Baseball executives and player representatives are meeting in San Diego this week for the annual Winter Meetings. There are usually either a lot of deals done this week or at least conversations are started.
This is the the biggest off-season event for baseball executives and free agent signings. The Texas Rangers have representatives there.
After the signing of Jacob DeGrom, the Rangers are proving that they are trying to contend soon. They have more work to do on the pitching and position player side.
What will They Do?
Will they sign Carlos Rodon? Only time will tell. They have been rumored to almost every free agent pitcher out there right now.
I have my doubts about Rodon, but I could see them adding another pitcher via trade. Remember, they have stacked minor league system.
Chris Young is showing Texas Rangers fans that he is not afraid to spend money and get players he believes will help the organization. The training wheels are off as he is now the man in charge.
He is building a team of executives around him that he trusts, and that is important. They believe they will compete in 2023, and they have work to do to get there.
The backlog of talent in the minors is something that is a luxury when it comes to trading for talent. While fans would like to keep everyone, that is just not possible or even practical.
Will They look for Potential Trades?
Look for names like Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Luis Angel Acuna, Blain Crim, Justin Foscue and other names to be bantered around at the meetings as possible trade pieces.
For the right piece, the Rangers would be willing to trade almost any of their prospects. There are a few untouchables, but most are on the table.
For those who do not normally follow the Winter Meetings, you should know that the Rangers will be mentioned a good bit this coming week.
They are in on everyone, and MLB now knows it. They will reach out on almost every free agent and trade target out there.
Fans know the team has their work cut out for them. The Mariners are improving.
The Astros are still good, in fact they are the defending World Champions. The Angels keep adding talent and they have the two best players in baseball in Shohei Othani and Mike Trout.
Setting the Tone
This winter meetings will be telling for the remainder of the Rangers off-season. Fans are cautiously optomistic at the moment about this team.
They can keep that optimism up if they have a good winter meetings. If they fail to do anything, it could deflate the fan base.
