BREAKING NEWS: Rangers look to 'remedy some of the issues' from disappointing...
BREAKING NEWS: Rangers look to ‘remedy some of the issues’ from disappointing…
ARLINGTON: On Tuesday morning, Chris Young would prefer not to speak with the media. At least not like this.
The general manager of the Rangers, who won the World Series in 2023, spoke to the media on Tuesday morning at Globe Life Field to conclude the season, which was undoubtedly disappointing.
Although there were many factors that contributed to the Rangers’ eventual season, Young stressed that crucial player underperformance and injuries rank front and foremost.
In 2023, the Rangers’ offense was the best in the American League, slashing.263/.337/.452 to win the World Series. According to Young, Texas battled with injuries (Josh Jung, Evan Carter) and regression (Adolis García, Jonah Heim) this year, as the team slashed.238/.305/.380.
Corey Seager was exactly who he’s always been, despite a slow start, and finished the season leading the Rangers in bWAR (4.9), fWAR (4.5) and homers (30), while playing just 123 games. Marcus Semien also had a down year, but Josh Smith — filling in for Jung most of the season — is the only Ranger who showed real offensive improvement from 2023 to ’24.
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“As I look at our identity in 2023, we were an elite offensive unit,” Young said. “I think there’s an explanation for that regression. The biggest remedy, in my opinion, is improving the guys that we currently have. We need Adolis to bounce back. We need Jonah Heim to bounce back. We need Leody Tavares to take the next step in his development. We need a healthy Josh Jung and a healthy Evan Carter.
“If you put that together, that’s a significant upgrade. That’s a bigger upgrade right there than we can get anywhere else in the industry. Our internal focus is going to be a heavy priority for us in terms of getting the best out of those players.”
