ARLINGTON, Texas — At 4 p.m. on the following day after the final pitch of the World Series, all Major League teams can begin negotiations with players who are about to enter the free agent market. Last offseason, the champion Texas Rangers had five pitchers and four position players to make decisions on.
In the end, they only brought back one of their own free agents during the winter – outfielder Travis Jankowski. They would eventually trade for Robbie Grossman early in the season, but the move to reacquire Grossman was made because they determined an inability to hit left-handed pitching early in the year.
This offseason, Texas has a lot of pitching decisions to make. With the lineup again set to be mostly intact going into 2025, the Rangers will need to supplement their limited internal pitching talent with some free-agent signings. Whether that’s for slotted rotation and bullpen spots or depth, Texas should probably aim to keep at least 1-2 arms from the 2024 roster.
Let’s take a look at who general manager Chris Young and company will be negotiating with in the week following the conclusion of the World Series.
Position players
Travis Jankowski, OF
104 games, .200/.266/.242, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 44 K, 12 BB
Jankowski earned a reputation following the magical 2023 season as an invaluable option off the bench who had an unusually productive bat. However, just like the rest of the offense on the Rangers, Jankowski’s 2024 season brought him back down to Earth.
Still a defensive asset and a threat on the basepaths, Jankowski also provides something the Rangers, as 2024 indicated, are apparently going to need – outfield insurance.
With rookie outfielders Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford having spent time on the injured list, a veteran like Jankowski would be good to keep around. He shouldn’t be a top priority, but if the Rangers can either get a quick deal done and out of the way or if the 33-year-old is still available after all the dominoes fall, then Texas should aim to bring him back.
Should they? Yes.
Carson Kelly, C
91 games (60 with Detroit, 31 with Texas), .238/.313/.374, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 55 K, 25 BB
Kelly was something of a surprise addition to the mid-season roster. With Jonah Heim’s extreme struggles and drop-off this season, the Rangers turned to Kelly as an offensive backup to the 2023 American League Gold Glove catcher.
The original backup catcher going into the season, Andrew Knizner, was also signed on as an offensive backup, but his 2022 standout year proved to be an exception, as, over 35 games, Knizner slashed just .167/.183/.211.
Kelly would end up splitting catching duties evenly with Heim instead of just being a backup following his acquisition at the trade deadline. Kelly is one of the youngest of the free agent catchers this offseason, along with Danny Jansen.
The Rangers have Sam Huff in their system, who is also more known for his bat and they may opt to give him a full shot. A backup catcher is important, but the Rangers could allocate their resources elsewhere.
Should they? No.
Pitchers
Andrew Heaney
32 Games, 31 Starts, 160.0 innings, 5-14, 4.28 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 1.3 HR/9, 8.9 K/9, 3.88 K/BB
Don’t let the record fool you – Heaney, on top of being the only member of the Opening Day rotation to not hit the IL all year, was a much better starter than you’d think by looking at his stat line.
Heaney, the lefty in his second year with the Rangers, received some of the lowest run support across all of baseball. In the last half of 2023, manager Bruce Bochy put a strict pitch limit on Heaney, around 80 pitches per outing, which would usually limit the lefty to five innings or fewer but enhance his effectiveness.
This year, while that pitch limit was more loosely enforced, Heaney was able to be more economical under the restraints, to become a more efficient strike thrower and last longer than five innings in many of his outings.
In his two years in Texas, he never got close to the dominance that the Rangers saw from him in his season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022, but with the health and lack of depth in the rotation, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to see Heaney return in a Rangers uniform.
Should they? Yes.
Max Scherzer
9 games, 9 starts, 43.1 innings, 2-4, 3.95 ERA, 1.154 WHIP, 1.5 HR/9, 8.3 K/9, 4 K/BB
To say that 2024 didn’t go according to plan for Scherzer and the Rangers would be an understatement. After coming over from the Mets in 2023, following statements made by their ownership group that they would not be going all out in free agency ahead of the 2024 season, Scherzer made it known right after being traded that he would be here for the Rangers in 2024 as well.
Scherzer, though, wasn’t counting on his body betraying him, having had surgery in the offseason for a herniated disc, and starting the season late, the 3x Cy Young winner was up and down before finishing the season on the injured list with shoulder fatigue.
As impressive as the name value would be for the Rangers to try and retain Scherzer, the future Hall-of-Famer may be looking for more than Texas would be willing to pay for an unknown asset. Ultimately, Scherzer pitched in just 20 games for Texas in a season and a half, though three of them provided critical innings in last year’s playoffs.
Should they? No.
Jose Leclerc
64 games, 66.2 innings, 6-5, 4.32 ERA, 1.320 WHIP, 12.0 K/9, 2.78 K/BB
Leclerc was an integral part of the 2023 pitching staff, before saving all but one of the Rangers’ postseason victories. But with the championship run piling innings on his arm, the righty couldn’t find the same command and control on a consistent basis in 2024.
He was not a terrible reliever this year for Texas by any stretch, but the Rangers’ longest-tenured player wasn’t as lights out as we saw last October. Ultimately Leclerc gave up 19 more hits in just nine more innings.
Still, the Rangers know what they have with Leclerc and know what it takes for him to be successful. As the Rangers showed, they work well with defined roles in the bullpen, and bringing Leclerc back could help stabilize a bullpen that could be losing several key parts.
Should they? Yes.
Kirby Yates
61 games, 61.2 innings, 7-2, 33 saves, 1.17 ERA, 0.827 WHIP, 12.4 K/9, 3.04 K/BB
Yates was as close to automatic as you could get in the 2024 season. Coming off a similarly successful season with the Atlanta Braves, Kirby slotted very quickly into the closer role for Texas after Leclerc struggled with the role early in the year.
He didn’t record a blown save until late August against the Minnesota Twins, his only such occurrence of the season. A season after Texas struggled to find any success in the bullpen during the regular season, Yates pitched for the Rangers at the All-Star game in Arlington, recording a scoreless inning.
It would have been fun to see Yates in the postseason in a Rangers uniform, but after only landing a one-year deal, his performance this year might have priced him well out of the range of Texas.
Even going into his age-38 season, there’s something to be said for the total reliability Bochy had in him this past season. That’s not to say that the Rangers shouldn’t pursue keeping Yates – an anchor in the bullpen would be quite welcome – but there may be a dollar figure that Texas chooses to allocate elsewhere.
Should they? Yes.
Jose Urena
33 games, 9 starts, 1 save, 109.0 innings, 5-8, 3.80 ERA, 1.321 WHIP, 5.8 K/9, 1.79 K/BB
Signed to a non-roster deal ahead of spring training after spending an injury-riddled 2023 with both the Rockies and White Sox, Texas took a chance on the 32-year-old to have a rebound season as a potential long reliever in the bullpen.
Ultimately Urena’s history as a starter helped him show off his versatility, not just to the Rangers, but to other interested teams. Urena was all over the place, beginning the year in the bullpen, before joining the rotation after several key injuries to the starters, and then being asked to switch back and forth from long relief to starting pitcher.
All the while, Urena performed admirably in any role asked of him, especially early in the season. Having not been stretched out at all, Urena was able to put up quality starts in each of his first four starts.
Urena’s flexibility is what makes him valuable. He won’t be a marquee name to land, but if Texas can bring him back to help fill out their depth and provide insurance throughout the staff, that would be a sound move.
Should they? Yes.
The bottom line is that when it comes to pitching, nearly all options should be in play. As was shown this season, there can never be enough starting pitching depth. In addition, the Texas bullpen has been a very sore, very rough spot for two years running and they are likely in for another shake-up.
Internal options may be fine as depth pieces, but the Rangers will need to explore free agency and trades to finally fortify their relief corps. With the front office making it known that the bullpen will be a major focus, Texas can’t really afford to be out on any pitcher.
Which impending free agents do you think the Rangers should retain for the 2025 season? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
