Texas Rangers: When will they end their championship drought?
The Texas Rangers haven’t won a championship despite two trips to the World Series. Will they put an end to that drought any time soon?
Of the 30 current MLB teams, 25 of them have won World Series championships and the Texas Rangers are not one of them. Since moving to Arlington in 1972, they’ve gone 45 seasons without hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy. And if you count their original founding as the Washington Senators in 1961, they have the second-longest streak without one at 56.
But the Cleveland Indians, the one team in front of them, have at least won the World Series. Their last one came in 1948 though. That means anyone reasonably old enough to remember it is about 75 years old.
That’s why ESPN recently posed the question to baseball fans about this. They asked fans which team they think will end their drought next and included the Rangers, Indians, Astros, Brewers, Mariners, Mets, Pirates and Rockies in their list. But other teams notwithstanding, how long will it take before Texas finally does it?
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Of course, the Rangers plan open their new ballpark in 2020, so a good first question is, “Will they do it by then?” It would be a shame to see Globe Life Park retired without a World Series championship. They had a shot at it in 2010 and came really close in 2011, but we won’t talk about that second one.
They have a manager in Jeff Banister that can get them one. He manages the players well and knows the game. But this is only his third year as a manager, so he’s relatively inexperienced. He’s made the playoffs both years, but did so with rosters that had prior playoff experience.
Unlike past Rangers teams, the rotation may be their strongest asset right now. But Yu Darvish becomes a free agent this offseason and Cole Hamels is on the disabled list. The jury is still out on what Andrew Cashner has, but he’s been solid so far. They also need Tyson Ross to come out strong and be at least half the pitcher he was before his injury.
As for their lineup, shortstop Elvis Andrus has six years left on his deal after this season. He had a breakthrough season last year and has played pretty well so far in 2017. He’s not as strong as some others defensively, but he swings a pretty good bat. To have him locked up through 2021 gives Texas a good player at a key position.
Veteran third baseman Adrian Beltre has this year and next left. But he’s aging fast, and at 38 may not see the new park. If they want to win it with him, time is running out.
So what does this all mean? It’s time to either go for broke or completely rebuild. With the current state of the American League West, they have their work cut out for them. The Astros are strong and don’t appear to be falling off any time soon. They’re young, hungry and appear to have a grip on the division right now.
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It’s sad to say, but they may have missed their window in 2011. Time will tell, but my best estimate is by 2023. They’ll have an established ballpark by then. Plenty of time will have passed by then to rebuild and they’ll hopefully have a nicely re-stocked farm system by then. But it’s baseball. Plenty can happen by then, and maybe even before then.