Repetition

 

The last time a team won the World Series two years in a row was 2000. The landscape was a lot different for the Yankees at that point: a smaller playoff pool, less relievers per roster, completely different free agency expectations, more modest conditioning for pitchers and more opportunity for roster carry-over. Since then, there have been dynasties, like the 2010s Giants, and there have been perennial great teams, like the Red Sox and Cardinals, but no team has won two in a row. In a year where the NFL is proclaiming a dynasty of its own, it seems like the MLB expectation is that whoever wins one year probably won't the following year.

And that is definitely on the minds of the Rangers during spring training camp this year. They did it, they won the franchise's first ever World Series title, and they did it with enough young players [Evan Carter, Josh Jung, Cody Bradford, the yet-to-arrive Wyatt Langford] that there still exists the possibility for more. Bruce Bochy is still in the manager's chair, the big pieces [Adolis Garcia, Corey Seager, Nate Eovaldi, Marcus Semien] have stuck around, there seems to be no worry for lessening returns or going back to bottom feeding. And yet...the division still isn't theirs. The Astros will perpetually be the favorites as long as the previous regime is somewhat intact, the Mariners can't be completely counted out, and the Rangers now have the pressure of not only repeating, but taking the division this time, on their shoulders.

That's why it's, at the very least, reassuring knowing going in that they'll be missing Max Scherzer, Nate Lowe and, most likely, Seager and Jung, for some time. The current infield schematic the Rangers have been going with has utilized Ezequiel Duran, who's hot enough to be a trusted starter, Jared Walsh, whose power bat seems to be returning, and Matt Duffy, who's been durable enough in several spring reps. It's not an A+ infield, even with Marcus Semien remaining intact, but it's trustworthy enough to go with for less than a month. The idea is that Seager could slide in at some point in April, and potentially Jung along the same timetable. 

The idea also exists for a Carter-Taveras-Garcia outfield, which is essentially what they went with in the playoffs last year. The other factor that must be kept in mind is Wyatt Langford. I'm not sure if he's making the majors out of camp, but the way he's hitting, and the playing time he's had, it's definitely a possibility. If they let Garcia DH a bit this year and give Langford a permanent OF position, that's definitely a winning strategy, but that only works if they're absolutely sure Langford's gonna hit the ground running. They got lucky with Evan Carter last year, and hopefully he legs it out longterm as well.

And then the rotation without Scherzer is just...Eovaldi-Heaney-Gray-Dunning-Bradford. Which isn't bad at all. Jon Gray especially has been excellent this spring, not letting any runs by so far. Eovaldi, Heaney and Bradford have also looked strong. So honestly there's enough there to not completely scare me til Scherzer eventually shows up. You also have non-roster guys like Jose Urena and Danny Duffy that could factor into things, and the potential for Jack Leiter to eventually make his way up. So I think they'll be alright for a while.

The Rangers, I think it's safe to say, will still be very good in 2024, and have enough contingency plans to stay afloat until some injured pieces return. Whether this will be enough to finally conquer the West...we'll have to see.