*Photo from the Dallas Morning News*
Moving West to Texas, it's time to profile the Texas Rangers offseason
2019 recap
After a strong start to the season, the Rangers fell off a cliff, hard and fast, falling out of playoff contention in no time and sputtering to a 78-84 record in 2019.
What you need to know
The Rangers, starting 2020 in a new, air conditioned stadium, wanted some new faces and better players to attract the fans and compete for the playoffs. They started re-tooling the starting rotation by picking up a workhorse in Kyle Gibson, fresh off some good years in Minnesota. They signed a back end starter in Jordan Lyles a few days later to shore up the rotation depth. Then, they struck for a big fish, trading Delino DeShields Jr and Emmanuel Clase to the Cleveland Indians for Corey Kluber, the new ace of the team. After a quiet month, the Rangers picked up a power hitting 3rd baseman in Todd Frazier. Then they got a clear number one catcher in Robinson Chirinos on the same day. They traded for Red Sox 1B Sam Travis as well and signed another 1B in Greg Bird to a minors deal to create some competition for the starting job. Now, here we are.
Moves I like
Gibson and Lyles are good starting options with upside who can also fill out depth roles in the rotation as well. Kluber is a bit risky as he's been injury prone the last few years, but when he's healthy, he's dominating. Frazier will become the starting 3rd baseman as well as a power hitter in a hitter's park, which means lots of homers. Chirinos will be a veteran presence for all the young catchers in Texas, and he can still play efficiently too. Travis and Bird seem to be depth options who are competing for a bench spot at this point, but depth is always good.
2020 outlook
The Rangers have improved due to all the new signings, so that's good. However, I just don't believe it's enough to push them over the top in the playoff race, especially with the number of AL teams who are improved this winter. They'll reach .500 in terms of record, but they'll miss the playoffs again this year.
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