The Rangers send out surveys from time to time, asking fans their thoughts on the season, their level of fandom, thoughts about The Baseball Shed, their City Connect uniforms, things like that.

One question they ask is to describe the Rangers in one word. The most appropriate word to describe this franchise is: UNWILLING.

Rangers ownership is unwilling to win. They’d like to win. They hope they’d win. But they’re not actively seeking to win. They’re not willing to do what it takes to win.

They went into the offseason cutting salary, forcing Chris Young and his front office to shop at the Dollar Store. It’s almost as if they have decided winning in 2023 was it. They did it. Now, let’s move on. The Rangers aren’t their main interest. They are a line item on the corporate spread sheet.

Most of the news coming out of the people who cover the Rangers closely is that Ray Davis, the Rangers majority owner, is not giving Chris Young a long rope in which to improve the team. Meaning, he is not opening the checkbook. So, Young is going to have to do it on the cheap. Yesterday’s trade for catcher Logan O’Hoppe and Chase Silseth was a glimpse into their cheapskatedness. They were forced to find two players with very little trade value and are now going to have to coax the best out of them somehow.

It’s true, this isn’t a great team. But it’s playing in the easiest division in baseball. So just being mediocre is enough. But the Rangers are unwilling to rise above mediocrity. They’ve been a .500 team for nearly two seasons. They don’t have to be. Ownership chooses to be.

It’s easy to hate on the Dodgers for buying all the players. But isn’t that what you’d want as a fan? Wouldn’t you want a team that is trying to win, year after year? Not a team that is content to break even?

Not a team that is unwilling?

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