As with previous offseasons, the Texas Rangers and President of Baseball Operations Chris Young are not messing around this winter. Just this week, the Rangers added first baseman Jake Burger and relief pitcher Jacob Webb. Both players will provide much-needed help to a lineup that ranked in the bottom half of the league in home runs and a bullpen that had only two qualified pitchers with a 3.50 earned run average (ERA) or better, according to Baseball Reference.
After the lucid dream of the 2023 World Series, the Rangers posted a disappointing 78-84 record while finishing in third place in the American League (AL) West Division. According to ESPN, the Rangers ranked 21st in batting average (AVG) at .238 and ranked 24th in ERA with a 4.35. Every day players such as Adolis Garcia and Leody Taveras had career-worst seasons at the dish while playing nearly the entire season. Jonah Heim and Marcus Semien also had down years, with Heim hitting .220 and Semien hitting .237. The hitting struggles were exacerbated by mid-season injuries to Josh Jung and Evan Carter.
The Rangers’ bullpen also had its fair share of problems. Although Kirby Yates and David Robertson were dependable, and José Ureña had a solid year, the rest of the bullpen was inconsistent. José Leclerc’s 4.32 ERA was his worst since the 2020 season, and no other Rangers reliever pitched more than 45 innings. However, Walter Pennington showed promise, with the left-hander posting a 3.12 ERA in his 17.1 innings.
Injuries and inconsistencies plagued the Rangers all season, but Chris Young was determined to get the squad some help.
On Wednesday, the Rangers traded three minor leaguers to the Miami Marlins for first baseman Jake Burger. Then later that day, Texas signed relief pitcher Jacob Webb from the Orioles to a one-year, $1.75 million deal.
Rangers get: 1B Jake Burger
Marlins get: 2B/SS Echedry Vargas, SS Max Acosta, LHP Brayan Mendoza
Last season with the Marlins, Burger had a .250 AVG and smashed 29 home runs. Throughout his four-year career with the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins, Burger has consistently hit .250 or better. In his two seasons playing over 100 games, in 2023 and 2024, Burger hit 34 homers in 2023 and 29 in 2024. Burger will add a strong presence to the middle of the Rangers’ batting order that was otherwise missing last season.
“He’s an aggressive hitter that makes a lot of hard contact,” manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com on Wednesday. “The numbers show that. He’s just gotten better and better with his plate discipline, and he could do a lot of damage at the plate. And now I know it’s a [noticeable] difference from two years ago to last year with laying off some pitches. He’s just getting better. We’re excited. He will make us a better offense and help get us back to where we were a couple of years ago, being one of the best offenses in the game.”
Webb spent his 2024 season with the Baltimore Orioles, where he posted a 3.02 ERA with a career-high 56.2 innings pitched in 60 appearances, all of which were out of the bullpen. Webb collected 14 holds and gave up only four home runs all season. Webb spent most of the season working in late-inning situations, and the Rangers could benefit from using him in similar roles.
“He has a track record of being a solid, really good pitcher,” Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters, including MLB.com. “We got really good reports on [his] makeup and felt like he’s upgraded our bullpen to add to that.”
These two acquisitions show that the Rangers and Chris Young are eyeing another championship run this season and may look for more back-end bullpen arms this offseason.
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