The Sunday Read: Texas Rangers have money to spend. They're just not going to spend it all.
Despite an influx of cash, the long-range plan still includes having multiple homegrown contributors and a deep farm system.
The idea that the Texas Rangers are willing to spend money, and the fact that club officials are saying they are willing to spend money, should make for a fun offseason.
In the just the past week there was chatter that the Rangers and their bank account were the talk of the general managers meetings. There was a fun story on the Rangers opening the 2022 season with a payroll of $150 million.
With that kind of money, the Rangers can sign shortstops Corey Seager and Trevor Story.
And Clayton Kershaw and Seiya Suzuki.
Shoot, and they can trade for first baseman Matt Olson.
And still have money left for another starter or two.
Oh, boy, is this great.
It would be a dream come true for many Rangers fans, who have suffered through five straight losing seasons and haven’t seen their favorite team sign a player to a deal longer than three years since December 2013 (Shin-Soo Choo, seven years, $130 million).
If that’s the route the Rangers end up taking, it would shock baseball.
But they aren’t the only team with money to spend. They’re just the only 102-loss team willing to spend.
The Rangers are going to sign some free agents, but they aren’t going to sign them all. And not every free agent is going to want to come to the Rangers.
That’s just reality, and it’s time to grab hold of it before expectations get too high and come crashing to the ground.