Offseason In Review: Texas Rangers

After a disappointing follow-up season to their first-ever World Series championship, the Rangers were the busiest team in the AL West over the offseason. Did they do enough to put themselves in the driver’s seat of the division?

Major League Signings

• Nathan Eovaldi, SP: Three years, $75MM 
• Joc Pederson, DH: Two years, $37MM (Pederson can opt out after 2025. Rangers can override his opt-out by exercising their end of an $18.5MM mutual option for 2027.)
• Kyle Higashioka, C: Two years, $13.5MM (includes $1MM buyout on $7MM mutual option for 2027)
• Chris Martin, RP: One year, $5.5MM
• Hoby Milner, RP: One year, $2.5MM
• Luke Jackson, RP: One year, $1.5MM
• Jacob Webb, RP: One year, $1.25MM (Rangers can retain Webb in 2026 through arbitration)
• Shawn Armstrong, RP: One year, $1.125M
• Patrick Corbin, SP: One-year, $1.1MM
• Kevin Pillar, OF: One-year, $1MM (Rangers selected Pillar’s minors contract ahead of Opening Day)
• Luis Curvelo, RP: Major league deal (Curvelo will earn a prorated portion of the league minimum $760K while in the majors and $90K while in the minors, per the AP.)

2025 spending: $56.225MM (not including Curvelo)
Total spending: $139.475MM (not including Curvelo)

Option Decisions

• Nathan Eovaldi, SP: Declined $20MM player option for 2025 (later re-signed)
• David Robertson, RP: Declined $7MM mutual option for 2025 in favor of $1.5MM buyout
• Andrew Chafin, RP: Rangers declined $6.5MM club option, paid Chafin $500K buyout

Trades & Claims

• Acquired 1B/3B Jake Burger from Marlins for minor league INF Max Acosta, minor league INF Echedry Vargas, and minor league SP Brayan Mendoza
• Traded 1B Nathaniel Lowe to Nationals for RP Robert Garcia
• Traded RP Grant Anderson to Brewers for minor league SP Mason Molina
• Traded RP Owen White to Reds for cash considerations
• Traded RP Matt Festa to Cubs for cash considerations (Festa was later DFA’d by Cubs and re-signed with Rangers on a minor league deal)

Notable Minor League Signings

• Joe Barlow, Tucker Barnhart, Caleb Boushley, David Buchanan, JT Chargois, Sam Haggerty, Codi Heuer, Adrian Houser, Patrick Murphy, Michael Plassmeyer, Hunter Strickland, Alan Trejo, Chad Wallach, Festa, Pillar

Notable Losses

• Nathaniel Lowe, Max Scherzer, Kirby Yates, David Robertson (still unsigned), Andrew Heaney, José Leclerc, Carson Kelly, José Ureña, Travis Jankowski, Matt Duffy, Sandro Fabian (released to sign in NPB), Sam Huff, Carson Coleman (Rule 5 draft pick returned to Yankees), Anderson, White, Acosta, Vargas, Mendoza

While the Rangers significantly increased payroll during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 offseasons, they weren’t nearly as active the winter after their World Series victory, despite the extra cash their success surely brought in. The reason? Declining television revenue and an unknown future for their TV broadcasts. Texas was one of many teams affected when the company then known as Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The Rangers negotiated a new agreement with DSG for 2024, but it was only a one-year deal, and it paid them significantly less than they had received under their previous contract.

The Rangers did not re-up with DSG (now called Main Street Sports Group) for 2025, nor did they follow the path of teams like the Guardians and Twins, who will have their TV broadcasts distributed by MLB this season. Instead, the Rangers announced the brand new Rangers Sports Network in late January. RSN will partner with several TV providers to distribute games. Presumably, the team decided this would be a more lucrative option than signing away their exclusive TV rights to another broadcast company or MLB. Still, the whole ordeal meant the Rangers were facing quite a bit of financial uncertainty for the second consecutive winter. For the first time in four years, they did not increase their payroll. Indeed, the team made it a goal to drop below the luxury tax threshold in 2025. According to the estimates from RosterResource, those efforts were successful. The Rangers’ payroll sits about $4MM lower than where it was at the end of last season, while their CBT payroll is $14.5MM lower – and $4.7MM below the first tax threshold.