The Rangers have nineteen games to play. They have lost eighty-one games. Mathematically, they could lose one hundred games this season. 

It’s doubtful that happens. They lost Wednesday. To lose one hundred means they would have to lose twenty games in a row. They will not lose twenty games in a row. So, the challenge is, how many of those remaining nineteen will they win?

If they win ten of the remaining nineteen games, that would be an amazing finish. That would put them at seventy-two wins, which would be about what most people predicted them winning this year. 

Seventy-two wins is not great but it’s a twelve-game improvement over 2021. It would be an impressive accomplishment. A seventy-two-win season would never get them to the playoffs, but you have to learn to crawl before you can walk. This team has been so bad for so long, a twelve-game improvement would be very welcome.

But the fact of the matter is, seventy-two wins is a pipe dream. Chances are very slim they get over seventy. Which is why Jon Daniels is now on the unemployment line. Fair or not, you don’t spend the money this team spent this off-season to improve by a small handful of games. But that’s what’s going to happen.

Since moving to Texas, this franchise has had consecutive back-to-back seasons of seventy or fewer wins three times (not counting the pandemic). It happened in 1972 and 1973, when they won 54 and then 57 games. Then it happened again in 1981 and 1982, when they won 57 and 64 games. And 1984 and 1985 when they won 69 then 62 games. Those were the dark years of the franchise. If they don’t get to seventy wins this year, these last two seasons (and really three because they were so bad in 2020 they would have lost one hundred games if given a full schedule) will return them to the dark ages. 

That will be truly embarrassing for sure. Hopefully this team will win at least eight more games and spare it that embarrassment.

Encouraging thing is, this team has never had three sub-seventy-win full seasons in a row. Things will get better. How much better depends on how much of the rotation and bullpen they rebuild.

It’s really that simple.

Hope and success are there for the taking if they are willing and able to take it.

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