Did the Texas Rangers' Offseason Make Them a Playoff Team?

There were 11 American League teams that finished with better records than the Rangers a year ago, including three in their division.

Zooming in to the AL West, the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels all made moves this offseason with the intention of contending in 2023, which will undoubtedly make Texas’ playoff dreams tougher to reach.

It’s safe to say that the Rangers aren’t in the Astros or Mariners tier as of yet, but passing the Angels and putting themselves amongst the likes of the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins (all the AL teams to win between 78-86 games in 2022) is a reasonable expectation for the organization that hasn’t made a playoff appearance since 2016.

Finishing atop this tier of teams may be too much to ask for Texas, who, yes, did make some great adds but ultimately still will be rolling out a roster that consists of a rotation with a few injury concerns, a lineup that has six hitters projected by wRC+ to be around league average and a bullpen that outperformed its peripherals in ‘22 and still only finished 12th in ERA.

The Rangers’ win over/under total is set at 81.5 wins by Fanduel, tied with the Angles and ranked below the Rays, White Sox and Twins, so Texas will have its work cut out to climb into the six-team playoff picture.

How Does Their Offseason Spending Help?

After adding Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to help on the offensive side of the game, GM Chris Young turned his attention to a starting rotation that posted a 4.63 ERA and had the second-highest walk rate in baseball.