The Texas Rangers once turned a looming work stoppage into a sprint, and it changed the franchise.
After the 2021 season, with a new collective bargaining agreement deadline closing in on Dec. 2, then-president of baseball operations Jon Daniels and general manager Chris Young knew the clock was ticking. Texas had holes all over the roster and a farm system that wasn’t especially deep, so the Rangers pushed hard before everything could freeze.
On Dec. 1, they landed shortstop Corey Seager on a 10-year, $325 million contract and second baseman Marcus Semien on a seven-year, $175 million deal. After that, the Rangers were finished shopping until February.
Two years later, those two were central figures in Texas’ run to its first World Series. Semien is now with the Mets, and Seager’s future in Texas is at least uncertain, with a possibility the Rangers could explore trading him to get out from under his contract.
This time, though, the setup feels different. Chris Young, now the president of baseball operations, isn’t sure the Rangers can or will attack the market the same way before the next shutdown.
If there’s no agreement by 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1, owners are expected to lock out the players.
Once that happens, business stops cold. No contracts.
No movement. When free agency opens after the World Series, Young would have only about a month to make his moves.
He said the Rangers are already mapping out that stretch.
“What I do know is that we have to be prepared, and we've already started those meetings today in terms of how to prepare and how we're going to map out the next you know four weeks or five weeks until free agency starts,” Young said. “At that point we will have a committed plan, and our hope is to execute that really quickly.”
But a repeat of the 2021 push looks unlikely. MLB owners appear far more intent on forcing broader changes to the sport’s financial structure this time, including a salary cap that players have resisted ever since owners first tried to install one during the 1994-95 strike.
The last lockout in 2021-22 didn’t wipe out regular-season games. This one could.
And the Rangers may be operating with less room to maneuver even before any shutdown arrives. Texas cut payroll last offseason because of ownership commitments, and Young might have to do that again.
So while the Rangers once used a short offseason window to strike boldly, the next one could be shaped much more by caution than by aggression. Budget pressure and the threat of a work stoppage are hanging over everything.
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