Texas Rangers free agents after 2023 season are Aroldis Chapman, Martin Perez, and Mitch Garver. Jordan Montgomery will also become free on 13th January 2024.
A Free agent is a player whose contact with the team is completed and becomes unchained to any club. When a player gets drafted by a team, they become free after completing six seasons with them.
The clubs can also trade players among other franchises along with their contracted time period to continue with the latter. After the initial contract period, they become Unrestricted free agents unless they voluntarily sign for RFA.
Thirteen players will be finishing their contracts with the Rangers before the next season. The team can either renew the promising talents from 2023 or let go of them depending on the budget deals.
The Rangers made history for the franchise by winning their first-ever World Series in 2023. However, they will be focusing on the bullpen for the next year considering the number of total blown saves this season.
Texas has to make careful selections in its Free agent collection to maintain its position as the reigning World Champions for another year.
Top Texas Rangers Free Agents 2024
Texas Rangers Free agent signings are Aroldis Chapman, Mitch Garver, and Will Smith. They are getting released along with 10 others in 2024.
There are also recruits with additional player or club options to exercise after their contracts expire. Rangers also had two activations for the upcoming season.
Pitcher Jose Lecrec chose to activate his club option for 2024 while Andrew Heaney exercised his player option of $13 million to extend his contract for an additional season. Similarly, Montgomery is among the options considered by the team to renew for the next season considering his postseason performance in 2023.
They can also look for other free agents to fill the position as they did after the 2022 season loss. They had ranked third in the highest Total WAR score from free signings with 23.3 Total WAR in 2023.
Their successful victory in 2023 can be motivating for the team to actively include unrestricted talents on the market to balance their crew more evenly for 2024. The starting lineup made up of Max Scherzer and Nathan Eovaldi along with three others are already set to return for the next season.
He had signed a 1-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals and was traded to the Rangers on 30 June 2023. The Cards had exchanged him with RHP Tekoah ROby, John King, and a bonus on the international pool amount.
After getting activated in the 2023 postseason series, he played a crucial role in leading the Rangers to their first World Series victory. Before his trade, he had performed 108 SO in 21 starts with a stable 3.42 ERA in the regular season.
The Rangers are much inclined to strike a deal with him for the upcoming season considering their requirement for starters on the roster. However, he will be entering free agency and has no obligation to continue with the same team considering his demand on the market.
Aroldis Chapman (LHP)
Aroldis Chapman is a relief pitcher known for his fastballs. He was obtained by the Rangers through a trade with the KC Royals to strengthen their bullpen.
They sent LHP Cole Ragans and outfielder Roni Cabrera to the Royals in exchange for Chapman on 30 June 2023. Meanwhile, Chapman had signed a single-year deal with the Royals which will expire on 27 January 2024.
He will become a free agent before the spring training begins. The Rangers have expressed their desire to strike another deal with him to retain their strength in the bullpen.
Chapman is considered a strong contender for the hitters due to his fast-paced pitches that exceed 105 Mph. His postseason performance over the seven appearances had a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 innings with four SO while allowing a hit.
Meanwhile, his regular season performance over 30 relief games had a decent result with only four saves and a 15.5 average SO per game. He had a 2-3 record while recording a 3.72 ERA.
Mitch Garver (C)
Mitch Garver signed a contract worth $3.9 million with the Rangers for the 2023 season. He will be a free agent after his term ends on 14 January 2024.
The Rangers had acquired him through a trade with the Minnesota Twins on 22 March 2022. They had got him in exchange for utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pitcher Ronny Henríquez Garver.
Garver is a baseball catcher known for his strength and ability suitable for both fielding and hitting. The two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger award winner got his first World Series champion title in 2023.
Ranking second in terms of RBI within the franchise, he was the primary catcher for the Rangers in 2023 and had a major role in their successful season. His four runs from the grand slam in the ALDS were the highlight of his best moments this year.
Will Smith (LHP)
Will Smith is a veteran pitcher whose term with the Rangers ends on 4 March 2024. Smith is set to report for the spring training games before becoming free.
Smith made 22 saves over the 2023 regular season and contributed much in the World Series games this year. He had pitched 2/3 innings in both Game 1 and Game 4 of the World Series.
He had made three consecutive World Series appearances in the last three seasons with different teams. After Texas defeated Arizona, he made history as the first player to win three World Series titles in a row.
Smith has spent 9 years in MLB since his debut with the Royals in 2012. He has a career record of 33-4, 3.47 ERA, 131 saves, and 719 strikeouts till 2023.
Martín Pérez (LHP)
Martín Pérez is a free agent based on his arbitration contract on 15 November 2022. He had accepted to remain with the team till the end of 2023 season.
Perez was moved to the relief pitcher position after the Rangers adopted a four-man rotation this year. The former starting pitcher was removed from the rotation after finishing the 2022 season with his lowest record.
He has the third-highest arbitration amount among the Rangers pitchers after Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom. However, his results in 2023 were not suitable for the amount he received.
Perez had pitched 141 2/3 innings over the year with a 4.45 ERA. The relief pitcher had struck out only 93 hitters which was much lower compared to his record of 169 strikeouts in the previous season.
Chris Stratton (RHP)
Rangers pitcher Chris Stratton has become a free agent after competing in the 2023 season. He was traded by the Cardinals on 30 June along with Montgomery.
Stratton and Montgomery were obtained by the Rangers in exchange for sending John King, Tekoah Roby, and Thomas Saggese to the Cardinals. They both had a single-year contract with the Cards before being dealt to the Rangers.
While the Rangers are doing all they can to retain the latter, reliever Stratton is not expected to get renewed for the next season after his contract expires on 17 November. He had made 12 relief appearances this year with an ERA of 7.5 followed by a gloomy 8.1 ERA by allowing 3 earned runs in the playoffs.
Considering his results over the season, the team is not inclined towards renewing him for the following season.
Robbie Grossman (OF)
Robbie Grossman is an outfielder signed by the Rangers for a year on 17 February 2023. He played in the position of left fielder and designated hitter.
Grossman had performed 10 homers with 49 RBI over the season. Had it not been for rookie Evan Carter being more skilled to take his outfield position, he would have been considered for an extension in 2024.
The journeyman left fielder has played with six different clubs in the last decade since his debut with the Astros in 2013. He had more game time with the Rangers in 2023 after taking the primary position for the left field over Josh Smith and Brad Miller.
However, Carter had been replacing him in the lineups from September and performed much better in the postseason games this year. Considering his performance over the 34-year-old Grossman, the Rangers are bound to make Carter the primary left fielder for the next season.
Austin Hedges (C)
Austin Hedges is a defensive catcher known for his pitch framing and skills in calling games. He is also a decent hitter with a .233 career batting average.
Hedges was traded to the Rangers by the Pittsburgh Pirates on 1 August 2023 for a bonus pool space on international signings. While the Rangers expected him to play as a backup for Jonah Heim, he was promoted to primary after the latter was moved to the injured list.
He finished the remaining season in the absence of Heim with the best results and further showed his skills in the postseason games. Hedges had won his first World Series title with the Rangers ever since his debut in 2015.
While his contract with the Rangers expired on 20 December 2023, Hedges is expected to be resigned by the team for his compelling performance over the last few months of this season.
Travis Jankowski (OF)
Travis Jankowski is an outfielder assigned to defend the right field in 2023. The Rangers had signed him under a minor league contract on 27 January 2023.
Jankowski was later promoted to the Major League roster before the opening day. He had delivered a decent hitting record with an average slash of .263/.357/.332 in 287 player appearances this year.
His record of 19 stolen bases in 107 games had also been the highest for the franchise. However, his renewal for the next season is halted by Carter similar to the troubles faced by Grossman.
The rookie has more chances to replace them for the primary position, leaving them out in the cold for other considerations.
Brad Miller (DH)
Brad Miller is a utility player for the Rangers who can play every infield position. His two-year contract with the team will expire on 17 March 2024.
He had spent most of his day in the 2023 regular season on the injured list starting with an oblique injury before All-Star. After making his return on 2 August, Miller played 27 games with a .214 batting average, 1 home run, and 6 RBI before landing into the injured list again on 8 September.
Miller was out for 60 days after injuring his hamstring, ending his season early this year. Considering his absence in the postseason series, his contract renewal seems unlikely from the team's perspective.
Jake Odorizzi (RHP)
Jake Odorizzi was traded to the Rangers on 9 November 2022. Atlanta Braves had dealt him in exchange for Kolby Allard and cash considerations.
He started the 2023 season with a 5.24 ERA over 46 1/3 pitched innings before injuring his shoulder in April. He had to miss the entire season to treat his right shoulder as he had to go through surgery.
Considering he received the $12.5 of his payroll remaining on the injured list most of the season, the Rangers are bound to let him go since his contract expires before the 2024 season begins.
