Joc Pederson says there’s a new sheriff in the AL West.
The slugger said the Rangers are primed to overtake the back-to-back-to-back-to-back division champion Astros after he signed a two-year, $37 million contract with Texas this offseason.
“There’s a lot of things lining up for us to go on a nice run,” Pederson said Tuesday in his introductory press conference. “In the playoffs, played the Astros a couple times in the World Series. They put together a nice little run and it’s coming to an end and it’s time for us to take over the West. So, like I said, there’s a lot of things that are going in the right direction for the Rangers to be on top of this division.”
The AL West has turned into the Astros invitational in recent history with Houston winning the division in four straight seasons and seven times in the last eight years.
The only blip in that stretch came in the 2020 COVID-shortened season.
The Rangers, meanwhile, have not won a division title since 2016 but have won the World Series in this stretch, even downing the Astros in the 2023 ALCS en route to their title.
Pederson’s comments come as Houston appears to be at its most vulnerable with lineup staples Kyle Tucker being traded to the Cubs this offseason and Alex Bregman seeming set to leave in free agency.
Betting against Houston is not a sound strategy, but this may be the best chance for the Rangers, Mariners, A’s and Angels to dethrone them in quite some time.
The Rangers have been active in free agency, adding Pederson, catcher Kyle Higashioka, former Marlins slugger Jake Burger and re-signing Nathan Eovaldi.
They also traded first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the Nationals.
Texas went 78-84 last season.
“You talk to a lot of the teams and they want to win the World Series and do this stuff at the start. I told [general manager Chris Young], ‘All we got to do is get to the playoffs.’ You let [manager Bruce] Bochy do what Bochy does in the playoffs, usually comes well,” Pederson said. “You add in a sprinkle of [shortstop Corey] Seager in there, next thing you know we’re all walking around with more rings.”
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