A Texas Rangers fan can no longer blame this man for not spending money

The Texas Rangers have embraced the Yankee Way and will spend their way to relevancy, and maybe contention, too.

You can thank/blame owner Ray Davis.

If the Rangers don’t finish .500 in 2023, you can’t blame the owner for being cheap. Ray Ray and the Rangers are spending money like someone who was just told they have three weeks to live.

Or, maybe they’re spending money like the L.A. Angels.

The Rangers disastrous run in developing their own talent, both in the field and on the mound, over the last five years forced Ray to over spend on free agency over the last two offseasons.

They can continue to get kicked around by the Houston Astros, and now the Seattle Mariners, in their division or get real.

Given the state the Rangers’ farm system, the Yankee Way has become the Ranger Way.

Ray and the Rangers continue to blow through some of that new stadium revenue (thank you, Arlington tax payers!) combined with the cash generated from the local TV contract.

No one can say the Rangers aren’t trying. The Rangers have not had a winning record since 2017, so no one can say it’s working yet.

On Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Mall, Rangers GM Chris Young and new manager Bruce Bochy introduced their latest hundred millionaire player, free agent pitcher Jacob deGrom.

This is what you need to know: He is one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. The Rangers gave him a five-year, $185 million contract.

This is about one year after the team signed free agent shortstop Corey Seager, second baseman Marcus Semien, outfielder Kole Calhoun and starting pitcher Jon Gray to deals worth a combined $746 million. Guaranteed.

“That played a big role,” deGrom said on Thursday during the press conference. “They’re signing great guys.”

The Rangers have committed over $900 million to four players.

This is also what you need to know: deGrom is 34, and has been limited to a combined 26 starts and 156 innings over the last two seasons.

The Rangers said they did their homework, and their doctors said deGrom is fine. Of course, the said the same thing about Prince Fielder.

The Rangers saw what they wanted with deGrom, because they need a top tier starting pitcher; there is none better than deGrom, who won two Cy Young awards in his time with the New York Mets.

Young concedes it is a risk.

It’s a risk worth taking “because he is a great player,” Young said. “To get a great player you have to take big risks.”

deGrom had a variety of ailments in both 2021 and 2022; in the middle of what looked to be a third Cy Young season in 2021, he suffered inflammation in his throwing elbow that ended his year months prematurely.

In 2022, he suffered what he called a “weird” shoulder injury during spring training, and he did not make his season debut until August.

“My goal is 30-plus starts every year the next five-plus years here,” he said.

That would be a win.

The Rangers history of going crazy big on free agent pitchers ranges from the franchise-saving addition in Nolan Ryan in 1989, to the comedy of horrible that was Chan Ho Park in 2002, to the over-priced but durable Kevin Millwood in 2006, to the meh Jon Gray last season.

“To win in our game you need pitching; at the end of the day we will have the chance to win every day with our pitching,” Bochy said. “We are a much better club right now than we were a few weeks ago.

“Don’t tell me we can’t win. We are going to have a chance to win. I expect to contend.”

Young said he has “Full expectations not just a winning record but expect to push for a spot in the playoffs” in 2023.

Adding deGrom should allow the Rangers to be more patient with young starting pitching prospects Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker; the Vanderbilt teammates were first round picks of the Rangers in the 2021 and 2022 MLB Drafts.

A Rangers fan should be excited by the offseason moves; hiring Bochy, bringing back pitching coach Mike Maddux, and deGrom are all major plus additions.

Imagine their excitement if this all actually works.