Texas Rangers’ 2021 likely won’t be pretty. But it could be key for future success.
In order to understand what lies ahead for the Texas Rangers in the 2021 regular season, which starts Thursday at Kansas City, a few basic truths need to be addressed first:
They probably aren’t going to be very good, but that’s part of the plan.
Players are going to look overmatched at times, almost like they don’t belong in the major leagues, and under different circumstance they might not be in the majors.
Rougned Odor is no longer on the team.
That decision, and everything about the past nine months (as well as the next six) is geared toward the future.
This is a rebuilding phase, which other teams have gone through recently in order to win a title. It won’t be pretty at times, but the Rangers believe, with a heavy dose of hope, that they are putting the pieces together for another long window of contending for a World Series title.
They see the foundation and the establishment of the type of culture that championship teams tend to have. The players will get a chance to develop into championship-caliber players, though it won’t happen overnight.
Here’s what fans need to realize: What happens over the next 162 games could very well be remembered as the springboard to the elusive championship.
“Nobody in that clubhouse right now is excited about what the outside expectations are for our group, and every one of them takes that personally,” general manager Chris Young said. “And I think that, collectively, they’ve bought in to what we’re asking of them in terms of the way they play the game, the approach they have on a day-to-day basis, and for whom they’re playing, which is each other.”
Right-hander Kyle Gibson will make the first Opening Day start of his career Thursday at Kauffman Stadium for a team that went 22-38 in the 60-game 2020 season. Many of the familiar faces are back, like Gibson, Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but many of the familiar faces are gone.
Shin-Soo Choo is playing in Korea, Elvis Andrus was traded in the offseason, so was Lance Lynn, and Odor was told recently he will not make the Opening Day roster.
The Rangers didn’t have a room for Odor, who didn’t earn an everyday role at third base and eventually would be standing in the way of players who the Rangers need to evaluate.
Topping that list is 2019 first-rounder Josh Jung, though he’s recovering from foot surgery last week and won’t be ready to play in minor-league games until May. He is expected to make his MLB debut this season.
Anderson Tejeda, Sherten Apostel and Davis Wendzel are minor-leaguers who can play third base.
“What it came down to was we made a decision with pretty clear direction of looking toward the future,” president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said. “Playing [Odor] every day was not in our plans this year. As we look forward, we have some young players coming up and we didn’t think it was in our best interest or his best interest to force a bench role.”
There are other prospects who will need a 40-man spot that Odor would have been occupying. The Rangers have many of their advanced prospects on the 40-man roster, but Jung and Wendzel are not among them. Neither are Adolis Garcia, Steele Walker, Alex Speas, Luis Ortiz, Curtis Terry and Andy Ibanez, who could get looks later in the season.
While some will get a chance to develop in the majors, the vast majority of prospects will play in the minors after not having a season in 2020. The Rangers plan to push players to higher levels than expected, like possibly starting right-hander Hans Crouse and second baseman Justin Foscue, the 2020 first-rounder, at Double A Frisco.
What happens in the minors this season and in the MLB Draft is a critical component to the rebuild.
The minor-league seasons don’t start until May. The draft isn’t until July.
But the 2021 MLB season begins Thursday.
It’s a critical season for the Rangers’ future.
