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.

HOUSTON -- General manager Chris Young didn’t mince words when asked last month what the Rangers' point of emphasis would be going into this offseason.

Both Young and majority owner Ray Davis said following the firings of manager Chris Woodward and president of baseball operations Jon Daniels that the Rangers are planning to contend in 2023. How do they plan to get there?

“We need to shore up our starting pitching,” Young said bluntly. “We're going to look for ways to improve our starting pitching, both internally and externally. ... We need to pitch better.”

Improving the pitching staff will obviously take some combination of internal development and external trades and signings, but the most important addition will arguably come from within the Rangers’ current rotation.

Martín Pérez has been the rock of the Rangers’ rotation and the entire pitching staff this season, earning his first All-Star bid in his 11-year big league career while carrying a 2.82 ERA (139 ERA+) into the final stretch of the season. And after he tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Astros on Monday, Pérez reiterated his desire to stay in Texas and help the club return to contention.

“It’s not a secret,” Pérez said. “I’ve been telling you guys that I want to stay here, so hopefully I stay here and we’re gonna win here.”

It wasn’t lost on anyone that Pérez said “we” multiple times when talking about the Rangers going into next year. He noted that discussions on an extension haven’t progressed further since the Trade Deadline, but the front office knows his wishes.

As Texas limps through the final month of the regular season more than 10 games below .500, Pérez believe this club is close to where they need to be, with or without him.

“I say ‘We’ because I’m still here [right now],” Pérez said. “But if I’m not here next year, I know and I believe 100% that this is going to be a better team. I know Chris [Young] has been saying we’re going to have a contending team for the next years. I think it’s time to do it. It’s time to win. We've got to find a way to find their players and get the good guys to create a group that can go out there and win.”

If the Rangers don’t re-sign Pérez, the offseason’s pitching search would look even more daunting than it already does.

Jon Gray -- who signed with Texas on a four-year deal last offseason -- is the only established starter of the bunch, though he’s struggled with injuries throughout his debut season in Texas. Elsewhere, Dane Dunning (90 ERA+) now has two years of big league time under his belt and hopefully one of the trio of Glenn Otto (82 ERA+), Spencer Howard (53 ERA+) and Cole Ragans can take a step forward in 2023.

Pérez is not the end all, be all for the Rangers’ success next season. They’ll still need more pitching, but regardless, it’s clear that re-signing Pérez should be a point of emphasis for the Rangers front office sooner rather than later.