Top 5 Reasons Texas Rangers Fans Should Be Thankful

Rangers majority owner and managing partner Ray Davis told us in August 2022. He was tired of losing. After signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien for a combined $500 million, Davis attempted to speed up the team’s rebuild with a shakeup. He fired manager Chris Woodward and general manager Jon Daniels.

“For our fans, we must move with a sense of urgency,” Davis said during a press conference to announce Chris Young was replacing Daniels on Aug. 17, 2022. It came days after Woodward was fired.

“The fans have to be as upset as I am,” he said. “I am not a good loser. We are treating this with a sense of urgency; that’s why we made a couple of moves this week. We plan to put a very competitive team on the field next year. We will gain credibility with the fans with wins on the field. That’s what I hope these moves will do.”

At the time, many dismissed his comments as a public relations move to convince fans the team cared about winning. Many thought Davis was more concerned with filling empty seats at Globe Life Field (only three seasons old at the time). That was surely part of his thinking, but he put his money behind it by signing Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi a year after signing Seager and Semien. 

General manager Chris Young, who grew up a Rangers fan in Highland Park, helped attract deGrom, and Eovaldi and then acquired Aroldis Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton and Max Scherzer in deadline deals in July.

While injuries to deGrom and Scherzer derailed some of their impact, Eovaldi and Montgomery proved to be crucial in the postseason. And if healthy, deGrom, Scherzer, Eovaldi, and Montgomery who could perhaps re-sign with Texas would give the Rangers a potent, if older, rotation.

Manager Bruce Bochy deftly handled a disastrous August 4-16 stretch in which the Rangers dropped from first place to third in the AL West. He showed a master’s touch with his postseason pitching moves, knowing when to let a pitcher work through problems and when to give the hook.

Along with pitching coach Mike Maddux, he made all of the right moves with limited bullpen options throughout the playoffs. Associate manager Will Venable, bench coach and offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker, hitting coaches Tim Hyers and Seth Conner, first base coach Corey Ragsdale, third base coach Tony Beasley, bullpen coach Brett Hayes and catching coach Bobby Wilson all quickly meshed together under Bochy’s guidance.

“Let’s do this again,” Bochy told fans at the club’s World Series championship celebration.

You can say that again.

Not only did rookies Evan Carter and Josh Jung prove vitally important to the team’s success, especially in the postseason in Carter’s case, but they also gave Rangers fans reason to be excited about the club's long-term future.

Carter, 21, didn’t join the big league club until Sept. 8. He played in 23 regular-season games to finish the season, gradually building a bond with fans with his speed, defense, and impeccable eye at the plate. He then opened eyes nationally with an excellent postseason, including batting .300 with nine doubles and a homer, which had him matching playoff statistics with some of the game's legends.

Jung, 25, earned an All-Star start at third base and was on pace to contend for AL Rookie of the Year before a broken finger sidelined him for a month. He found his groove in the postseason and had 20 hits, including four doubles, three homers, and a triple in 17 playoff games. Both Jung and Carter made game-changing, highlight-reel defensive plays throughout the playoffs to help secure the title.

When shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien signed massive free agent contracts in December 2021, it was a breathtaking moment for the Rangers franchise. It was such a bold and obvious overture from ownership to show that the club would spend to improve the team's future. Although the 2022 season was a struggle, Seager and Semien more than proved their value throughout 2023. They were the heart and soul of the team, the veteran leaders in the clubhouse, and the two most important components of the Rangers' powerful offense that also included Adolis Garcia, Josh Jung, Jonah Heim, and Nathaniel Lowe.

Both Seager and Semien won Silver Slugger Awards and finished Nos. 2 and 3 in AL MVP voting. Semien set an MLB record with 834 plate appearances while starting all 179 games for Texas, including 17 in the postseason. Seager led the team with eight RBI, tied with Jung for the team lead with seven hits, including two homers in the World Series. Semien sealed the Game 5 World Series-clinching win with a ninth-inning homer. Seager led the club with three World Series homers and was second with six RBI. On top of all of their on-field heroics, however, Seager and Semien came to embody the 2023 Rangers, whether it was Seager's almost Terminator-like approach to hitting or Semien's old-school dedication to playing every day no matter the circumstances. They proved to be the perfect faces of the franchise, and they delivered fans the first title to Arlington. For that, along with their teammates, Rangers will forever hold them in high regard and give eternal thanks.