Have the Texas Rangers raised expectations for 2022 beyond what might be realistic?
The club's top two officials have said all along that it is likely too difficult to be a contender next season.
Holy mother. What a 24 hours for the Texas Rangers.
Jon Daniels, Chris Young and Co. managed to commit $561.2 million to four free agents, beginning Sunday afternoon. They have made massive upgrades in the infield by signing not one, but two of the Big Five shortstops available this offseason.
Marcus Semien agreed to a seven-year, $175 million deal Sunday to kick off the spending spree, and the Rangers nearly doubled that total by giving Corey Seager a 10-year, $325 million deal.
Sprinkle in a four-year, $56 million deal for right-hander Jon Gray and a one-year, $5.2 million deal for Cole Calhoun, and, voila, more than a half-billion dollars in financial commitments.
And there’s more work to be done. It might be on hold until the labor mess is sorted out, but the Rangers should still consider adding another starting pitcher on a one-year deal and possibly an outfielder like, say, Seiya Suzuki.
The Rangers gave interest in Suzuki, who has been posted but might not sign before the looming deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Manager Chris Woodward is on record saying the Rangers will find a home for Clayton Kershaw if he wants to leaving the Los Angeles Dodgers as Seager did.
In the matter of 24 hours, the Rangers have stunned the baseball world with massive additions in the wake of a 102-loss season and injected the Rangers fan base with baseball fever.
They have also raised expectations — Seager, Semien, Gray … playoffs! — perhaps to unjustifiable levels.