Two Signings To Make Rangers Better
By the time the Texas Rangers arrive in Spring Training in Surprise in February, they will have made a multitude of moves. From Major League and minor league signings to trades, the team will carry far more players to Spring Training than they will keep. But not every move will be equal and the Rangers will be looking to make a deal or two that will have an immediate impact. ESPN recently tackled this for every team in MLB, theorizing that each team could make two moves — two signings, two trades or one of each — to make their team measurably better for 2024.
Signing free-agent closer Josh Hader would be a huge boost to the back end of the Rangers bullpen. © Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports The Rangers just won the World Series. But, in ESPN’s view, one can never have enough pitching.
The two moves the site envisioned are moves that likely would make Rangers fans happy — signing left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery to a five-year, $106 million contract and signing All-Star closer Josh Hader to a five-year, $105 million contract. Montgomery helped his free agency chances enormously in 2023, but it’s believed he’d prefer to return to one of the three teams he’s played for previously, which includes the Rangers. In 2023, he went 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA with a 166 strikeouts and 48 walks. With the Rangers, he went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA.
He shined in the postseason with a 3-1 record with a 2.90 ERA. He won two of his five starts in the postseason and claimed the win in relief in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series over the Houston Astros. His start against Houston in Game 1 of the ALCS is likely to become the stuff of Rangers legend, especially his handling of Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, whom he struck out three straight times. As for Hader, he’s the top closer on the free-agent market. The Rangers would be getting one of the most reliable ninth-inning arms in the game and one who won’t turn 30 until next April.
Hader turned into a bullpen star in 2018, when he became an All-Star for the first time as he went 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA and racked up 12 saves. Since then, Hader has gone to four more All-Star Games, including 2023, and has gone 20-21 with a 2.50 ERA and 165 saves. The general feeling within the industry is Hader will sing with Texas. That would be a little more than $200 million for a starter that would fill out their rotation and a closer that would give them reliability in the ninth inning. The Rangers would probably be interested in that scenario.
