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With new title in hand, playoffs out of reach, Rangers’ Chris Young charts course for 2025

Young was promoted to president of baseball operations last Friday, and he has his focus set firmly on next season.

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers left Globe Life Field for a six-game road trip on Sep. 8 with a general manager. They returned Tuesday with something more presidential.

“It took a little time,” the newly-promoted and extended Chris Young said Tuesday, “but we got it done, and I’m thrilled about the future.”

Young, who signed a multi-year extension and was promoted to president of baseball operations last Friday, said that the new title does not change his day-to-day duties. He said that the Rangers are not committed to — nor have they ruled out — backfilling the general manager position. Leadership changes and additions will be sorted out in the offseason if necessary.

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That’s one thing on his to-do list. The other?

“I said it when I took the job originally,” Young said. “Nothing would be more fulfilling for me than coming back here and helping this franchise win a World Series. I feel the same way about the next World Series, and that’s the goal.”

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It won’t be this season. The Rangers trail the first-place Houston Astros by 10 games in the American League West with 11 left to play. They’re eight-and-a-half back of the third Wild Card spot and, according to FanGraphs, have a 0.0% chance to make the playoffs.

Next season is the new focus. Improvements are necessary. Young said he’ll meet with owner Ray Davis in the coming weeks to evaluate where the payroll stands and what the Rangers can spend in free agency. He didn’t rule out the trade market, either, and said that the continuation of internal development is key too.

“Starting pitching is a priority,” Young said. “Our bullpen is going to be a priority, and then we’ve got some position player spots that are going to be priorities as well.”

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Here’s where those internal priorities stand now.

Starting pitching: You can’t ever have enough, Young likes to say. The 12 individual stints that Texas starting pitchers spent on the injured list this season explain why.

The Rangers’ in-house options for next season are as follows: right-hander Jacob deGrom (signed through 2027), right-hander Tyler Mahle (signed through 2025), right-hander Jon Gray (signed through 2025), left-hander Cody Bradford (pre-arbitration through 2026), right-hander Dane Dunning (arbitration eligible this offseason) and the rookie duo of Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. Nathan Eovaldi (player option) can either return or hit free agency; Max Scherzer, who will be 41 at the end of next season, will also enter the open market.

Mahle made just three starts in his return from Tommy John surgery before he landed on the injured list with shoulder fatigue earlier this month. Gray has made seven trips to the injured list since he signed with Texas prior to the 2023 season. Dunning was shipped to Triple-A Round Rock on Sep. 1 to “get back to who he is,” according to manager Bruce Bochy, after he posted a 7.11 ERA in the second half. Rocker and Leiter have both impressed, but an over-reliance on rookies isn’t always a safe bet. Just ask the offense, Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter.

“I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made,” Young said, “but really, until we have major league results for a sustained period of time, by no means are we done. We need to keep improving.”

The bullpen: The Rangers’ bullpen might not require the same outright overhaul that it did after last season. It does, at the very least, need to be retained and refined. All-Star closer Kirby Yates — who signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract last offseason — will become a free agent and will be among the top experienced back-end arms on the open market. David Robertson, the Rangers’ flexible setup man, has a mutual option for 2025. The 39-year-old led the staff with 61 games pitched and his 3.18 ERA ranks second only to Yates’ 1.27 ERA.

The two veterans anchored the back end of Texas’ bullpen and ensured that there’d be few repeats of last year’s late-game disasters. The Rangers are 35-for-54 (64%) in save opportunities this season compared to 30-63 (31%) last season. Texas can’t afford a repeat of the latter if they’re intent on contention in 2025.

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The Rangers’ bullpen’s 4.51 ERA is still the sixth-highest in baseball this season despite that. Texas, among other things, will need a long-reliever and a number of reliable arms that can maintain the game in between the starting pitcher and the back end. José Ureña did the first admirably but will enter free agency this winter; so, too, will the team’s longest-tenured player José Leclerc.

Position players: Young said Tuesday that the Rangers’ core is in place. The offense — from which only catcher Carson Kelly and outfielder Travis Jankowski will enter free agency — is as in-place as any other position group on the roster.

It just has to improve. Has to stay healthy, too. Third baseman Josh Jung missed 102 games with a fractured wrist, Carter has missed 96 games with a back injury and Corey Seager’s finish to the year was sidelined by a sports hernia surgery.

Injuries, though, are an unavoidable part of the game. Mass regression cannot be.

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“We have had some players with down years, and we need those guys to bounce back,” Young said. “Those might be the single best improvements we can make to the club. That’s going to be a very, very high priority for us in terms of getting the best out of our own players.”

Chief among them: catcher Jonah Heim, outfielder Leody Taveras and outfielder Adolis García. Heim has no longer played enough games to qualify on leaguewide leaderboards but his .581 on base plus slugging percentage would rank dead last if he did. Taveras (.630) is locked in a three-way tie for the worst qualified OPS and García — an All-Star and ALCS MVP one season ago — ranks 13th from the bottom at .665.

They’re factors that the Rangers will need to consider this offseason as they work to revamp a contender.

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They’ve got a president, now, to sort through it.

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