After winning the AL West four times from 2010 to 2016, including two losses in the World Series, the Rangers have become the doormat in their division. They finished 60-102 last season, a mere 35 games out of first place. In addition, Texas missed the postseason in each of the past five years.
The pitching staff ranked 23rd in ERA (4.79), with better success in their bullpen (4.13 ERA – 17th). Their reliever finished with 27 wins, 31 losses, and 31 saves. The Rangers had a bottom-tier offense in runs (625 – 28th), home runs (167 – 26th), and RBI (598 – 28th) while pushing to fourth in the majors in stolen bases (106).
Their big splash in free agency was the signing of SS Corey Seager for $325 million for 10 seasons. Texas also added 2B Marcus Siemen, OF Kole Calhoun, and SP Jon Gray for a combined $236 million. As expected, the Rangers didn’t lose any players of value to the free-agent pool (1B Ronald Guzman and SP Mike Foltynewicz).
