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So ... much ... news. Texas Rangers dive into offseason with bevy of hires, moves

November 4, 2024

The Texas Rangers were not surprised when right-hander Nathan Eovaldi turned down his player option and became a free agent (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports).

Ross Fenstermaker is the new general manager, and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi elected free agency over his $20 player option.

The news started coming early Monday from the Texas Rangers.

First up: The local chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America’s annual Rangers award winners. Shortstop Corey Seager was selected as the Player of the Year, Kirby Yates as Pitcher of the Year, outfielder Wyatt Langford as Rookie of the Year, outfielder Travis Jankowski as the Harold McKinney Good Guy and infielder Josh Smith as the Richard Durrett Hardest Worker.

Seager, Smith (utility) and Marcus Semien were selected as Silver Slugger finalists.

Then came some bigger news: Assistant general manager Ross Fenstermaker was promoted to general manager, a bump that allowed the Rangers to hire Cole Figueroa away from Tampa Bay to become an assistant GM.

The Rangers also announced the hire of hitting coach Justin Viele, which was reported by DLLS on Friday. He comes from Sam Francisco to replace Tim Hyers.

President of baseball operations Chris Young announced those moves during a late-morning conference call, in which he also revealed that right-hander Nathan Eovaldi had declined his $20 million player option to test free agency.

The Rangers fully expected that, Young said, and they will have the money to compete in the Eovaldi sweepstakes.

Oh, there were injury updates, too, almost all of f them positive. Good: Third baseman Josh Jung (wrist), right-hander Tyler Mahle (shoulder), right-hander Jon Gray (foot), right fielder Adolis Garcia (knee) and outfielder Evan Carter (back).

The lone question is with reliever Josh Sborz (shoulder), and the Rangers should have a prognosis soon.

Later in the day, the Rangers announced that they had declined their $6.5 million option on left-hander Andrew Chafin, making him a free agent. They also added the following players from the 60-day injured list to the 40-man roster: Carter, Jung, Mahle, Gray, shortstop Corey Seager and right-handers Grant Anderson, Carson Coleman and Cole Winn.

Whew! Happy offseason.

Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com