Rangers require a shift in thinking

When the Texas Rangers take the field this season, surefire Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre won’t be at third base anymore.

But even with Beltre, a winning season probably wasn’t going to happen. The Rangers lost 95 games last season and are now more than seven years removed from the back-to-back World Series appearances that Beltre helped them to in 2010 and 2011.

In 2019, the Rangers are facing a bigger shift than Ted Williams ever saw.

But not one member of the organization said anything about rebuilding Monday when the group swung through San Antonio as part of its annual Rangers Caravan.

That’s what they are doing, though, even if they want to use phrases like “moving forward” and the ever-popular “process.”

“Beltre is a huge loss, not just for what he did on the field, but what he did in the clubhouse,” first-year Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “But I think there is a lot of guys ready to take that leadership role and move this team forward in a new direction.”

Who exactly is that going to be, though? Elvis Andrus and ShinSoo Choo still remain from the team that won 95 games in 2016. But both of them could be trade targets this season.

After that, there are few others. The Rangers even traded away Jurickson Profar, who is only 25, to help boost their minor league farm system. After the trade, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said his team was experiencing an ongoing process.

Problem is, it started way too late. The Rangers hesitated at the 2017 trade deadline — trying to toe the line between being competitive and rebuilding — and now are paying the price.

Baseball America ranked the Rangers’ farm system 23rd in MLB last season. That’s a far cry from where a rebuilding team needs to be on that list. The Atlanta Braves, which broke through last season, were ranked first in 2017 and 2018 and third in 2016.

So the Rangers probably are going to lose a lot this season. Sure, there is a chance they might be marginally OK and win 70 or even 75 games. Joey Gallo has potential if he can ever hit more than .210. But Rangers fans have been waiting for him to take that leap the last two seasons.

It hasn’t happened.

Forty homers is nice, but he has to do more than slug the ball. Potential only goes so far.

Woodward admitted that much Monday.

“If you look at the talent these guys have, they have barely scratched the surface for how good they can be,” Woodward said. “There is a lot of opportunity with a lot of our younger players and chances to grow . ... You don’t know how far they are going to go in a years time, but I expect some serious progress from a lot of these guys.”

And the Rangers are not just

rebuilding on the field. They are actually rebuilding the actual field as well.

The Rangers are expected to open Globe Life Field, a $1.2 billion endeavor, in March 2020. They cited weather as the reason attendance figures at Globe Life Park are lower than in other stadiums in major metropolitan areas, since the venue is prone to high temperatures and rain delays.

Actually, it was losing. The Rangers averaged more than 42,000 fans in 2013. Last season, when they finished 67-95, they averaged 26,013 fans per game, good for 19th.

Regardless, the Rangers proposed their new ballpark be constructed with a retractable roof and a 4,800-square-foot video board. If they and the taxpayers who helped fund it are going to make the most of the new stadium, the Rangers will have to win.

Doing that is going to take more than a new stadium and the money it will provide.

It is going to take a shift in philosophy and vision. Woodward knows that more than most. He spent the last three seasons learning how to win with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“When you have veteran players, they know what to expect,” he said. “With younger players, you get the ups and downs a little bit more. That is where it is critical with myself and the coaching staff to instill a process with each one of these guys. And the more they commit to that, the less ups and downs you are going to get.”

He plans to help them by instilling confidence through a new analytical approach.

“As a player, I wish I would have had all the information we have now,” Woodward said. “I would have loved to arm myself with that knowledge. When you arm a player with information, it gives them an understanding of how to be more successful.”

Rangers reliever Jesse Chavez saw how an analytical approach can help last season after Texas traded him to Chicago.

“Chicago bought into the analytics, and it was there for you to use,” said Chavez, who re-signed with the Rangers in the offseason. “I don’t know if it wasn’t getting to us the right way so we could use it to our ability or what, but I just saw the big difference in how the information was used.”

And it helped him. Chavez had a 3.51 ERA in 561⁄3 innings with the Rangers last season. He had a 1.15 ERA in 39 innings with the Cubs. Still, he wanted to come back to the Rangers.

Now, Chavez wants to pass on what he learned with the Cubs and his approach to the game to the Rangers’ younger players.

“We only have so long in this game, so let’s have fun with it and not dwell on the failures,” he said, “but learn from them, and we will be all right at the end of the day.”

Truth to be told, it’s going to take longer than a day.

And that shift in thinking is just part of the process.