In 2021, the Texas Rangers were among baseball’s worst teams. They missed the postseason for their fifth consecutive season. In the 2021 season the Rangers were 5th in the American League West with a record of 60-102 and a winning percentage of .370. They were among the league’s bottom feeders who had no future aspirations in sight. But, all was set to change.
The first major decision that the front office had made was trading their best player in Joey Gallo to the New York Yankees in the middle of the season and the Rangers had received four prospects in the exchange.
Now, at the time this trade seemed really dumb for the Rangers, but the front office used this trade to clear up cap space and get rid of Gallo’s large contract. Now that management had some money they made a huge splash in free agency, signing former World Series MVP Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, who at the time was the best hitter at the second base position. Now, the Rangers were ready to compete.
Expectations were high in Arlington, Texas because now with the two new acquisitions in free agency the Rangers could finally crawl out of the shadow of the other powerhouse in Texas…the Houston Astros. The Astros had just come off another World Series win after winning their second title in six years. But, this was the Rangers’ year to make the playoffs again and show why they deserve to be among the league’s most competitive and contending teams.
Once again, the Astros had outplayed the Rangers as the best team in Texas. The Rangers had only won 68 games while being below .500. Their two new players in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien did not perform the way the front office expected them to. Both players took a step-back as far as their offensive production when on the Rangers, and were much better when compared to their previous years with different organizations.
Management had paid both Semien and Seager huge contracts dealing out a combined amount of $500 million dollars. Semien was given $175 million dollars for 7 years and Seager was given $325 million dollars for 10 years.
Before the 2023 MLB Season, the Rangers had signed another big name in December of 2022 who happened to be Jacob DeGrom, a former Cy Young winner. They signed him to 5 years, $185 million dollars. But, tragedy inevitably struck in June when deGrom tore his UCL in his right elbow. DeGrom was to undergo Tommy John surgery which takes 9-12 months to recover from and DeGrom was to miss the rest of the 2023 MLB season.
With morale now low, someone needed to step up. So, Corey Seager stepped up to the plate by crushing 33 home runs and having a mind boggling batting average of .327 and a slugging percentage of .623 through the 22’-23’ season.
Throughout this whole run through the regular season and postseason Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia were the bread and butter, the peanut butter and jelly, and the heart and soul of this franchise. With their leadership the Rangers stormed through the standings and within the 1st half of this season the Rangers had a record of 52-39 and a winning percentage of .571 and led the AL West over the Houston Astros. By the 2nd half of the season, their offensive production had slowed down a bit with their 2nd half record being 38-33 and a winning percentage of .535, while their regular season record ended up being 90-72 which tied the Houston Astros for the AL West Division Title.
Heading into the 2023 post season the Rangers were nowhere near the best odds to win, let alone make it to the World Series. According to the odds of who would win the World Series the Rangers were ranked 8th out of 12 teams with +1500 odds to win the World Series.
In the first round of the AL Wild Card series the Rangers were touted to play the 99 win Rays…and in shocking fashion the Rangers swept the Rays 2-0. In the AL Division Series, the Rangers were set to play the 101-win Baltimore Orioles, who were the second best team in the league behind the 104-win Atlanta Braves. Once again the Rangers were seen as the underdogs and as the underdogs, the Rangers shocked everyone and they swept the Orioles 3-0. After winning the AL Division Series the Rangers were ready to play their Texas and Division Rivals in the Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series, and the Rangers upset the Astros and advanced to the World Series.
Finally, the Rangers have achieved something that they have been chasing for a long time: a World Series appearance. Now, in the last series of this postseason the Rangers were finally seen as a favorite to finally win…and they did.
The Texas Rangers had beaten the underdog Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 being crowned the MLB’s World Series Champions and Corey Seager was named the World Series MVP. After years of disappointment and struggle the Rangers had finally achieved greatness by winning their franchise’s first World Series.
Throughout all of the chokes, failures, and struggles the Rangers organization and fans have finally achieved the coveted achievement of victory. The Texas Rangers have now reached the top of the baseball world and can now call themselves champions.