Baseball’s free agency period does not begin until the conclusion of the World Series. Those who weren’t in a position to play for a title this postseason, like the Texas Rangers, have an opportunity to use that window to improve their chances at doing so next year.

This isn’t where the Texas Rangers expected to be in mid-October less than a year after they won the first championship in franchise history. Instead of defending their title, the Rangers are in the back offices crunching the numbers and deciding how they can improve the ballclub after losing 84 games this year.