack of depth at the moment, with few big league-ready options in Triple-A Round Rock, so the first half of the season hinges on the health and stability of those six starters.

Even if those six make it to August, there’s no guarantee that the three veterans will come back at peak form immediately. A lot of things need to go right in the first half of the season to build up a buffer on the back end.

Great unknown: Can the bullpen reclaim the postseason magic?

It’s no secret that the Rangers’ bullpen was the weakest link for much of the regular season last year. But guys like José Leclerc and Josh Sborz buckled down in the postseason, becoming two of the biggest strengths during Texas’ World Series run. In order to stay on top, those two, plus the new additions of David Robertson and Kirby Yates, will have to produce much more stability than the ‘pen offered in 2023.

The relief corps doesn’t necessarily need to be full of guys with 0.00 ERAs throughout the entire season, but anything would be better than the 47.6% save percentage the Rangers’ bullpen had last year.

Team MVP will be ... Corey Seager

It’s a shock to no one that, when healthy, Seager is one of the best players in baseball. So even on a team loaded with All-Stars and Rookie of the Year favorites, the $325 million man reigns above the rest.

Seager was shut down for most of Spring Training after offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia, but he wasted no time getting two hits in his Cactus League debut on Saturday before the club returned to Arlington.

Team Cy Young will be ... Nathan Eovaldi

The Rangers’ Opening Day starter, Eovaldi has been the de facto ace of the staff since deGrom landed on the IL after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June.

Last season, Eovaldi earned his second career All-Star bid, posting a 3.63 ERA in 25 starts (144 innings). He became a Rangers postseason legend after going 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in his six postseason outings en route to his second career World Series title.

As always, this billing will come down to health, but it’s no doubt that Eovaldi has the tools to be the central figure of this pitching staff this season.

Bold prediction: Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford finish 1-2 in AL MVP voting

Seager isn’t the bold part. After all, the shortstop finished second in AL MVP voting last season, and the top vote-getter in Shohei Ohtani has taken his talents to the National League by joining the Dodgers. It also isn’t all that bold to predict Langford and fellow Rangers outfielder Evan Carter to finish 1-2 in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

But it is definitely bold to predict a 22-year-old with just 44 professional games to his name to finish above the plethora of talent in the American League. Langford has certainly looked like a player that will soar atop the minds of baseball fans in his debut season. He’s hit at every level of baseball he’s played and looks like a middle-of-the-order bat for years to come. This prediction hinges on how much outfield Langford plays during his rookie season, but that’s why it’s bold.