In shadow of WS victory, the Hot Stove begins

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Less than a week removed from their first World Series championship in franchise history and the Rangers’ front office has already pivoted to Hot Stove season, beginning with the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., this week.

“We’re processing, it’s still somewhat surreal,” said general manager Chris Young, a Dallas native. “It's been a lot of fun -- and seeing the DFW community celebrating the Rangers and just the excitement, it's been amazing to see. So happy for our fans, so happy for our players. And it's motivating too, when you see how much it touches people's lives and how excited they are. It's motivating to try to make it happen again,

Young held court with media members on Tuesday afternoon. Here are three takeaways as Texas gears up to defend its title.

The bullpen needs addressing

This much is obvious.

The Rangers' bullpen blew more saves than it converted in the regular season despite shutting opposing offenses down when they needed to in the postseason. The trio of José Leclerc, Aroldis Chapman and Josh Sborz pitched the back-end of almost every one of Texas' postseason victories, carrying the club to the title.

Chapman, who joined the club after a Trade Deadline deal with the Royals, is a free agent, as is Chris Stratton, another Deadline acquisition, but the Rangers' bullpen leaves a lot of room for improvement going into 2024.

Former Padres closer Josh Hader will no doubt be at the top of the Rangers’ list, alongside arms like Joe Kelly, Jordan Hicks and Reynaldo López -- to name a few available relief arms.

“It's a pretty high [priority],” Young said of the bullpen. “Certainly it's an area we want to continue to address. I felt really good about the way the guys finished. Leclerc was phenomenal. Josh [Sborz] was unbelievable down the stretch there. Jonathan Hernandez was pitching really, really well before he got hurt, but it was a big loss for us losing him in the playoffs.

“So, yes, it's an area of need. It's an area that we're going to focus on free agency, trades and waiver claims. We’ll try to upgrade any way we can.”

Montgomery + other potential rotation additions

Last winter, the Rangers went all in by adding a trio of starting pitchers to revamp the rotation in Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. They doubled down at the Trade Deadline by adding Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery.

deGrom’s season ended in mid-May after UCL surgery, and he won’t return until late in 2024. With Montgomery and Martín Pérez entering free agency, the Rangers’ rotation includes Eovaldi, Scherzer, Heaney, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning, which is a serviceable if not slightly injury prone group.

Aaron Nola and Blake Snell are the biggest names on the starting market this offseason, but guys like Marcus Stroman, Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez are also on the market. The Rangers will no doubt look to add more depth to the rotation all winter long, starting with re-signing Montgomery.

The lefty went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 regular-season starts and 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in six postseason games (five starts).

“Jordan was phenomenal,” Young said. “He thrived in the moment, he wanted the ball. The bigger the moment, the more he wanted the ball. You saw the performance, it speaks for itself. He never shied away, he just attacked and knew exactly what he needed to do to be successful. It was unbelievably impressive.”

“We love Monty and we'll have those discussions. He certainly has earned the right to explore free agency, but we traded for him because we recognize how good he is. And we'd love to talk to him.”

Garver + DH options

For the first time in a long time, the Rangers are virtually set offensively. Eight of the nine starters from the World Series-clinching Game 5 are either under a long-term contract or are still in their arbitration or pre-arb years.

But there’s one notable exception at designated hitter. Early in the season, the Rangers had a revolving door of sorts at DH, as Mitch Garver dealt with injuries, including plate appearances from Robbie Grossman, Ezequiel Duran and even Brad Miller early on.

Garver then returned to slash .270/.370/.500 in 87 regular-season games while delivering two of the biggest hits of the postseason: a grand slam in Game 2 of the ALDS in Baltimore and an RBI single to break a 0-0 tie in Game 5 of the World Series.

There aren’t many top-end bats on the market, and the Rangers could opt to lure Garver back, but it’s one more hole to fill before Opening Day.

“It just depends on really what's out there,” Young said of DH. “But Mitch served primarily in that role and did a great job for us. Having some versatility there helps, but we also are just gonna stay open minded to any way to improve our club.”

Plus: The Shohei sweepstakes

The story of this offseason will be superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is set to become a free agent for the first time in his MLB career. The two-way star will likely command one of the biggest deals in MLB history, despite a UCL injury that shut his 2022 down with a month to go.

Ohtani is expected to be ready to hit on Opening Day of 2024, but won’t pitch until ‘25.

Young, as he often does, declined to speak on individual free agents while also acknowledging that the Rangers would do what is necessary to improve the club. As far as the salary Ohtani is likely to command, signing him would push Texas closer to the luxury tax and increase payroll more than owner Ray Davis ever has since acquiring the team.

“That's a conversation with ownership,” Young said of upping payroll. “And they've been unbelievably supportive in giving us the resources that we need to put a winning team on the field and I don't anticipate that changing.”

MLB.com’s John Denton contributed to this reporting.