THE Texas RangersThe title defense in 2024 did not go as planned.

A combination of injuries and regression resulted in a disappointing season as the Rangers missed the playoffs. With plans to cut payroll to get under the competitive $241 million tax threshold, Chris Young will need to fill some roster holes while being cost-conscious.

Nathan Eovaldi opted for free agency, as did David Roberton. All-Star closer Kirby Yates is a free agent, as are several other key pieces of the bullpen.

Evan Grant and Shawn McFarland broke down the situations for each position group and the Rangers’ options as they head into free agency.

Other than improving health, there really shouldn’t be much to do on the ground. This should be the status quo. But given the risk of wage compression, Rangers face a difficult decision regarding Nathaniel Lowe.

He is entering his third season of arbitration and will see his salary increase from $7.5 million to more than $10 million. Perhaps, given the glaring rotation and bullpen needs, most of that money could be used to more significantly improve pitching. Perhaps the Rangers could bring in Lowe to fill one of their needs, it’s basically reallocating money from the infield to the pitching staff.

That’s the Rangers’ predicament: They have a good first base option, but the resources might be needed more elsewhere.

Read the full free agency breakdown in the field here.

The outfield is the group of players at one position who might see – and might need – the most attention this offseason. Rookie Wyatt Langford has been the Rangers’ most productive outfielder this season and played at an All-Star level in September, but his position teammates carry more question marks:

• Evan Carter missed three-quarters of the season with the second serious back injury of his professional career and took only 206 at-bats in the major leagues. The 22-year-old was a leading candidate to win the American League Rookie of the Year award, but hit just .188 in 45 games before his shutdown.
• Leody Taveras failed to build on his career-best year in 2023 and was benched against left-handed pitching late in this season. His .641 on-base plus hits represented a drop of nearly one hundred points from the previous year, and with nearly 1,600 career major league at-bats, there is a significant sample size to suggest that he shouldn’t be an everyday player.

• Adolis García regressed both offensively and defensively, had the fifth-worst WAR (-0.2) of all qualified big leaguers, hit .179 from May to July, and started the offseason. with a knee injury to the nurse. Point: He’s only a year removed from an All-Star, ALCS MVP season. Counterpoint: He will be 32 on Opening Day and has shown significant signs of aging this season.

Read the full free agency breakdown in the field here.

There’s no way to summarize Jonah Heim’s 2024 season is anything but unacceptable. After starting in the All-Star Game and winning a Gold Glove in 2023, he ranked among 13 baseball players (among 169 who have had at least 450 plate appearances) with a negative WAR. And that was only good because his defense was always good. Offensively, he ranked dead last in OPS at .602.

This changed the Rangers’ perspective on Heim from a front-line starter potentially worthy of a long-term contract to a guy better utilized in a more uniform division. He has started more than 100 games behind the plate in each of the last three seasons. This made it easier for Rangers to complement him with a direct replacement. This is not the case for 2025. They will be looking for someone who can attend 70+ games alongside him and perhaps push for even more playing time. They would like someone who can have a little success against right-handed pitchers, although their intention is not to create a right-handed platoon with Heim facing only lefties.

Read the full free agency breakdown of receivers here.

The market for left-handed beginners is very heavy. The Rangers – who could see right-hander Nathan Eovaldi and left-hander Andrew Heaney leave in free agency – will, however, need starting depth alongside Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and company.

There are many advantages. There’s also plenty of warning tape. Enough at least to make pitching an offseason priority for president of baseball operations Chris Young.

“We’re going to keep throwing,” Young said. “There’s no doubt we’re going to need more pitching, both in the rotation and in the bullpen.”

Read the full breakdown of the right-handed starting free agency here.

Read the full left-handed starting free agency breakdown here.

Rangers will see three pitchers – right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (a team high of 170 2/3 innings in 2024), left-hander Andrew Heaney (160 innings, second over) and right-hander José Ureña (109 innings, third over) – enter free agency. Max Scherzer, 40 years old, will also join the open market after a season more marked by injuries in Texas.

Ureña logged nearly 60 percent of his innings in the bullpen, but Eovaldi and Heaney together pitched 40 percent of the innings in the Rangers’ rotation last season. They also did it efficiently and combined for over 280 innings the year before.

“Those are priorities for us,” said president of baseball operations Chris Young. said during Rangers’ end-of-season press conference. “We love these guys, they helped us win a World Series. We would love to bring these guys back. We will explore every possible means to achieve this, knowing that they may have very good opportunities on the free agent market.

Read the full free agency breakdown of the in-house starting pitcher here.

Let’s rebuild the Rangers bullpen. Again.

Texas struck gold signing righties Kirby Yates And David Robertson to what became team-friendly deals last offseason. The duo helped make the Texas bullpen, at the very least, serviceable after nearly keeping the Rangers out of the playoffs in 2023.

Both are free agents this winterand the same goes for right-hander José Leclerc, right-hander José Ureña and left-hander Andrew Chafin. That’s almost the equivalent of an entire pen of weapons at the gate. In the case of Yates, Robertson, Leclerc and Ureña, these are the four pitchers who have thrown the most innings of relief for Texas this season.

“The bullpen is an area we need to address,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said. said during his end-of-year press conference.

Read the full relief pitcher free agency breakdown here.

Free Agency Preview Content

— Texas Rangers free agency: Here’s what the team will look for in a second catcher

— Texas Rangers free agency: Team has tough decision to make with Nathaniel Lowe

— Texas Rangers free agency: Outfield puzzle could need team’s most attention this offseason

— Texas Rangers free agency: Which left-handed starting pitchers could they pursue?

— Texas Rangers free agency: Which right-handed starters could they pursue?

— Texas Rangers free agency: How will the team handle its own free agent starting pitchers?

— Texas Rangers free agency: Which relief pitchers could strengthen their bullpen?

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.