Rangers GM discusses offseason priorities, payroll and more

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- Last week, the Rangers signed general manager Chris Young to a multi-year extension and promotion to president of baseball operations. Before the ink dried, Young flew to the opposite part of the world, reportedly on a scouting mission to watch Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki.

Young, like he often does about prospective free agents, declined to comment when asked specifically about Sasaki, noting that it was time well spent continuing to develop the relationships in Japan.

“I spent a lot of time with our scouts over in Japan who do a tremendous job,” he said. “It was a really fun time. I’m grateful for all they do over there and excited about our operations in Japan. … I think our background and history in Japan will serve us well for the future.”

When both the Rangers and Young returned to Texas, Young addressed the media for the first time since signing his extension. Here are the highlights:

On the top priority going into the offseason: “There are a few areas, and it always starts with starting pitching. Our bullpen is going to be a priority, and then we have some player spots that are priorities as well. Some of those answers may be internal, in terms of getting our guys to perform more consistently like they did in 2023. We’ve had some players with down years, and we need those guys to bounce back. That may be the single best improvement we can make to the club, so that’s going to be a very high priority for us.”

On payroll: “To be determined. I think that we'll all sit down with [majority owner Ray Davis] and talk through that over the coming weeks and really evaluate where the payroll will be, what we have in terms of free agent spending, and we'll evaluate the market from every angle, whether it's free agency, trades and, of course, internally with our player development system and put together the best team possible for next year. But the core group is in place. I'm really excited about that, but we need to round out the edges. We need to continue building on that core group and really get back to how we performed last season.”

On having the right support system around him: “It is a collective effort from our coaching staff to our entire organization. From amateur scouting to our international scouting, player development and our R&D team, every aspect of the organization contributes to success and, to some degree, failure. When we succeed as a team, we all share in that, and in years like this, we all take responsibility and reflect on how we can get better. That’s part of our culture and what we will continue to do moving forward.”

On the growth and development of the pitching staff: “It’s a really important aspect. When I came here four years ago, one of our goals was to be known for our pitching. I think we’ve taken steps in the right direction. It’s by no means a finished product, but I’m very excited about the progress we’ve made this year in our player development system and our pitching department. Our leadership on the PD team has done such a great job of setting us up for success. I'm very happy with the progress we've made, but really, until we have Major League results for a sustained period of time, by no means are we done. We need to keep improving.”

On No. 1 prospect Sebastian Walcott reaching Double-A at 18 years old: “He’s had a great year. To see him go to Double-A as an 18-year-old and perform the way he's doing, it's just so exciting. He's really -- if you look at his season and you take out the month of April, it's been a tremendous year for him. So the future's bright. I'm just really excited for him, and he's done a tremendous job of just navigating everything as an 18-year-old. I mean, at that age, I was trying to navigate college. He's navigating professional baseball, which is much harder, so it's pretty impressive. So impressive.”