After Winter Meetings shopping, Rangers roster beginning to take shape

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers didn’t make the most noise during the Winter Meetings in Dallas, but they did a little cooking of their own during the annual Hot Stove event.

General Manager Ross Fenstermaker and President of Baseball Operations Chris Young had decreed, as the offseason was just getting started, that their goals were to bolster the starting staff pitching, remake the bullpen, and find upgrades to the offense. 

They took steps towards accomplishing their goals, coming off the heels of signing catcher Kyle Higashioka the week prior to the Winter Meetings starting. 

While the New York Mets signing Juan Soto to the largest contract in professional sports history made the headlines, the Rangers busied themselves with making solid additions.

The beefy slugger Burger will join the Rangers organization in need of more pop from the middle of the lineup. Listed as a third baseman, the right-handed power hitter provides some depth in a pinch at the hot corner, but can also platoon at first base with left-handed hitting Nathaniel Lowe. 

Burger has consistently slugged over .450 in his short three years spent between the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins, and will likely fill a hole at designated hitter for Texas for a majority of his at-bats. 

Last year, Burger had a bit of a down year, slashing .250/.301/.460, but still slugged 29 homers and drove in 76 runs. On a Rangers team that only slugged .380 as a whole, with only Corey Seager registering a slugging mark over Burger’s, Texas is counting on the 28-year old to drive more balls for extra bases and keep players moving. 

Burger is also a .275 hitter with runners in scoring position in his career, a category that Texas had troubles with last season. He also won’t be a free agent until 2029, giving him a solid base to build on with the Rangers.

After late-innings standouts Jose Leclerc, David Robertson, and Kirby Yates all reached free agency, the Rangers found (and still find) themselves in desperate need of high-leverage pitching. New signee Webb could be a part of the solution. 

Webb pitched for the Baltimore Orioles over the last two years, and should be counted on to help Texas’ rebuilt bullpen. Sporting a 3.02 ERA over 60 games with the Birds last year, the righty Webb logged one of his better seasons but was an interesting name to be non-tendered by Baltimore earlier this year. 

Baltimore’s penny pinching was Texas’ gain as Webb saved two games for the Orioles last season but recorded 14 holds. He’s also highly effective against left-handed hitters, sporting a changeup that lefties hit just .108 against last season. 

The World Series hero made something of a surprise return to Texas, marking the successful conversion of one of Young’s top priorities. With Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle entering their first full season post-Tommy John and the team losing Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney to free agency, the Rangers needed an anchor for the rotation. 

Eovaldi, who became the ace that Texas needed in 2023 after deGrom went down for Tommy John surgery, is a risk to enter the downhill part of his career at 35 years of age, but the Alvin, TX native still has the fortitude to make the Rangers believe that he’s capable of taking the ball every five days and giving the team a good chance at winning baseball games, just as he did in 2024 when he led Texas in wins and innings. 

Making $18 million in the first year of this contract, the Rangers are getting him at just below his probable market value for 2025, even if his overall package of three years, $75 million is steep. The going rate for starting pitching has been high this winter, so Young and company paid top dollar for one of their top targets. 

Last season, despite a down year for the team as a whole, Eovaldi pitched right about how he did in his first year with Texas, putting up a 3.80 ERA over 29 starts and 170 innings. His walk rate dropped and his strikeout rate increased, while he induced ground balls around 50% of the time, making him a needed fit for a Rangers rotation that had a lot of unsure innings penciled in. 

The Rangers still have work to do, especially in the bullpen. While deGrom, Eovaldi, and Mahle are all likely locks for the rotation, barring health issues, Cody Bradford also likely has a spot after successfully transitioning to the rotation last year. Jon Gray is another veteran starter who could fill out the rotation but might intrigue Texas to try him out in the bullpen after they flirted with the notion last summer.

There are several arms who will compete during Spring Training for the rotation, and some of those who don’t win jobs as starters could occupy bullpen spots. 

Arms like Dane Dunning, Kumar Rocker, and Jack Leiter will be up for those positions, but Texas will still need some certified high-leverage pitching. After the meetings ended, Texas signed Fort Worth-native, lefty Hoby Milner as another reliever to show that they’re not finished with adding to the club. 

Milner has great peripheral stats as a ground ball and strikeout pitcher with a history of producing holds in high-leverage situations during his time with the Milwaukee Brewers. Milner also was signed for just over $2 million, making for another low-risk, high-reward bullpen signing by Fenstermaker and Young. 

Overall, Young has been heeding some of the lessons that he learned from his mentor and former Rangers GM Jon Daniels by finding discarded arms and signing them to low-to-market-value contracts. 

Meanwhile, with the offensive upgrades of Higashioka and Burger and the rest of the offensive lineup still intact, Texas still has payroll flexibility to make a couple of moves before heading to Arizona for Spring Training and starting the trek back to the World Series.

Have you been happy with the moves that the Rangers have made this winter? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.