2025 Team Previews - Texas Rangers
As part of my 2025 team previews series, I go through all fantasy-relevant players on the Texas Rangers ahead of the 2025 season.
Check out the intro and team links page here.
Intro
I have been getting really lucky with the timing of these. Several times now a team has made big moves just a day or two before I publish their team preview. That’s the case with the Rangers as well. They have recently added two big bats to their lineup, and they are both covered here.
The Rangers had a big year in 2023, winning the World Series, but they followed that up by falling short of a playoff spot. I don’t really believe in the “World Series Hangover” phenomenon, but if it does exist, the Rangers probably had it.
The roster is a really old one, as we’ll see. I count at least 10 players in their starting lineup and rotation who will be over the age of 30 on Opening Day. With that being the case, and with Jacob deGrom having his best shot at a healthy season in a long time, it makes sense for them to put the gas pedal to the floor and go for it. There could be some really painful years around the corner, but for now - things are looking good.
The Roster
That’s a very solid lineup. I can’t pick out a weakness. Even the #9 guy is about an average hitting catcher, and they’re deep even there. There are probably only two players here capable of posting MVP-type numbers, but you’d have to say they have nine better-than-average bats.
The rotation is a bit of a different story. They have deGrom ready to go. He’s probably the best pitcher to ever exist, and they have brought Eovaldi back, but the bottom three are very shaky.
However, they do have a few young arms bursting with upside who I think could replace Jon Gray and/or Tyler Mahle very early on.
Let’s break it all down.
Hitters
Corey Seager
Age: 30
Pos: SS
Seager’s 2024 season came to an end in early September, but there should not be immediate injury concerns for the beginning of 2025. And it was just another strong season at the dish for the man:
522 PA, .278/.339/.512, .851 OPS, 18% K%, 15% Brl%, 30 HR, 1 SB
Seager is one of the most talented hitters in the game. Only seven MLB hitters last year were able to manage a barrel rate above 12% while keeping the strikeout rate below 20%. Those names, in addition to Seager:
Soto, Witt Jr., Alvarez, Guerrero Jr., Ketel Marte, Lindor.
He is so good at knowing what pitches to swing at and not missing when he gets something he likes. I don’t see any reason to question the production while he’s healthy.
Just look at those xBA and xwOBA marks. They’re elite every single year, and we saw what kind of season he’s capable of in 2023 when he posted an OPS above one.
The downside is some of the health struggles (which I don’t think we should worry much about) and the lack of steals. You’re probably using a third-round pick to get Seager (which is a nice discount, IMO), and if you do that - it’s advisable to pair him with a high-steal hitter early on so you don’t find yourself way behind in that category.
I don’t think it’s useful to spend at ton of time on Seager. He’s a stud hitter and could put up massive counting stat numbers if this Rangers lineup improves a bit from last year.
Rank
Projection
587 PA, 94 R, 33 HR, 83 RBI, 3 SB, .282/.362/.539, $11.44 roto value
Wyatt Langford
Age: 23
Pos: OF
Langford is going to be an interesting ADP to follow. He has a pretty wide range early on. He has gone inside of the top 50 and outside of the top 100. Here is how the rookie season looked:
553 PA, .255/.327/.418, .745 OPS, 20.6% K%, 9.2% BB%, 16 HR, 19 SB
He fell short of the 20-20 mark and did not end up justifying the hype from 2024 drafts. But, as I’ve been saying a lot with these young players, that first year of experience is extremely valuable, and Langford seems like a guy who will take a massive stride forward in 2025.
Getting back to the 2024 performance. He struggled initially. He hit just one home run before June began (and I believe it was an inside-the-park job). He also missed most of May due to injury. Here are the numbers from those first 2+ months:
139 PA, .222/.288/.286, 1 HR, 1 SB
Bad. But he made up a ton of ground in these last four months:
414 PA, .266/.341/.463, 15 HR, 18 SB
That is a 23-homer, 27-steal pace. He posted a 10.3% Brl% and a 76% Contact% after June 1st with a 20.4% K%. That’s impressive stuff.
The skills are awesome:
Sprint Speed: 98th percentile
Bat Speed: 84th percentile
His 90th-percentile EV was 106, well above the minimum we’re looking for. He also was able to get the ball in the air with just a 40% GB% and a 16-degree average launch angle. It’s beautiful stuff.
There’s a first-round upside here. I think 30-30 is in the range of outcomes. It’s rare to see someone this young with these types of skills and none of those classic concerns (strikeouts or ground balls). I’m very much into Langford this year, and I think that ADP is going to end up well inside of the top 50. Get your cheap shares while you can.
Rank
Projection
652 PA, 86 R, 29 HR, 90 RBI, 21 SB, .269/.344/.483, $14.30 roto value
Marcus Semien
Age: 34
Pos: 2B
The legend of iron man Semien continued in 2024. He played 159 more games and exceeded 700 plate appearances for the sixth season in a row (excluding 2020).
Games Played Since 2021 (the max would be 648)
Marcus Semien 644
Matt Olson 642
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 636
Pete Alonso 628
Freddie Freeman 626
It’s tough to come to the plate more than 700 times and not rack up a pretty good fantasy season of runs and RBI. And Semien did that again in 2024, scoring 100 runs and adding 73 RBI to his 23 homers and eight steals. The slash line wasn’t as encouraging, however:
.237/.308/.390, 15% K%, 9% BB%
Taking a look at the trend:
That’s a huge drop-off in OPS. He lost about 40 points in batting average and 90 in slugging. The good news is that his expected batting average (.251) was significantly higher than this actual (although his xSLG was right on track at .391).
He dropped one mile per hour in average exit velocity, and the xwOBA fell 20 points from what we saw in 2023.
Semien has never had a bunch of swing speed. In my mind, he’s the pioneer of the pulled fly ball revolution. The guy was crushing his home run expectations years ago, and he’s never quit. That’s because he’s one of the best at pulling fly balls, and he once again kept his pull rate above 46% in 2024 (league average = 37%).
The guy has been a fantasy stud or close to it for a while. He’s done this in the past by racking up a bunch of runs and steals and finding his way to 20+ homers along the way. I don’t think he has many years of hitting 20+ homers left, but that’s not to say he can’t do it again in 2025. The steals decline is real, however:
Steals / SB Att% by Year
2021: 15 / 10%
2022: 25 / 21%
2023: 14 / 9%
2024: 8 / 7%
There is a chance that Semien falls short of 20 homers and short of 10 steals. That makes him a pretty tough pick in the top 100 of ADP, even if he does repeat the 170+ R+RBI season.
You don’t have to pay much for him anymore; his ADP is close to falling outside of that top 100. At a very weak second base position, I still have to be in on Semien for 2025. Let’s take a quick peak at the position (spoiler alert!):
Second Base Roto Values, JA Projections
Ketel Marte $14.51
Jose Altuve $12.81
Ozzie Albies $12.74
Marcus Semien $11.40
Bryson Stott $10.43
There are five guys above $11. I showed you the #5 guy there just to show how quickly the position falls off. I currently have 59 hitters above $11, so second base takes up just 7% of that group.
Second base is easily the most shallow position, so I’m absolutely trying to get one of Marte/Altuve/Albies/Semien in every draft I do. I think that will end up with me getting several shares of the guy because you have to like the raw projection.
It’s very hard to lead off 160 times and not have a decent roto fantasy season. That’s the case for Semien; he just becomes riskier and riskier every year as some of these skills degrade due to age.
Rank
Projection
695 PA, 96 R, 22 HR, 69 RBI, 10 SB, .258/.329/.424, $11.01 roto value
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