ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have won the World Series but the gears of roster construction never stop churning.
Open season begins Monday for free agents. Free agency technically started the day after the Rangers grabbed the first championship in team history, but during that time, the available players were only allowed to speak with their original teams in an attempt to negotiate a contract.
Now, all teams will have access to attempt to sign the league’s free agent players. For the Rangers, that means a small handful of key players will be open to join any other team. A simple question therefore must be asked of whether or not Texas should try to re-sign any of their free agents from their champion roster.
Pitchers
Jordan Montgomery
(Acquired from St. Louis on July 30)
- Regular season: 32 starts, 188.2 innings, 10-11, 3.20 ERA, 1.193 WHIP, 0.9 HR/9, 7.9 K/9, 2.3 K/BB
- Playoffs: 5 starts, 31.0 innings, 3-1, 2.90 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 0.87 HR/9, 4.9 K/9, 3.4 K/BB
Montgomery was Texas’ most consistent and steady pitcher down the stretch and into the playoffs. The lefty, who will be going into his age-31 season, opened lots of eyes around the baseball world with his performance and will undoubtedly draw several suitors.
But the Rangers, who will go into the season with a probable rotation of Max Scherzer, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning and Andrew Heaney, certainly liked what they saw from Montgomery, and should be one of the teams in on the lefty.
Should They? Yes
Martin Perez
- Regular season: 35 games, 20 starts, 141.2 innings, 10-4, 4.45 ERA, 1.405 WHIP, 1.3 HR/9, 5.9 K/9, 1.90 K/BB
- Playoffs: 3 games, 4.2 innings, 0-0, 9.64 ERA, 2.57 WHIP, 0 HR/9, 3.86 K/9, 0.67 K/BB
Martin Perez, who accepted a Qualifying Offer at $19.65 million from the Rangers at the end of last season, cannot be offered another one for this winter. Coming off an All-Star 2022 season, the offer made sense and Perez banked on having another outstanding year. The results, however, were vastly different and the lefty came back down to earth.
Perez was unable to stay out of big innings and couldn’t put hitters away, which lengthened his innings and shortened his starts. He eventually was moved to the bullpen with Rangers adding Montgomery and Scherzer to the rotation at the trade deadline, where he performed far better.
In 15 relief appearances as a reliever, Perez put up a 2.70 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and a 3.00 K/BB rate. Opponents hit .222 off him as a reliever, as opposed to .288 as a starter. If Texas wanted to bring him back at a much lower rate as a lefty relief option, that would be fine, but otherwise, Perez, going into his age-33 season, should have a small handful of potential teams willing to take a flier on him.
Should They? No
Aroldis Chapman
(Acquired from Kansas City on June 30)
- Regular Season: 61 games, 58.1 innings, 6-5, 3.09 ERA, 1.251 WHIP, 0.6 HR/9, 15.9 K/9, 2.86 K/BB
- Playoffs: 9 games, 8 innings, 0-0, 2.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 1.13 HR/9, 6.75 K/9, 1.20 K/BB
It was always a nail-biter with Chapman. The flame-throwing lefty saw a slight decrease in strikeouts and a big increase in home runs allowed after joining Texas. He battled walk problems that carried over from his last two seasons with New York.
In short, Chapman lost command and became more hittable. On the surface, Chapman’s postseason experience and stats are going to continue to shine, and 100+ MPH fastballs will always play, but the rollercoaster of the Aroldis Chapman Experience should be enough to send the Rangers looking somewhere besides the soon-to-be 36-year old for high-strikeout relief pitching.
Should They? No
Will Smith
- Regular season: 60 games, 57.1 innings, 2-7, 4.40 ERA, 1.064 WHIP, 0.8 HR/9, 8.6 K/9, 3.24 K/BB
- Playoffs: 5 games, 3.1 innings, 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 2.70 HR/9, 10.80 K/9, 1.33 K/BB
Will Smith, another lefty out of the Rangers’ pen, started out the season strong as the team’s closer. When Chapman came aboard, both acted as co-closers, but Smith’s performance started to decline rapidly. By the time September rolled around, opponents were hitting .300 against him and his role had decreased dramatically.
Going into his age-35 season, there may be a few teams in need of some veteran presence, but Texas should move on from Smith despite the fact that he’s something of a World Series good luck charm having set a record for winning the last three World Series with three different teams.
Should They? No
Chris Stratton
(Acquired from St. Louis on July 30)
- Regular season: 64 games, 82.2 innings, 3.92 ERA, 1.137 WHIP, 0.9 HR/9, 8.8 K/9, 3.24 K/BB
- Playoffs: 4 games, 4 innings, 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2.25 HR/9, 6.75 K/9, 1.50 K/BB
In his first month after coming over from the Cardinals, Stratton was a lockdown middle reliever that manager Bruce Bochy relied on heavily. With a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings and opponents hitting just .148 against him, Stratton looked like one of the more underrated pickups of the trade deadline from general manager Chris Young.
In September, however, like most of the other relievers for Texas, Stratton battled control issues and became much more hittable. Opponents hit .341 against the righty in September, at a time when Texas needed anybody else to step up in the back end of the bullpen. Still, the veteran showed that he could be worth having as another innings-eating relief option who is valuable as long as he’s not overused.
Should They? Yes
Position Players
Mitch Garver, C/DH
- Regular season: 87 games, .270/.370/.500, 19 HR, 50 RBI, 82 K, 44 BB
- Playoffs: 14 games, .226/.317/.434, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 12 K, 6 BB
Garver, who was part of the Isiah Kiner-Falefa trade just before the start of 2022, was brought on to be part of the catching tandem with Jonah Heim. An injury prematurely ended his first season with Texas and, as 2023 wore on, Heim’s performance on both sides of the ball started to relegate Garver to fewer and fewer appearances behind the dish.
When Heim went on the IL in late July, however, Garver stepped up in a big way, representative of many Rangers who would take the ‘next man up’ motto to heart when other key players got injured in that time frame.
As designated hitter, the former Silver Slugger was one of the Rangers’ biggest offensive threats, especially in August as Heim worked his way back. Garver’s postseason would be highlighted by a Grand Slam in the ALDS, which would then earn him DH starts the rest of the playoffs.
Without a true backup to Heim ready in the minor league levels, Texas would be wise to try and secure Garver’s services for at least the next year or two. Depending on the Shohei Ohtani situation, Garver could slot in as the DH for the team when not resting Heim.
Should They? Yes
Robbie Grossman, OF
- Regular season: 115 games, .238/.340/.394, 10 HR, 49 RBI, 98 K, 57 BB
- Playoffs: 7 games, .105/.150/.158, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 10 K, 1 BB
Robbie Grossman, the switch-hitter, started the season as Texas’ primary left fielder. That was based largely on a spring in which he hit .391/.500/.587 and had shown improvements hitting as a left-handed batter. While there were certainly individual points where Grossman came up big for the Rangers, overall, his presence wasn’t feared, and worse, on a defensively sound ballclub, his glove was a pure liability in the field.
With the advent of Evan Carter and Leody Taveras, along with the future of Wyatt Langford, Grossman doesn’t really have a spot on the 2024 ballclub.
Should They? No
Travis Jankowski, OF
- Regular season: 107 games, .263/.357/.332, 1 HR, 30 RBI, 42 K, 35 BB
- Playoffs: 7 games, .333/.400/.444, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 K, 1 BB
Jankowski, who wasn’t even supposed to be on the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, but was added when Leody Taveras started the year on the IL, was the Rangers’ consummate bench player. Even at 32, Jankowski proved to be a great speedster with value in the late innings on the basepaths, and had several clutch hits at various points when he was called on early in the season.
Over 131 at-bats in the first half, Jankowski slashed .321/.415/.420 for the team, and in the postseason, while he was no Adolis Garcia, still provided a seamless transition into a different kind of production in the last two games of the World Series when Garcia was removed due to injury. As far as 4th outfielders go, Jankowski would be welcomed back gladly.
Should They? Yes
Austin Hedges, C
(Acquired from Pittsburgh on August 1)
- Regular season: 16 games, .208/.208/.208, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 8 K, 0 BB
- Playoffs: 1 game, .000, 1 K
Austin Hedges was a great mascot and motivational player on the bench. He’s earned his spot in franchise lore. Renowned more for his game-calling and maestro-level defense behind the dish than his bat, Hedges came over as a late acquisition ahead of the trade deadline with the team concerned about Heim’s injury status.
As fun as it was to see the 31-year-old get fired up on the bench during big moments, Texas would probably be better served trying to develop Sam Huff as their 3rd catcher. Then again, he is a low-cost defensive asset. If Texas does decide to pursue a reunion with Hedges, it wouldn’t be unwelcome but it shouldn’t be a priority.
Should They? No
There are plenty of other free agent options that Texas is going to have its hands in – and that could include the pursuit of Shohei Ohtani. The market could try to start without Ohtani’s decision, to try to secure a solid roster while other big wallet teams battle it out for the once-in-a-lifetime phenom.
For the Rangers, Ohtani has Texas as one of his preferred landing spots. A lot of the above options are likely going to have to wait until the strategy surrounding the expected MVP pans out.
Which Texas Rangers free agents do you hope to see return for 2024? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.