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How the Texas Rangers' repeat bid is being tested before it begins
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Walk into Texas Rangers camp, and their franchise's greatest accomplishment is not immediately visible. The welcome sign to their spring training home does not shout their status as reigning world champions. Inside the grounds, a smattering of signage and photos commemorate their club's latest success. A World Series champion emblem with the catchphrase "Went And Took It" appears on the outdoor batting cage, which players pass by on their way into the facility and toward the practice fields.
This is the line the Rangers want to toe coming off their first season as champions, appreciating the significance of what just took place without basking in the recent past.
Manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Chris Young both stress that the chance to repeat should be viewed more as an honor than a burden. But both also understand the target that appears when you're the last team standing. Young won a World Series as a player in 2015 with the Royals, then watched that same team finish third in the division a season later. Bochy managed the Giants to three championship titles, but never consecutively.
"You never arrive in this game," Bochy said. "It's great that we won, and you've got to savor that. You don't ever let go of those memories. We just don't want to lean on them. It's a new year. It's a new season."
As the reigning champs reconvened as a full squad for the first time this week, Bochy talked to the group about the fundamentals that got them across the finish line last year. The Rangers were one of the league's better defensive teams. They were also resilient, losing the division on the final day of the regular season and weathering a procession of injuries to win the World Series.
If they want to win it again — "I'm not afraid to say what our standard and goals are," Young said — they know they'll need to do the same. Most of their top arms, after all, won't be available until the summer.
Max Scherzer underwent surgery for a herniated disk in his back in December, and though he said he feels great and is no longer in pain, he is not expected back until June.
Jacob deGrom has started playing catch again after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June, but he is not expected back until August.
Tyler Mahle, one of the most notable offseason signings in a quiet winter for the reigning champs as they attempt to iron out long-term plans for their television deal, started throwing about a month before deGrom and is likely looking at a July return.
And then there's the reigning World Series MVP.
Rangers sound off on what kind of player Corey Seager is
Corey Seager, like his manager and general manager, understands the challenges of a repeat. After winning World Series MVP honors in 2020 with the Dodgers, their 106-win season in 2021 ended in an NLCS defeat. Games in April, Seager said, are especially difficult coming off the adrenaline of a postseason.
Whether Seager is available at the start of that month remains to be seen. Though it was hardly evident from his 21 hits and six homers last postseason, he was battling discomfort every time he moved around.
"I mean, you're not going to stop playing," Seager said. "Wrong time to."
He thought time would heal the issue. It did not. The starting shortstop underwent sports hernia surgery on Jan. 30. He has started cardio, including incline walking and riding bikes, but he does not yet know if he will be available for Opening Day. He knows if he asks for a target date for return, he'll only get more antsy — and aggravated if that date doesn't come to pass.
Seager provided the lasting images of the 2023 season not just because he hoisted the MVP trophy, but because, on a whim and goaded by teammates, the typically muted, mellow superstar provided the mic drop moment of the Rangers' championship parade.
"I just got one thing to say," Seager said as he took the stage, "everybody was wondering what would happen if the Rangers didn't win the World Series. I guess we'll never know."
The comment poked fun at Alex Bregman's postgame speech after the Houston Astros took the division title from the Rangers on the final day of the regular season. Seager said Bregman's comments motivated them as they got their revenge in the ALCS, battling back from a 3-2 deficit to stun the reigning world champions.
Though Seager does not plan to be entering a new trash-talking phase of his career — "I think that'll be a one-and-done for me" — the blossoming AL West rivalry should still be alive and well in 2024.
But while the Astros went out and gave closer Josh Hader five years and $95 million this winter — a fit that would have made a ton of sense for a Rangers team that blew more saves than it converted last season — Texas shopped more in the bargain bin to try to patch up its volatile bullpen, inking David Robertson and Kirby Yates to one-year deals. The Rangers currently sport a $220 million payroll that would place them eighth in the sport, with their projected $243 million luxury tax figure placing them just above the first tax threshold, but they've only spent around $40 million on free agents to supplement the roster this winter.
As they await the impending summer returns of three of their top arms, they'll be relying on their depth and prospects to carry them forward.
Their rotation to start the year will feature Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and potentially Cody Bradford, with Owen White among the prospects trying to push for a spot. Notably missing from that group is standout Jordan Montgomery, who was vital to their postseason run and remains lingering in free agency.
"I don't think there are many additions coming at this point," Young said. "I've said before, we'll keep an open mind. Certainly, I know there's a number of free agents still out there. But at this point, the group we have in the clubhouse is primarily the group."
They might need their depth to shine in the field, too.
While the Rangers will be returning the most important characters from one of the top offenses in the sport, and could soon get even more powerful as they await the debut of top prospect Wyatt Langford to team with breakout rookie Evan Carter, the left side of the infield is already banged up. Seager's status is in question to start the year, and third baseman Josh Jung has already suffered a calf strain that is expected to keep him out for three weeks (though he is expected to be ready for the start of the year). Ezequiel Durán, Josh Smith and perhaps Justin Foscue, another exciting Rangers prospect known more for his bat, could help in the interim.
When whole, it's not hard to envision the Rangers' path. With one of the most formidable lineups in the sport, they know if they can find a way into the dance, whether as division winners or again as a wild-card team, anything is possible.
It's just a matter of staying afloat and in contention until reinforcements arrive.
"My sense is they're not satisfied," Young said. "While I think they deserve to be celebrated for what they accomplished last year, I think this group has expectations and ambitions beyond reaching the top one time."
Rowan Kavner covers MLB for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers' editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
