Rangers' pitching in focus at Winter Meetings

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers made their first move of the offseason when they signed catcher Kyle Higashioka to share time with Jonah Heim behind the plate.

Minor signings have begun across the league, and all eyes are on the Juan Soto sweepstakes. But the Rangers still have a lot of work to do ahead of the 2025 season.

President of baseball operations Chris Young has said the club will get creative wherever needed, but the rumor mill will continue running as MLB’s annual Winter Meetings near.

Let’s take a look at the things the Rangers should keep an eye on in Dallas.

KEY EVENTS

• Sunday, Dec. 8: HOF Classic Baseball Era Committee results released
• Tuesday, Dec. 10: MLB Draft Lottery
• Wednesday, Dec. 11: Rule 5 Draft

CLUB NEEDS

The Rangers have eight pitchers who entered free agency this offseason: three starters (RHP Nathan Eovaldi, RHP Max Scherzer, LHP Andrew Heaney), four relievers (RHP Kirby Yates, RHP David Robertson, LHP Andrew Chafin, RHP José Leclerc) and swingman right-hander José Ureña. That’s over 700 innings among them.

The six-man rotation as it currently stands is Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. It's a solid group, but four of those six have a history of injuries, and the other two -- Rocker and Leiter -- have a combined nine big league starts.

The bullpen posted a 4.41 ERA in 2024, but losing Yates (1.17 ERA) and Robertson (3.00 ERA) is significant, and that’s not even including Leclerc, who is prone to hot streaks.

All that is to say that the pitching staff will continue to be a point of emphasis throughout the offseason.

“We remain involved with a lot of free agents,” said general manager Ross Fenstermaker. “I can't comment on anybody specific, but [we’re] definitely involved with a lot of the high-end arms and starting pitchers, and trying to figure out if there's a fit there.”

BURNING QUESTION

Can the Rangers re-sign Eovaldi?

Young has emphasized multiple times this offseason that bringing back Eovaldi will be a priority. The right-hander tossed 314 2/3 innings across two seasons with the Rangers, becoming the ace of the staff after deGrom went down with an elbow injury just a month into 2023.

Texas is losing significant innings between Eovaldi and Heaney both becoming free agents, but 2025 looks more manageable if the Rangers bring Eovaldi back. On top of his on-field production, he is a leader in the clubhouse and the coaching staff leans on his mentorship of young pitchers. Bringing him back will allow the rest of the winter to click into place.

“We would love to bring those guys back, and we’re going to explore every way we can to make that happen,” Young said earlier this offseason, of both Eovaldi and Heaney.

POTENTIAL TRADE CANDIDATES

It would be shocking if the Rangers traded first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. I even said in an inbox before Thanksgiving that I expect him to be the Opening Day first baseman. But Lowe may also command the best return.

Lowe won a Silver Slugger Award in 2022 and a Gold Glove Award in ‘23. He’s part of the core that led the Rangers to their first World Series championship in franchise history. But it’s hard to ignore that he saw a dip in power in ‘24, slashing .265/.361/.401 for the lowest OPS of his Texas tenure.

Even so, if the Rangers are going to trade him, it needs to be for the right price.

Despite what he’s set to make in arbitration this year -- a projected $9.9 million, per Cot’s Contracts -- it’s hard to imagine an internal upgrade on both sides, and any external upgrade like Pete Alonso or Christian Walker would almost definitely cost much more than the Rangers would like to spend.

PROSPECT TO KNOW

Rocker (the Rangers’ No. 2 prospect and No. 58 overall, per MLB Pipeline) almost needs no introduction, and there’s little doubt that he’s the prospect most likely to make an impact at the big league level in 2025.

The right-hander had a long road from Vanderbilt to the big leagues, including a pit stop in indy ball in 2022 and Tommy John surgery in ‘23. Across three Minor League levels in ‘24, Rocker compiled a 1.96 ERA, a .180 opponent batting average and a 55/5 K/BB ratio in 36 2/3 innings before his callup to Arlington for his MLB debut. He posted a 3.86 ERA in 11 2/3 big league innings, but he showed enough to be in the conversation for the Opening Day rotation come Spring Training.

RULE 5 DRAFT

The Rangers added just three prospects to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft: right-hander Emiliano Teodo (Texas' No. 6 prospect), right-hander Winston Santos (No. 8) and shortstop Max Acosta (not ranked).

The prospects most at risk of being picked in the Rule 5 Draft are likely right-hander Aidan Curry (No. 19), first baseman Abimelec Ortiz, infielder Blaine Crim, infielder Cody Freeman and right-hander Josh Stephan (No. 25).

Crim, 27, has been thought to be taken for the last two Rule 5 Drafts, but he’s remained with the organization, likely due to his advanced age.