What kind of pitching could you get for $43 million?

That’s how much Jon Daniels has spent on his short-term, low risk, just-throw-a-dart-at-the-board-and-see-what-sticks strategy over the past three seasons.

In 2017, he spent $18 million on Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, and A.J. Griffin. ($10-, $6-, and $2 million, respectively.) For $18 million, the Rangers got 20 wins, 293 innings, and a 4.79 ERA.

In 2018, he spent $14.25 million on Matt Moore, Doug Fister, and Bartolo Colon.  ($9-, $3.5-, and 1.75 million, respectively.) For $14.25 million, the Rangers got 7 wins, 314.1 innings, and a 5.84 ERA.

In 2019, he spent $11 million on Drew Smyly, Shelby Miller and Edinson Volquez. ($7-, $2-, and $2 million, respectively.) For $11 million, the Rangers got 2 wins, 111.1 innings pitched, and an 8.25 ERA.

Season by season, it seems Daniels is getting progressively worse at pitcher shopping at Dollar General. He is giving away a lot of money for very little return.

All totaled up, that’s $43 million in three years for 29 wins, 718.2 innings of pitching, and a combined ERA of 5.03.

Yes, he also signed Mike Minor and Lance Lynn. So, his shooting fish in a barrel strategy can, in fact, work. But the odds are against it.

For Texas to get back to contention, they are going to have to be a whole lot smarter on investing in pitching. So far this offseason, they haven’t been.

The Winter Meetings start today in San Diego. Maybe something good comes from that.