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What happened to the World Series-winning Texas Rangers in 2024?

The Rangers will miss the playoffs and finish under .500 a year after claiming a title.

Only three managers in baseball’s long history have won more World Series titles than Bruce Bochy, earning him so much street cred that he wouldn’t need to flaunt it even if it were his nature. Which it isn’t. But when he says “trust me,” as he often does, know you’re about to hear the gospel according to Bruce.

He also holds an advantage as a manager who’s followed up a World Series title with a playoff bust the next year, allowing him to speak from experience on the Rangers’ predicament.

“You start with how difficult it is to win a world championship in the first place,” he said last weekend. “It’s really hard to do. Then to repeat that, a lot has to happen.

“And it didn’t happen this year.”

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Which raises the question of what the Rangers need to do to get back to who they were last season.

Or maybe a better question: How do we know this year isn’t closer to who they really are?

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Or the scariest: Will the Rangers do what Jerry Jones would?

Of all the things that didn’t happen from last season to this, the biggest difference was they didn’t score as much. Parse the multitude of metrics any way you want, but it’s pretty simple. Only the Braves and Dodgers plated more runs last year than the Rangers’ 881.

This year, as of Friday morning, only eight teams scored fewer than their 661.

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Except for Josh Smith, who’s making a nice career for himself as a super-sub, all of the dozen or so regulars who played on last year’s team as well as this one slipped considerably in wins above replacement, or WAR, according to baseball-reference.com. Adolis García (4.2 to 0.2) and Marcus Semien (7.4 to 3.6) slumped the most, but the slide was across the board.

Chris Young and his manager and staff have hard decisions to make about what to do going into next season. Do they believe some of these drop-offs were one-offs? If so, they run it back with only minor adjustments. That’s a best-case scenario, given that Ray Davis has already indicated the payroll won’t be as plump.

For that matter, maybe Evan Carter and Josh Jung can put together full seasons. Same for Jacob deGrom. Good health is generally a hallmark of championship seasons, and the Rangers are certainly due.

But the problem with simply hoping for the best is that it puts you in Jerry’s camp. Of his many vices, the worst might be his optimism. A good GM knows that you prepare for the worst, not bank on the best. Needing a running back but unable or, God help us, unwilling, to pay for one, Jerry went with a committee chaired by Zeke Elliott.

Few propositions are more futile than Mike McCarthy trying to get Zeke out in space, where he can’t outrun Father Time.

Zeke’s decline has been apparent to everyone except the Joneses for years. Exactly where these Rangers are in their respective career arcs is harder to tell, but here goes.

Corey Seager remains a great player when healthy. No reason to think he won’t be a superstar going forward.

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And that does it for any absolutes.

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) reacts after striking out during the eighth inning...
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) reacts after striking out during the eighth inning of an MLB game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Arlington. The Rangers defeated the Pirates 1-0.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

Semien is still good, but, going into his age 34 season after playing at least 154 games in seven of the last nine, can the Rangers realistically expect him to produce like he did last year? Not if it requires playing as many games, which should be off the table anyway.

Nate Lowe isn’t much different from what he was last year (2.6 to 2.1), but his home run output has shrunk from 27 to 17 to 14. Only 29 extra-base hits this year. In need of an upgrade at first.

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As for Adolis, Leody Taveras and Jonah Heim? Most players with any time at all in the game have what you’d call a “career year” where everything goes right. An outlier. Check the previous records of the players above. Good chance the designation applies to all three.

Frankly, this is what your intrepid reporter hinted at last spring when asking how long the honeymoon will last. Some of you took it personally. Like I was questioning how grateful you were.

Even in the midst of a miraculous season, there was reason to question how long they could keep it up. The Rangers didn’t waste much time answering the question.

First priority for Young is to add a middle-of-the-order bat, which will be difficult on a tighter budget. He probably needs two bats, especially if the Rangers move Taveras out of center. They should give Wyatt Langford an extended shot there, where his numbers would play up. They need someone who could play left field and DH as insurance against Carter’s back. They need someone to give them a reason to drop Adolis to sixth in the lineup if he’s going to whiff on 94-mph fastballs, making him look older than what he says.

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If it sounds like a lot, it is. Might be too much. Maybe we should just be happy to salute that flag flying above right field. At least they got the wrinkle out. Smoothing out the rest will be harder.

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