ARLINGTON, Texas — Coming off a World Series championship in 2023, it is easy to view the 2024 season as an “all or nothing, total failure” season. While there were certainly disappointing aspects to the season for the Texas Rangers, there were bright spots and positives to take away from individual performances.
Third place in the AL West without a Wild Card finish isn’t exactly a thing to laud and celebrate, but the season was still filled with some standout individuals and their contributions to the team. Some of these players will be back, and some might not, but these players’ accomplishments over the 2024 season have their place in Rangers’ history.
2024 Rangers MVP – Corey Seager
Seager didn’t have a year quite like the one he produced in 2023 when he finished second in the American League MVP race after claiming the franchise’s only World Series MVP – but that is true of the entire team.
That said, what the shortstop did do was be the best player on the field when he was healthy enough to be on it. And despite a slow start, no doubt caused by the recovery from offseason sports hernia surgery that cost him all of spring training, Seager came alive in the last half of the season, trying to drag the Rangers to the postseason.
Even Seager’s “slow start” would be a fantastic season for most players by most standards, as he slashed .270/.355/.479 over the 83 games of the first half as he earned a third All-Star game nod in three years with Texas.
Seager came out of the break strong, slashing .311/.398/.522 and then turned on the power in August, increasing his slugging by 130 points and mashing 11 homers, driving in 24. While a second sports hernia ended the shortstop’s season early after Texas was all but eliminated, Seager undoubtedly left his imprint on the club, showing himself to be a leader on and off the field.
Surgery on the hernia went without complication, and with a full offseason ahead and full availability for spring training expected, the Rangers can look forward to Seager’s MVP-caliber contributions again in 2025.
2024 Rangers Cy Young – Kirby Yates
Just to demonstrate how upside-down things went for Texas in 2024, Jose Urena was the pitcher who earned this nod through the first half as a contributor who stepped up multiple times when asked and filled several different roles for the Rangers when so many pitchers went on the injured list.
Overall though, this award goes to the pitcher whose performance was nearly perfect. Kirby Yates, signed a one-year deal in the offseason to help anchor a bullpen that struggled mightily for Texas in every month except October, and he did just that.
Yates was as near-automatic as a closer could be, converting 97% of his save opportunities. The one blemish that shows up in the “Blown Saves” column was a game against the Minnesota Twins in mid-August. Besides that, Yates would have been a fine closer on a playoff team, something the Rangers hoped that they would be.
Alas, Yates, in his age-37 season, put up an elite season as the Rangers’ closer in a year in which he was elected to the All-Star game. Yates finished with a 7-2 record and a sparkling 1.17 ERA. He also converted 33 of 34 save attempts while holding opponents to a .113 average against him.
Honorable Mention: David Robertson, Cody Bradford
2024 Rangers Gold Glove – Marcus Semien
Talking about any sort of defense in a season in which the World Champs didn’t successfully defend their title seems like an irrelevant subject, but the Rangers continued to be a solid defensive team overall this year.
Leading the way with the glove was their 2023 Iron Man, Marcus Semien. The second baseman, who voluntarily sat for three games, more than he had in the previous three seasons combined, finished the season with a .989 fielding percentage.
Defensive metrics aren’t a perfect science and hardly a great indicator of actual defensive performance, but Semien was rock solid at his position and reliable as ever, making 214 putouts and registering 389 assists, by far the most on the team. A gold glove winner in 2021, Semien should be up for the award again this winter.
Honorable Mention: Josh Smith, Corey Seager
2024 Rangers Silver Slugger – Corey Seager
Seager spent some time on the injured list again this year, including the last several weeks of the season due to another sports hernia. Regardless of that, the Rangers’ $325 million shortstop remained the team’s best hitter while he was on the field.
Seager’s slash line of .278/.353/.512 is a drop from the MVP runner-up year from a season ago, but offense was down up and down the lineup for Texas. Even with less output, Seager touched 30 homers for the third consecutive season and was one of three Rangers to drive in 74 runs, second on the team, while he also led the team with a .864 OPS.
The Rangers didn’t have much success with the bats in 2024, but Corey Seager remained a threat at the plate.
Honorable Mention: Nathaniel Lowe, Wyatt Langford
2024 Rangers Rookie of the Year – Wyatt Langford
This probably isn’t much of a surprise, as Langford and Evan Carter were the two highly-touted rookies coming into the season and Carter’s season ended prematurely with back issues.
The 2023 No. 4 overall pick Langford stood out though, especially down the stretch. From a defensive standpoint, Langford defied online scouting criticisms of his glove work and made the routine plays, and then eventually the difficult plays, while racking up eight outfield assists primarily in left field while also spelling in center field.
At the plate, Langford found his power stroke amidst his contact and keyed or completed several Rangers’ rallies while being one of three Rangers to finish second in RBIs with 74. On the basepaths, Langford swiped 19 bags and quickly became known as one of the fastest players in the league.
The rookie appeared to enjoy closing out the halves strong – in June, he finished with a .309/.368/.526 slash with three homers, but in September, with Texas eventually having nothing to play for, Langford stood out with a .300/.386/.610 slash, seeing his power go through the roof while crushing eight homers and driving in 20. Those were accomplishments that earned him American League Rookie and Player of the Month for September.
Langford handled the pressure of joining the big leagues so soon after being drafted; he also handled the pressure of having to solely carry the rookie load with Carter only playing in 45 games a season after his magical run in October.
Despite missing most of May himself with an injury, Langford finished the season third on the Rangers in WAR with 3.9, slotting in behind Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. The future is bright for both Langford and Carter, but Langford capitalized on the opportunity given him in 2024.
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