Brandon Nimmo is the Newest Texas Ranger

Despite Nimmo leading in the offensive categories, Semien has put up 3.3 WAR compared to Nimmo’s 2.9. So Semien is the better defender. The Rangers won the team Gold Glove Award, so they will trade the defense for some more offense.

Due to Nimmo’s weak defense, Evan Carter will probably be the last outfielder to join Langford and Nimmo in the outfield. Langford has played center and played it well, but his arm is not the strongest. Carter doesn’t have the strongest arm in the league, but it is better than Langford’s and allows the latter to fly around in one of the corner outfield spots.

Nimmo will probably go to left field to hide his poor defense, and Langford will take over for García in right field.

Who Will Replace Semien?

The Rangers have two guys who can fill Semien’s shoes. Cody Freeman and Josh Smith seem like the options that the Rangers will turn to. Smith is the more polished product as he took home the utility Silver Slugger in 2024. He was a good hitter again last year with 3 WAR. He played second base when Semien went down, as well as third when Josh Jung went down.

The other option is Cody Freeman, who got reps at the end of the year when the team dealt with lots of injuries. He was part of the “Little Rascals”  who helped the team get hot at the end of the year. His slash line wasn’t the most impressive at .228/.258/.342, with three home runs, 15 RBI, and a -0.3 WAR.

Those numbers aren’t too impressive, but Freeman injected heart into the team was able to get them to play hard and pile together some wins. He can also play a number of positions like Smith, as he filled in at third base and shortstop as well as the corner outfield spots.

The Last Word

Overall, this is a good move for the Rangers as they look to find their offensive identity and try to have to change things up. Semien is owed $72 million over the next three years, while Nimmo is owed $96.25 million over the next five years.