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.

The Rangers will be the reigning World Series champs for only a few more weeks, as the Division Series are in the thick of things throughout the league. There were a lot of ups and downs for Texas this year, but the goal is to re-up and reload for another postseason bid in 2025.

There are plenty of questions the Rangers will need to answer when the offseason fully kicks off after the completion of the World Series. Let's take a look at five of them.

1. What to do behind the plate?

It’s no secret that this was a down year for Jonah Heim. The Rangers’ backstop was an All-Star starter and an AL Gold Glover in 2023, but he recorded a 70 wRC+ in 131 games in '24.

Heim said he physically felt fine with his workload, and the Rangers repeatedly praised his handling of the pitching staff despite a dip in defensive metrics as well. While Texas needs Heim to be better on both sides of the plate, he is not the biggest issue for the club at the moment, since the Rangers appear confident in his ability to bounce back.

“I think Jonah in particular, because he had such a heavy workload, it's all about making adjustments,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “What I liked about what he did at the end [is] he did make some adjustments with the swing. He is a guy we have to take care of. He does a great job with the pitching staff. I really, really look forward to watching him next year.”

The catching depth will also need to be addressed. Trade Deadline acquisition Carson Kelly is a free agent this winter and former Top 100 prospect Sam Huff slashed just .246/.310/.416 with Triple-A Round Rock in 2024 and hasn’t gotten much of a leash at the big league level over the past few years anyway.

2. What will the workload look like for Semien next year?

Marcus Semien is an iron man. He wants to play every day, and most of the time, he gets his way. Semien played all 162 games in 2023, but he played just 159 this season, which would be nothing to worry about with any other player in baseball.

The last time Semien played fewer than 159 games in a full season was in 2017 with the A's, when he appeared in just 85 contests due to a wrist contusion.

That said, questions about Semien’s workload arose at age 35. The second baseman had a .237/.308/.391 slash line just a year after finishing third in AL MVP voting. Bochy said he talked to Semien about the possibility of taking more days off next year, but everything is about keeping the team leader fresh and ready to go throughout a full regular season and a potential postseason run.

“With any of our players, as they get into their mid-30s, we want to be cognizant of the workload and make sure that we put these guys in positions to perform at their highest level,” GM Chris Young added. “We need to find the balance of how to manage his workload and make sure that he stays fresh. Marcus is not the one that we're worried about. He's going to have a tremendous offseason.”

3. How will they fill bullpen gaps?

The Rangers have a trio of important high-leverage relievers headed for free agency -- namely David Robertson, Kirby Yates and José Leclerc, who was the longest-tenured member of the club.

Texas’ bullpen posted a 4.41 ERA in 2024, ranking 25th in MLB, even with the contributions of Yates (1.17 ERA) and Robertson (3.00 ERA). So this would be a priority even if those two major pieces were guaranteed to return.

“The bullpen is an area we need to address,” Young said. “We've got to find a way to backfill that. We're going to have to get creative in terms of looking at the trade market, the waiver market and developing our own pitchers as well, which is critical for success on the pitching side.”

4. Is there enough rotation depth?

The short answer is always no.

Young has already reminded everyone that you can never have too much starting pitching. So with Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Max Scherzer entering free agency this winter, they could still be looking to add arms.

The six-man rotation is currently: Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. It's a solid group, but four of those six have a history of injuries, and the other two -- Rocker and Leiter -- have a combined nine big league starts.

“There's a core rotation right there that's very solid,” Young said. “We're going to need to add to that. If you look at Rocker and Leiter, and some of the arms that were in Double-A this year that could potentially reach the big leagues next year, there's some excitement on the pitching side. But you've heard me say it, you can never have enough pitching.”

5. How will Carter’s health affect the outfield plans?

Both Evan Carter and Young have told the media they believe the back injury that has kept him out for the final four months of the season is behind him, at least in a way that will keep him from missing extended periods of time in the future.

But what does that mean for the 2025 Rangers in the outfield? Wyatt Langford proved himself on both sides of the ball in his rookie season, while Leody Taveras and Adolis García took a step back. Texas could without a doubt use another hitter -- likely a DH. But acquiring somebody who could rotate into the outfield would solve two problems with one move, regardless of how confident the club is in Carter’s return.