Texas Rangers News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Image credit: ClutchPoints

Chris Young calls Rangers’ underwhelming 2024 season ’embarrassing’

Originally posted on MLB on ClutchPoints | By David Korn | Last updated Aug 20, 2024 8:48 PM ET

After winning the World Series last season, the Texas Rangers had sky-high expectations heading into 2024. Despite making few significant roster changes, instead of competing for another World Series berth, the Rangers find themselves effectively out of the postseason race with over a month left to play in the regular season.

Rangers general manager Chris Young spoke about some of his frustrations with the team in an interview on Monday on 105.3 The Fan.

“The season has been embarrassing for us,” Young said. “This is not what we expected. I expect our players to be equally as embarrassed as I am about how we played.”

“I want to see us come out and fight to the finish line, whatever that means in terms of the standings or in the record,” Young continued. “That will happen naturally if we just go out and play good baseball. I want to see some improvement as we go here. I know this team is capable of more than they’ve shown and my expectation is we go out out here and do that these last six weeks.”

Young is understandably upset about how this season has gone, and made sure to air out his grievances during his interview. The Rangers are currently 11 games out of first place in the AL West and 12.5 games back of the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins who are tied for the second American League Wild Card position.

It’s rare to see a member of a team’s front office call out their players as directly as Young did, which shows how seriously the Rangers take this disappointing season and how high expectations are, and continue to be going forward.

What’s gone wrong for Chris Young and the Rangers this season?

Texas Rangers General Manager Chris Young on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. © Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers did not make many changes to their roster this offseason. While they chose not to bring back Jordan Montgomery, Mitch Garver and Aroldis Chapman, they also were able to acquire Kirby Yates, who was an All-Star this season, and veteran reliever David Robertson, who have both been significant contributors.

The biggest issue for the Rangers this season has been injuries. Max Scherzer, who was expected to lead the rotation has barely pitched. Jacob deGrom still hasn’t played yet while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Evan Carter, who debuted late last season and was one of the postseason heroes for the Rangers last year, was expected to be one of the favorites for AL Rookie of the Year. Instead, Carter has dealt with back injuries and been ineffective when he’s been on the field.

Players like Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim, even though they have been healthy, also appeared to have regressed from their All-Star seasons last year.

Despite these issues, the Rangers still have more than enough talent to at least be competing for a Wild Card position. Based on his comments on Monday, it would not be surprising to see Young make significant changes to his roster this offseason if the Rangers aren’t able to show some improvement before the end of the regular season.

This article first appeared on MLB on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: