Veterans put on notice. Some won’t return. Texas Rangers are going young for 2021.
The youth movement underway this season with the Texas Rangers won’t be a temporary thing.
The tryouts for 2021 won’t end when the season finishes Sept. 27.
The road next season is going to be a bumpy at times, maybe more often than not.
The Rangers aren’t necessarily in a full-throated rebuild, something that requires the gutting of veteran players and a massive reduction in payroll, but all club officials and owners understand that the Rangers aren’t likely to contend next season.
They might, with discussions held to keep Corey Kluber at a lower rate and two returning starting pitchers who have underperformed. But contending is a lot to ask from a group of players short on experience.
“It’s going to depend on the growth of this group, right?” general manager Jon Daniels said. “And not just the rookie group. I mean the growth of our younger veterans. It doesn’t really matter what I say right now. It’s going to be how we produce on the field.”
Daniels said two weeks ago after the trade deadline that the Rangers would have a smaller payroll for 2021 and that their window to contended has been pushed back by a fourth straight losing season.
He offered more details Tuesday.
Young and inexperienced players who have shown they can handle the big leagues, such as center fielder Leody Taveras and catcher Jose Trevino, are going to be given a chance to play regularly in 2021.
Positions where the young and inexperienced players need more seasoning will be manned by veteran players on short-term contracts.
Veteran middle infielders Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor have been told they have to earn everyday roles and might need to learn other positions if beaten out. It seems more unlikely that the Rangers will re-sign Shin-Soo Choo, even though he is a productive player at age 38 and has said he would re-sign on the cheap.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa has made the 2021 team either at third base or shortstop. Outfielder/second baseman Nick Solak clearly has as well.
“I look at it as a great opportunity,” manager Chris Woodward said. “I know that everybody was wanting to have a team full of stable veteran guys, a championship-caliber team. Listen, these guys are young, they’re talented, they’re learning they want to grow. They’re hungry. I don’t care if they’re 25 years old. I just look at it as an opportunity to help guide these guys to becoming consistent major-league performers.”
The Rangers opened a nine-game road trip Tuesday at Houston, and brought with them right-handed reliever Demarcus Evans for his MLB debut. Two others prospects, Sam Huff and Sherten Apostel, made their debuts over the weekend.
Daniels doesn’t expect to promote another other prospects working at the alternate site, but the Rangers are planning to hold an extended instructional leagues with those players, some of the current young big-leaguers and prospects who were recently signed or drafted.
“We’re going to play a lot of games,” Daniels said. “We’re going to play as many games as we can because that was the biggest thing that was missing this year. We’ll have a pretty good number of players there ... . It’s going to be a pretty varied group.”
And a young one. Taveras just turned 22. Huff turns 22 in January. Apostel turns 22 in March. Kiner-Falefa turned 26 just before Opening Day. Joey Gallo will be an old man at 27.
It’s not the kind of team the Rangers envisioned having for their first season with fans at Globe Life Field, but Daniels said that ownership is on board with developing young players into winning players.
“I think they are excited about seeing the youth and energy on the field,” Daniels said. “I think that’s the quickest path to us playing the kind of baseball our fans expect and deserve. I think sometimes we make the mistake of looking at free agency as the short cut. I think it’s the opposite.”
