What role will Rougned Odor, the Texas Rangers’ most maddening player, have in 2021?
Day 1 of the Texas Rangers’ off-season was a quiet one for the media, with a Joe Biden-like lid put on the day after their season finale Sunday.
Yeah, yeah. He’s prepping for the first presidential debate Tuesday.
Maybe general manager Jon Daniels needed the day to rehearse for the annual postseason wrap-up, also Tuesday.
He will actually take questions from the media about the Rangers’ 2020 campaign and their agenda for 2021.
The biggest issue in constituents’ minds is what the Rangers will do with Rougned Odor, the most maddening player on the roster.
The Rangers have said he will have to earn his playing time and Odor said he is ready to be a consistent hitter. Both of those are familiar refrains that neither the club nor the players have seen through.
Manager Chris Woodward, though, said the Odor dilemma is different this time around.
“He’s got to prove above and beyond that he’s our guy,” Woodward said. “That doesn’t mean he can’t. He has to be more consistent. We see talent. We see when he hits a pitch he can drive the ball out of the ballpark better than anybody.
“But he’s got to be more consistent. Even when he’s been really good, I still think there’s a much higher level to the consistency. If it’s not, I don’t think I’m going to have as much leeway as I did in the beginning of this year or even last year. It’s on him to figure out if he can be that guy.”
Odor clubbed two home runs in the finale, seven in the final month and 10 on the season to tie Joey Gallo for the team lead. Odor also led the team in RBIs with 30, four more than Gallo in 57 fewer at-bats.
Of course, Odor batted only .167 and had a below-average OPS of .622. He took only seven walks while striking out 47 times. His success for a second straight year came in a pressure-free September.
His safety net comes in the form of two years and $24.66 million remaining on his contract. That’s too much for a team to take on in a trade, especially with payrolls around the league likely like to shrink, and likely too much for the Rangers to eat.
When asked Sunday what he thought his future was with the Rangers, Odor acted as if there was any doubt he wouldn’t be back.
“I think I’m going to be here forever,” he said. “I don’t want to play for another team. I love this team and I want to be here. I want to win with this team.”
Odor said he wants to work on the mental side more this off-season than he has in the past, which is a new wrinkle to his usual end-of-season summary. He understands that he hasn’t been consistent, but still isn’t sure why.
Injuries have interrupted him early in the past three seasons, but he wasn’t hitting well before he was hurt any of those instances. He worked on his mechanics and approach last off-season, same as before, and made favorable impressions in spring training, same as before, and summer camp.
The Rangers have four seasons’ worth of evidence that suggests Odor won’t be better and isn’t part of their future. Unless they find a trading partner, which will still result in the Rangers having to pay most of his contract, he’ll be in spring training.
The caveat this time, as Woodward said, is Odor must overwhelmingly win the job.
“I mean, I always think that I need to win my position,” Odor said. “I’m just going to keep thinking the same way and keep working hard.”
What matters is if the Rangers’ thinking on Odor truly has changed.
